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The news articles below chronicle the problems gay bathhouses have
had in New York City
Four New York
Bathhouses Still Operate Under City's Program of Inspections
[Article from the New York Times]
By SCOTT BRONSTEIN
Published: May 3, 1987
LEAD: More than
a year after New York City closed several homosexual bathhouses
because of ''unsafe'' sexual practices that it said occurred in
them, four others remain open, and health officials say they have
found no violations to warrant their closing.
More than a
year after New York City closed several homosexual bathhouses
because of ''unsafe'' sexual practices that it said occurred in
them, four others remain open, and health officials say they have
found no violations to warrant their closing.
At the same
time, however, the officials acknowledge that despite regular
inspections, they do not know whether men are practicing safe sex in
the privacy of the small rooms of the bathhouses.
In late 1985,
health officials said they feared that the baths might increase the
spread of AIDS because unsafe sex occurred in them. In December
1985, after provisions were added to the Health Code that defined
anal or oral sex as ''high risk'' sexual activities, health
officials closed the New St. Marks bathhouse. In April last year ,
the Everard Spa, another bathhouse in Manhattan, was closed.
The closing of
the New St. Marks baths followed the November closing of the
Mineshaft, a bar and club patronized by homosexuals. In January
1985, Plato's Retreat, a club catering to heterosexuals, was closed.
["Plato's Retreat" is the former "Continental Baths."]
"Demonstrated Our Concern"
The baths were
closed, according to officials, because of unsafe sex that occurred
in such public areas as showers, saunas and lounges. Now, the
officials said, the public areas of the baths are inspected, but the
private rooms are not.
''We've
demonstrated our concern,'' the State Health Commissioner, Dr. David
Axelrod, said. His department made unsafe sex a public-health issue.
''We cannot
stop someone,'' Dr. Axelrod added. ''Nor do we believe it is the
responsibility of government to enter into someone's home. And we
view the doors of the private rooms the same way."
''There could
be unsafe sex behind the closed doors, but our investigations do not
deal with that,'' said Doron L. Gopstein, the city's first assistant
corporation counsel, whose office enforces the city's health
regulations.
Confidence
About Practices
Dr. Axelrod
said even though officials did not know what occurred behind the
closed doors, he was confident most sex in the bathhouses was now
safe.
''Today, many
of the baths openly encourage safe-sex practices,'' he said. ''And
based on our observations, dangerous sexual activities are no longer
being encouraged and, in fact, are not occurring. We believe the
remaining bathhouses have acted very responsibly.
''If we felt we
could have a major additional impact by the removal of the doors in
private rooms, then I think we would do so. But now, we feel we have
demonstrated the extent to which public health should go.''
The owners of
bathhouses and customers also expressed confidence that the majority
of the men at the bathhouses were practicing safe sex.
Lined Up to
Pay
The new efforts
to discourage unsafe sex, combined with a growing concern about
acquired immune deficiency syndrome, have created a far more
cautious atmosphere and behavior in the bathhouses than just a few
years ago, according to patrons.
And the
popularity of the baths is still quite evident.
On a recent
Tuesday evening - new membership night - at the East Side Sauna
Inc., the most popular and largest bath, at 227 East 56th Street, a
line of 20 men waited to pay $10 for a one-year membership, plus $8
for a locker or $10 for a private room that night.
''Several years
ago, right after the initial AIDS scare, there was a very big drop
in our business,'' the general manager of the club, James Schwartz,
said. ''But now it has gone up 20 to 25 percent since last year.''
The other
bathhouses are the Wall Street Club, at 1 Maiden Lane; the Northern
Men's Sauna, at 33-65 Farrington Street in Flushing, Queens, and the
Mount Morris Baths, at 1944 Madison Avenue, near 132d Street in East
Harlem, health officials said.
Distribution
of Condoms
The baths
display large signs forbidding unsafe sex and warning about the
dangers of transmitting AIDS through an exchange of body fluids.
Some bathhouses, including the Wall Street and East Side Saunas,
distribute a printed set of guidelines from the Gay Men's Health
Crisis.
The baths also
hand out condoms, often in packages that read: ''The contents of
this envelope could save your life. Practice safe sex.''
On the recent
evening at the East Side Sauna, men were ''cruising'' for partners,
as they always have, passing one another silently in the narrow dim
halls. After finding a partner, the men often returned to one of the
75 private rooms.
No sexual
activity was evident in the halls or such other public places as the
sauna, steam room or lounges.
"Lifeguard"
on T-Shirts
Although there
was once an ''orgy room'' at the sauna, Mr. Schwartz said now there
was no group sex.
''It doesn't
have to be unsafe when it happens,'' he said. ''But it usually ends
up that way - unsafe.''
To enforce the
rules, athletically built young men wearing T-shirts that say
''Lifeguard'' walk through the center ''policing the halls,'' in the
words of Mr. Schwartz. When the staff finds people breaking the
rules, he said, the violators' memberships are revoked. He said that
usually occurred several times a week.
The cautious
atmosphere and behavior are not problems for most of the patrons,
many of the customers said.
''I think it's
more enjoyable,'' said Tom, a 28-year-old broker from Manhattan who
asked that his last name not be printed. ''Innocence is beginning to
take hold again.''
Workshop and
Film
Bill, 40, a
psychotherapist who asked to remain anonymous, has not been to the
baths as a customer in three years. But he recently led a workshop
at the East Side Sauna for the Gay Men's Health Crisis.
''There's a
very different atmosphere at the baths now,'' he said. ''I felt it
was restrained.''
In the middle
of the evening, an announcement was made over a loudspeaker
advertising a workshop by the health organization and a film on safe
sex.
''Most
questions center around transmission of the virus,'' the coordinator
of AIDS prevention at the Gay Men's Health Crisis, Raymond M.
Jacobs, said. ''The film shows how to negotiate safe sex with a
partner and how to make safer sex sexually satisfying.''
The film was
shown in a small video lounge where pornographic films are shown the
rest of the time - films that explicitly show men engaging in
anything but safe sex.
Some homosexual
leaders said the bathhouses provided an important center for AIDS
education and could, in fact, help stem the spread of disease.
''Men who have
sex with other men, but who do not call themselves gay,'' Mr. Jacobs
said, ''or men who are in the closet or who are very private about
their sexual expression, these men tend to frequent bathhouses. But
they don't go to gay forums, or buy gay papers, or go to other gay
establishments where they might get AIDS-prevention information that
could save their lives.''
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