JANUARY 1976

Although the baths are a prominent fixture in the gay social scene, it is surprising how many gays who frequent clubs and discos have never visited them. The baths still maintain an air of mystery and are even foreboding for a significant segment of the gay community. Most large cities feature at least one gay bathhouse. The larger the city the more extravagant the baths are likely to be. New York, of course, sports the most elegant baths.

For many men, going to the baths for the first time is much like going to a gay bar for the first time. Those who are naive to the bath scene envision them to be a mere enclosure for a slithering orgiastic mass of depravity. A leading dread of the uninitiated is that once they enter the misty and mysterious depths of the sinister building, they will be fallen upon by sexstarved ogres and mercilessly gang-banged. Of course, those frightful visions are hardly the

case.

The archetypal baths consist of several standard elements. These include: locked lockers in which to store clothing and valuables, a television room (which may also feature films), a shower, a steam room or bath, and a number of small, private compartments. The more luxurious baths are likely to add a swimming pool, various sophisticated bathing devices, a bar, dance floor, and even live entertainment.

Baths charge an admission fee (usually minimal but varying

HIGH GEAR

INK BAIHS

with the opulence of the establishment) which generally includes use of all facilities plus a locker key and clean towel. An extra charge (usually quite reasonable) is made for sleeping berth. Memberships are available and reduced rates are generally available to younger patrons or to anyone on "off" nights. Various, sometimes ingenious promotions, are also undertaken by entrepreneuring owners and managers (i.e., muscle contests, dinners, free passes, etc.)

Gay baths probably evolved from the traditional American and European bath houses of the last century which are, no doubt, traceable to the ancient Roman baths (which were likely gay in the first place). Although local baths do not compete with the storied Caracala, they are clean, homey, and one even provides free V.D. testing.

A routine baths-night scenario might follow thusly: You are met at the entrance by an attendant who checks identification and issues a towel and a key for a numbered locker. You then proceed to the locker room, disrobe, and wrap your towel around your waist. (Some men fold the towel in half to avoid a polynesian lava-lava effect). From the locker room you continue to the TV room where you select comfortable seating and watch TV (or pretend to watch it), read a newspaper or magazine (or fake it) or engage in polite conversation with friends (or strangers).

From there you might take a

trip to the cigarette, candy or coffee machine as a pretext for roaming and combing other areas. If it is in season, the sun deck (or moon deck as the case may be) might capture your attention. Exit sun deck, enter steam room. Due to poor visibility in the steam room, steam bathers are commonly less inhibited. This fact combined with other conventional turn-ons such as moisture, perspiration, and nudity contribute to the free and spirited atmosphere for which the sauna is so infamous. A steam bath, however, can actually be had in the sauna.

If you suffer from an asthmatic condition, you may decide to bypass Sweden's gift to gay men and simply take a shower. The shower offers a generous opportunity for subtle exhibitionism. You should be sure to take one whether you need it or not.

From the shower you might wend your way back to the late, late show, cruising the Gothic figures lining the halls or you may stop to play cards with someone on the carpet. If at some point you should happen to chance upon the man of your dreams (or your highest realistic conceptions), he or you may purchase a cubicle and discuss literature and painting away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

Finally, if you expect to find at the baths a cavernous expanse of groping grotesqueries from the set of Satyricon, you can forget it. You may be amazed to

discover that people are as shy at the baths as they are at the bar, if not shyer. What is more, far from being debauched houses of male ill repute, they are facilities to boast of. They provide clean, secure, inexpensive lodging for out-of-towners and natives alike, plus a healthy

Page 15

environment for meeting new friends (many baths prohibit alcohol and drugs on their premises). The baths are a sure bet for good clean fun and as Adonis will confirm, "Cleanliness is next to

any

godliness."

nat

We could Use A Bath, Joe

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