The CEO of Ohio-based Flex Spas, Todd Saporito, has positioned his bathhouse chain as a pillar of the gay community. "Here it's a safer environment - there's condoms and other protection." "You're either hooking up online or you are here, or you go to bars in West Hollywood, get drunk and hook up," said Sparks, acknowledging that although the bathhouse crowd skews older, it's not as risky as going home with a stranger. On Tuesdays, Los Angeles' Melrose Spa lets those 18 to 25 in for free, a deal that brought 22-year-old Brett Sparks on a recent midweek visit. At the three-story Midtowne Spa in downtown Los Angeles, 18- to 20-year-olds get in for $5 any time. To attract younger patrons, some bathhouses offer steep discounts, cutting admission by as much as 60%. NABA formed two years ago for bathhouse owners to pool best practices for marketing and operations. Nibbio, the executive director of the North American Bathhouse Association. "The younger generation's main fear is that it's some dark, seedy place," said T.J. Those that remained were stigmatized, and now many younger gays see them as anachronisms. Bette Midler even launched her career from the stage of the Continental.Īmid the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s, bathhouses were vilified for enabling promiscuity and helping spread the disease, and many either closed voluntarily or by legal pressure. In-house entertainment was common, from DJs to live performers. Clubs like New York City's Continental bathhouse and Los Angeles' 8709 Club saw a steady stream of patrons.Įach venue was operated like a speakeasy: a nondescript building often located in the urban fringe. Privately run, gay-owned bathhouses proliferated in the 1970s, offering a haven for gay and bisexual men to meet. Chicago and Manhattan each had about 20 public bathhouses.īut the need for public places to wash up declined and by the 1950s and '60s, bathhouses largely had become rendezvous spots for gays, prompting occasional raids because sodomy was still criminalized. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, American bathhouses were built in many cities to maintain public hygiene among poor and immigrant communities. "Today, you can go to the supermarket."īathhouses date to the Roman Empire. "Bathhouses were like dirty bookstores and parks: a venue to meet people," said Sykes, who still owns the smaller North Hollywood Spa. Sykes said fewer customers and rising rent put an end to four decades in business. Hollywood Spa - one of the largest bathhouses in Los Angeles, a city regarded as the country's bathhouse capital - closed in April. In the last decade, bathhouses, including ones in San Diego, Syracuse, Seattle and San Antonio, have shut down and the total nationwide is less than 70. In the heyday of bathhouses in the late 1970s, there were nearly 200 gay bathhouses in cities across the U.S., but by 1990, the total had dropped to approximately 90, according to Damron, the publisher of an annual gay travel guide. It's taken away the need to sneak into back-alley places," said Dennis Holding, 75, who owns a Miami-based bathhouse.
"The acceptance of gays has changed the whole world. Gone are the days when bathhouses drew crowds just by offering a discreet place for gays to meet, share saunas and, often, have sex. A bathhouse in Ohio has even added hotel rooms and a nightclub. Others tout their upscale amenities like plush towels and marble baths. Some are doing aggressive online advertising and community outreach.
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