Gay sauna
A gay sauna or grammatically correct gay sauna is a sauna for exclusively adult men who have sex with men , in which sexual contact is made possible and accepted. Many modern saunas offer extensive wellness offers, restaurants and sometimes also invite you to cruise in one or more darkrooms . In the public image, gay saunas like to use fantasy names, which only the initiated can infer such a meeting place. Common names here are, for example, club sauna, men's club, etc.
history
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Apart from thermal baths in ancient Rome and oriental bathhouses in the Middle East, bathhouses in Central Europe dating back to the 15th century can be found in which social and sexual contact between men was possible and common. But only since the end of the 19th century and especially in the 20th century have there been institutions that were and are directly intended for this purpose.
Gay saunas in America, Asia, Australia and Europe
There are gay saunas in North America , various South American countries, Australia , New Zealand , Israel , Japan , Taiwan , Thailand and Singapore, as well as in most European countries.
Almost all major European cities have gay saunas. These saunas are to be distinguished from brothel saunas , as prostitution is more of a marginal phenomenon here, which is not desired by most guests or the operators.
- Saunas in the USA
After AIDS became known, many gay saunas in the US were closed in the 1980s because they were held responsible for the spread of HIV; however, new saunas have now emerged. However, there are regional differences: In San Francisco , for example , which in the 1970s had a large number of gay saunas due to a lively homosexual culture, there is no longer a single sauna today; the closest is in the university town of Berkeley, 20 kilometers away . Like everything else, the sauna landscape in San Francisco is changing, so you can now find small club saunas with day memberships again. The sauna scene in New York City is also not as lively as it was in the 1970s; Chicago, on the other hand, which did not have a strong sauna culture in the pre-AIDS period, now has several such facilities.
- Saunas in the German-speaking area
In Germany, men's saunas intended for homosexual clients were only opened after homosexuality was legalized (1969). As early as 1969, the Vulkan Sauna was the first gay sauna in Hanover . Further sauna openings followed in Germany in the early 1970s in Berlin , Hamburg , Munich , Stuttgart and Wuppertal . The first gay sauna in Austria was the Römersauna, which opened in 1973; the architecturally significant Kaiserbründl was only opened in this function around 1980. Saunas in twenty German cities and in neighboring countries (hotspots in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland) have joined forces to form the European Gay Sauna Association. Meetings are held every six months to discuss common concerns. There is cooperation with the German Aids Aid and the Lesbian and Gay Association in Germany (LSVD), which also operates through the LSVD Association for European Cooperation e. V. operates the website.
Furnishing
The equipment of modern saunas varies from case to case. At the entrance area with the cash register you usually get the key for your locker (Swiss: cloakroom box ) in the changing area, where you can store your clothes. Unclothed, you wrap the towel around your hips (completely naked is more common at so-called nude parties) and come to different areas, which are often connected with winding, mostly darkened corridors in which visitors cruise .
Most saunas have:
- have a shower
- Bar area / local area, in which cold and warm meals can be consumed in addition to drinks
- Dry, lighted Finnish sauna , in which regular infusions are often made
- A dimly lit steam sauna in which sexual contact can occur (see also darkroom )
- Whirlpool
- Sometimes a small swimming pool or a cold water pool
- Darkened rest areas or rest cabins that are either generally accessible or used individually (lockable from the inside)
- Internet area in which one can surf the Internet mostly free of charge on public computers
- Common areas with lounge chairs, sofas, and armchairs (often with relaxing music)
- Lubricant dispensers and paper towels in the cabins and darkrooms, as well as condom dispensers in front of the cabins and darkrooms or at the cash desk
- different rooms with playgrounds (also with sling )
- Darkrooms
- Hygiene room / toilet (anal shower)
- Video room that is used to watch porn movies
Better-equipped saunas also offer some of the following:
- Saunarium / bio sauna, caldarium and / or tepidarium
- Hammām , a Turkish type of steam bath with a large, heated bed area
- Gym
- TV room (TV)
- Massage room (paid massage)
- Sunbed
- Foam sauna
- Individual video booths, often with glory holes , in which porn films can be seen
- Screened outdoor area with garden or roof terrace, also with swimming pool
- Health terminal, a PC which is not used for Internet use, but on which it is possible to access information pages from AIDS support organizations and other institutions for health promotion and safer sex campaigns
As a rule, in gay saunas it is possible to borrow a sauna towel, bathing shoes and also a sterile shower attachment for the anal shower for a rental fee, if you do not want to bring these yourself. Bathing shoes are not required. You do not usually have to bring your own shower gel and shampoo, as these are usually available in dispensers in the showers. Some saunas also offer hair gel and body lotion in dispensers in the changing area for use in the sauna.
Gay saunas occasionally organize “themed evenings”, often for younger people (mostly under 27 years of age), for bears (hairy, often a little older), special sexual preferences such as fetish , fisting , pee or even safe sex wanking parties. So-called bi-days are also possible, on which women also have access. Many saunas also have large cruising labyrinths , some of which extend over several floors. In this way you can meet other men casually and casually in order to live out your fantasies in a dark corner.
Health
Although most gay saunas make intensive efforts to provide HIV education and safer sex is not infrequently promoted through the distribution of free condoms and lubricants, it is often assumed that these companies are responsible for the spread of HIV infections and infections with other sexually transmitted diseases. because there are particularly many and different sexual contacts here. However, there is no corresponding evidence for this connection. Rather, it has been the case for many years with regard to the approach of target group-specific prevention of the German Aids Aid that people in the relevant scene companies can be better reached for prevention messages.
Many gay saunas therefore regularly work closely with local AIDS organizations or the local health department in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. In many saunas, for example, there are (voluntary) AIDS workers present, to whom guests can turn with questions about the topics of safer sex and sexually transmitted diseases and who can take advice. In some saunas, a doctor is also regularly present, who can be examined for sexually transmitted diseases after prior consultation, especially since many regular visitors are reluctant to talk to their actual (house) doctor about this topic, as they often do not come out or expect little or no understanding from their doctor. There are also saunas that regularly donate part of their income (for example on certain days or from certain events) to non-profit lesbian-gay associations and regional AIDS organizations.
AIDS donation cans at the cash registers are also often found in gay saunas. Information brochures and flyers for various safer sex campaigns on the subject of safer sex are often available in the entrance area.
As a rule, gay saunas offer significantly more safety during sex than unofficial cruising locations such as motorway parking lots or parks, since criminal offenses (e.g. robbery or bodily harm) with a homophobic background can be practically excluded here.
Legal
While the operation of gay saunas in Europe is usually not subject to legal sanctions, in the USA, depending on the state, sometimes stricter regulations apply (sometimes a (day) membership has to be acquired due to the non-public club character).
Web links
- bathhouseguide.com (en) - American bath house guide
- spartacus.gayguide.travel - Europe's largest gay sauna guide
- schwulekontakte.com (de) - Germany- wide city directory with the hottest gay saunas from (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
Texts
- Rick Bébout: Urban amenities; erotic anxieties - Baths, lavatories, & the YMCA: The politics of bodies in civic space - History of bathhouses and their conversion by gays
- The history of gay bath houses (s)
- Erwin J. Haeberle : The closure of the "gay baths" in San Francisco . In: Rolf Gindorf and Erwin J. Haeberle: Sexualwissenschaft and Sexualpolitik. de Gruyter, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-11-012246-4 , pp. 187-194. About the climate and changes around 1984, after the onset of AIDS.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gay men haven't just been around today
- ↑ Cruising mazes. Retrieved August 15, 2019 .