July 2019 Issue #31 July 2019 Issue #31 4Guys | Page 70

It might not end up being your thing. But keep a spirit of adventure
and don’t put down the patrons that enjoy the dwindling bathhouse
scene. Bathhouses are just bathhouses, nothing more or less. They
were once a staple of gay life, and now they are scarce relics of a
cruise culture that is rapidly disappearing. The most written-about
gay bathhouse was the infamous Everard Baths in New York, which
closed in 1985.
Some say bathhouses have been replaced by hookup apps like
Grindr and Scruff. Others say that today’s queer public milieu of
marriage equality and family life has shifted tolerance and publicity
away from the hypersexual side of gay life, stamping out venues
that cater to gay sex in the process. While both claims hint at the
truth, the latter is more of a politically charged publicity stunt than
a true change of gay behavior. Visit the annual Black Party in New
York if you think gay life has gone tame.
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