Gay venues starting to close due to Covid-19

[bbzh]

I'm in a European city with over a million inhabitants that has (had?) a thriving gay scene. I just found out that one of the most popular gay venues here has become a casualty of Covid-19. This bar was the biggest one here and hosted naked sex parties, leather nights, water sports, sports-themed parties etc that people from miles away would attend. I have given and taken loads there.

We also have five saunas, but I'm guessing at least two will close as well, especially those whose clientele are primarily men over 50.

It may be a long time before these business resurface - if ever - because it may become increasingly difficult to get the necessary permits to operate such businesses as we deal with the fallout from the virus. Will gay men even support these venues in the future?   

Maybe everything will turn out well in the end, but frankly, I don't see how any gay venue at the moment can make a convincing case to local authorities that they are an essential business that can ensure social distancing. Let's face facts. These venues basically exist to offer gay men the option to have anonymous sex in close quarters. These men then go out into the general public and place society at risk.  

Are you seeing venues close near you?

[BB4fking]

Where I am it’s too early to tell if particular venues will close permanently but I share your concern. The saunas and cruise clubs were already in a bit of a downward spiral of lower turnout due to apps resulting in price rises which made it harder for many of us to afford going so often. Ten years ago my city of over 1 million had 5 saunas but now there are only two. I worry that soon there may be none.

[Spunkinmyarse]

Yes, I too share this concern.  I fear  saunas and cruise bars/sex clubs will be unfairly treated as we slowly come out of lockdown.  Why unfairly?  Because as far as COVID-19 is concerned, I don’t see them as any greater risk to public health than busy bars or crowded nightclubs. Yet you can almost guarantee these businesses will be allowed to get back to normal sooner.

Yet again, sex will be demonized, and gay sex in particular.  Even on this site, there seems to be a growing attitude that the problem here is sex and fucking, rather than just close human contact.  We have to remember that this disease didn’t start in the bathhouses or cruise clubs dotted round the world- in fact, it seems to have been spread far more effectively at venues serving religious services, weddings and funerals, etc.

Sometimes I wonder if a certain amount of guilt and self-loathing has crept into the way some of us here are talking about sex at the moment.  We should take a step back, and remember this is not the same disease that devastated our community 40 years ago.  Sex is not the problem.

[Bttm2go]

I agree this is not about sex. But yes I am sure the conservative right will use it to discriminate against gays. We will need to support our community spaces once it is safe to do so. I am not a big bar guy, but I will make it a point to patronize the leather bars and events here. We need to keep these spaces going. 

[Cum-ass]

I can't see anywhere like this opening for a year at least, possibly longer. All places that have people in close proximity will be the very last businesses to get the green light for opening.

So, I can envisage all gyms, pubs & clubs, saunas, hairdressers, nail bars, beauty salons etc as being the very last premises to open (I'm sure I've missed a few others).

I am not optimistic about gay sex venues, either getting the necessary permission to open or actually getting enough people through the doors in the future to warrant the business risk. I love cruise bars and saunas but will I ever use one again? Maybe not

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Cum-ass

[tallslenderguy]

On 4/27/2020 at 3:22 AM, Spunkinmyarse said:

Yet again, sex will be demonized, and gay sex in particular.  Even on this site, there seems to be a growing attitude that the problem here is sex and fucking, rather than just close human contact.  We have to remember that this disease didn’t start in the bathhouses or cruise clubs dotted round the world- in fact, it seems to have been spread far more effectively at venues serving religious services, weddings and funerals, etc.

Sometimes I wonder if a certain amount of guilt and self-loathing has crept into the way some of us here are talking about sex at the moment.  We should take a step back, and remember this is not the same disease that devastated our community 40 years ago.  Sex is not the problem.

Spunk, your post was so well written and insightful. Thank you for writing it.

It seems, particularly in the US that whenever there is a new disease or disaster, there are televangelists ready to attribute them to "Gods wrath," and as they pass, take credit for praying them away. i was raised and came out of such a culture and it is alive and well. The demonizing attitude of which you speak is just one stroke away from the white house in the US (i.e. Pence) 

i think you are spot on about "a certain amount of guilt and self loathing" that i believe has been culturally conditioned into most people on a subtle level.  While the tide is currently in our favor, and has been progressively for a few years, there is still a strong antigay and homophobic culture that literally "demonizes" us. It hasn't been that long since i had the "gay demons" cast out of me, and the people who believed that my being gay was actually "demonic" are still alive and well, just less visible. 

i'm a bit of a student of WWII and am particularly amazed and informed at how the tide can turn.  Movies like Cabaret and Bent do a good job depticting how a liberal society and environment changed from gay acceptance to persecution.  Experimenter is also a great movie on how the same culturally conditioned response to authority that was in Germany during the 30's and 40's was alive and well in the US in the 60's. Really,  Milgrams experiments (the topic of the movie) demonstrated that similar response was not unique to Germany.  i believe it is naive to think that could never happen again. 

To me, even if Covid was similar to the HIV virus that devastated the gay community, i don't believe sex was the problem then either.  i don't think sex is ever the problem unless it has been forced on someone without their consent.  No one in the straight community ever says kissing is the problem because one can transmit and catch the flu that way.

In terms of transmission, it's more of an issue for a straight person to kiss his girlfriend who has the flu, then go to work, because the flu can be spread casually.  HIV?  It's comparatively hard to catch. In terms of cost?  The meds developed to combat the flu did not cost any less to develop than HIV meds. They do not cost any less to manufacture, the only difference is the mark up on the price tag to us in the US. Truvada for instance:  "According to ACT UP, the medication costs about $6 a month to manufacture—but a month’s worth of the prescription can run as high as $1,500."   

By my estimation, it is never kissing or fucking or sucking or sex that is at fault, but the cultural demonization you note. ❤️

[Guest CuriousDallas]

Until there’s an effective treatment or cure I can’t see how gyms, spas, saunas, sex clubs, bathhouses can reopen. It’s more likely ABS’s will reopen minus the back rooms as you can at least maintain social distancing while shopping for videos, magazines and everything else. I was thinking about Spa Castle back in Dallas the other day as there’s really no way you can safely open something like that up. You’d constantly be having to disinfect everywhere to keep it genuinely safe. And the gym? Think of how many people never use the disinfectant wipes to clean machines before or after they workout? The add in the benches in the locker room, the saunas, the showers, and on and on. I think of the sleazy Mexican sex club that I’d go to in East Dallas that already was hardly that clean to begin with. There’s no way you could keep it clean, disinfected, and maintain social distancing. They’re going to be the last to open and I imagine most will go broke well before they have a chance to reopen. Yeah, I’d love to see gyms reopen as that’s where I got a lot of action but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

[Cumfilledbottomboi]

On 4/27/2020 at 10:39 PM, Bttm2go said:

I agree this is not about sex. But yes I am sure the conservative right will use it to discriminate against gays. We will need to support our community spaces once it is safe to do so. I am not a big bar guy, but I will make it a point to patronize the leather bars and events here. We need to keep these spaces going. 

Yes, 5he conservative Christian Right, in America at least, HAS already blamed gays for this pandemic. Pat Robertson is but one who has. 

[Oldercumslut]

Around where I am, there hasn't really been many places other than the ABS.  We have to travel a couple of hours to get to a club.    I see a few "Private Clubs" being started though with plans for "after" this settles down.   Guys are only going to keep it in their pants for so long, no matter what goes down.  In the 40 plus years I've been active, I've seen this kind of thing come and go.  I even know of bath houses that stayed open at the hight of the Aids crisis.   They got around it by offering testing and had lots of baskets of condoms around and strict "Rules" about always using a condom.  But with the lights out, I know I was stealth many times.  

I expect the different glory holes will open first.

I think it's going to be fear of disease and not the conservative right that keeps things closed around here.

[twoguyssssss4fun]

I would happily go to the korean spa again, wearing a mask...  though the thought of only allowing 2 people in the steam room would be a boner killer.. I totally miss seeing a dozen naked guys in the steam room all stroking their meat at the same time.

[bbzh]

Stories like this one scare me because it makes attacks on gay venues socially acceptable in the current environment...

[think before following links] https://www.advocate.com/world/2020/5/09/outbreak-among-gay-clubs-stokes-homophobic-resentment-south-korea