In New York City, the Everard (nicknamed the Everhard) was converted from a church to a bathhouse in 1888 and was patronized by gay men before the 1920s and by the 1930s had a reputation as the "classiest, safest, and best known of the baths".
26 men were arrested and 12 brought to trial on sodomy charges 7 men received sentences ranging from 4 to 20 years in prison. 1903 New York In the United States on February 21, 1903, New York police conducted the first recorded raid on a gay bathhouse, the Ariston Hotel Baths. Six men aged 14 to 22 were prosecuted for an offense against public decency and the manager and two employees for facilitating pederasty. 1876 Paris In France the first recorded police raid on a Parisian bathhouse was in 1876 in the Bains de Gymnase on the Rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière.
In the short period from April 1492 to February 1494 they convicted 44 men for homosexual relations not involving violence or aggravating circumstances. The Eight of Watch (the city's leading criminal court) issued several decrees associated with sodomy and on Apthey warned the managers of bathhouses to keep out "suspect boys" on penalty of a fine. The places used for homosexual acts were to be taverns, baths, and casini (sheds or houses used for illicit sex and gambling). Early records 1492 Florence In Florence, Italy, in 1492 there was a purge against the "vice of sodomy". Some bathhouse owners tried to prevent sex between patrons while others, mindful of profits or prepared to risk prosecution, overlooked discreet homosexual activity.
Men began frequenting cruising areas such as bathhouses, public parks, alleys, train and bus stations, movie theaters, public lavatories ( cottages or tearooms), and gym changing rooms where they could meet other men for sex. In the West, gay men have been using bathhouses for sex since at least the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a time when homosexual acts were illegal in most Western countries and men who were caught engaging in homosexual acts were often arrested and publicly humiliated. A tradition of public baths dates back to the 6th century BC, and there are many ancient records of homosexual activity in Greece. Records of men meeting for sex with other men in bathhouses date back to the 15th century. History File:Albrecht Dürer - The Men’s Bath - Google Art Project.jpgĪlbrecht Dürer – The Men's Bath File:Bathers at San Niccolo.jpg
Bathhouses offering similar opportunities for sex for women are rare, though some men's bathhouses occasionally have " lesbian" or "women only" nights.īathhouses vary considerably in size and amenities Template:Spndfrom small establishments with 10 or 20 rooms and a handful of lockers to multi-story saunas with a variety of room styles or sizes and several steam baths, Jacuzzi tubs, and sometimes swimming pools. Not all men who visit gay bathhouses consider themselves gay, regardless of their sexual behavior. Gay baths are primarily for sex, not bathing. In gay slang in some regions these venues are also known colloquially as "the baths," "the sauna" or "the tubs", but they should not be confused with public bathing. Gay bathhouses, also known as gay saunas or steambaths, are commercial spaces for men to have sex with other men.