Reopening Gay Bathhouses Will Aid 'Economic And Cultural Recovery,' San Francisco Supervisor Says

Gay bathhouses could have an easier time returning to San Francisco, after the board of supervisors approved an ordinance that would ease restrictions for adult sex venues on July 21 with a unaminous vote.

This will amend the Heath Code, requiring the Director of Health to "adopt minimum health and safety standards" for commercial adult sex venues. It will also remove decades-old policies that required these businesses to monitor sexual activities and prohibited private rooms and locked doors.

These regulations were put in place in 1984, when the AIDS crisis was devastating gay communities in San Francisco. They specifically targeted sex clubs and gay bathhouses, and while sex clubs eventually reopened in the city after shuttering their doors, gay bathhouses never did, according to the Bay Area Reporter. 

That could change after the COVID-19 pandemic is over (this new ruling will not affect the city's reopening timeline). The ordinance, led by Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, will help "decriminalize sexuality" according to a press release by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

[...] "What this ordinance will do is allow for adult sex venues to be apart of our economic and cultural recovery when it is safe to do so," Mandelman said in a July 9 meeting. "During the '70s and early '80s, bathhouses were a focal point of gay social life in San Francisco, and were important community meeting places for friends to gather to share stories, dance to the latest disco hits, or watch a live show."

While Americans aren't allowed to attend Easter services in their cars, Dr. #Fauci says of using Tinder/Grindr:

"If you want to go a little bit more intimate, well, then that’s your choice regarding a risk."

This is TOTALLY out of line with #30DaystoSlowTheSpread guidelines. pic.twitter.com/edNG8Iz50Y

— Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) April 16, 2020

Can’t go to church.
Can’t go to work.
Can’t go to school.

Even Dr. Fauci says protesting is dangerous.

But Democrats encourage people to riot and protest in the streets. pic.twitter.com/78Dyjkt6D6

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 31, 2020

"The only backlash that we've received [from this proposal] is, I think the crankiness of social media, wondering whether this is the most important thing to be doing in the light of a pandemic. I've also heard it from queer people who say, 'HIV may be dropping in San Francisco, but STDs aren't. Isn't this just going to become a place where STDs spread?' And my response to that is, well, people are having sex right now," he says.

"They're having sex in private parties. They're having sex with multiple partners on a given night, based on the apps, and they're not getting any kind of health messaging that could be provided in a bathhouse."

Mandelman stresses that the ordinance does not require or allow the reopening of adult sex venues until restrictions requiring social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted.

"Bathhouses are not going to open during the height of the pandemic and nobody's going to expect them to. The legislation gives the Department of Public Health until January to come up with regulations to allow this," he says.

As SF experiences a severe surge in COVID-19 cases and a dangerous increase in hospitalizations that threaten to shut our city down again, there is nothing more important you can do to protect yourself - and all of us - than to remember: phone, keys, MASK! https://t.co/Ejwv6eoJg6

— Rafael Mandelman (@RafaelMandelman) July 17, 2020

L.A. houses that throw big parties will have water and power shut off, mayor says https://t.co/uIHzWYXaFJ

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) August 6, 2020