Gay bathouse
Although they may sound salacious, gay saunas are a fairly standard part of life for Hong Kong’s homosexual people. As much for general socialising as for more intimate encounters, there’s a surprising number to choose from if you’re interested – and if you know where to look. These are some of our favourites. By Jason Albano
Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.
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Hong Kong’s best gay saunas
Big Top Gay Sauna
Hidden inside a residential block, Big Uppermost boasts a cyber café, a reading area, a maze and a TV room alongside the usual amenities. So far so usual. However, things find a little more fun come Large Cock Fridays where if your member is more than 28cm long, you get free entry. Entry for anyone under 25 also costs just $40.
3/F, Yuet Yuen Building, 17-19 Mong Kok Road, Mong Kok, 2628 6196.Sun-Fri 2pm-3am, Sat 2pm-8am.
of Service to Asia's
Gay & Sapphic Community!
The movement to revive the classic bathhouse spirit in the US started in San Francisco – in spite of, or perhaps because of, the fact that bathhouses had not existed there since the city’s public health director notoriously ordered most of them to be closed in 1984, with the rest obeying suit thereafter. In 2004, DJ Bus Station John began decorating tiny, gritty dive bar Aunt Charlie’s with old bathhouse signs and pictures from vintage homosexual porn magazines for his weekly party, The Tubesteak Connection. He limited his music to the bathhouse era heyday, mainly 1974-1983, much of his vinyl inherited or sourced from gay men who had died from AIDS. The term “bathhouse disco” got attached to his style, and his parties now draw visitors from around the globe. Along with gay London DJ quartet Horse Meat Disco, whose accepted excavations of the disco sound brought a wave of mature school charm to larger dancefloors, the bathhouse disco movement encouraged a wave of fledgling same-sex attracted crews in cities across the US to embrace the pre-AIDS past.
While many of these “new queer underground” crews forego a purely bathhouse disco sound in favor of cutting-edge techno, classic and acid house, they uti
The Freddie Guide to: Bathhouses
What is a bathhouse?
Bathhouses – also known as baths, saunas, or gay saunas – are spaces where queer men* meet to socialise, relax and acquire sex. They are legal, licensed sex venues, as opposed to regular saunas or steam rooms where people cruise.
The number of gay bathhouses in North America peaked in the 1970s. Most of them closed in the 1980s, as local governments made public health rules to curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic. These rules were often rooted in homophobia.
Today, there are still bathhouses in most major cities across the world. You can find them through Google or on cruising sites like Squirt and Sniffies.
* Historically, bathhouses only admitted cisgender men. They are generally becoming more inclusive. Many have more relaxed door policies or consecrated times and events that are safer spaces for trans and non-binary people. If this applies to you, it’s best to check online or dial ahead before visiting a venue for the first time.
When you arrive
When you arrive at a bathhouse, you’ll get to a front desk with an attendant. This is where you’ll pay for your entry along with any extras like private rooms (if the venue