A muscled man, his blonde hair cropped short, stands shirtless as the video starts. “I just visited the Russian Turkish Baths,” he says robotically, reaching up to adjust his hair, and allowing for a glimpse of his armpit hair. “It was great.” The video ends. The Reel has more than forty thousand views, and the caption reads simply, “draft".
These lo-fi videos of hot guys have proven successful for the East Village bathhouse—videos of hot shirtless guys nearly always outperform testimonials from other clothed patrons. The videos seem innocent enough, but they’re clearly designed as thirst traps to engage a specific type of customer. “Am I the only one who feels like this is a secret sex club,” reads a comment on another video of a shirtless testimonial. As anyone who’s been—or anyone who’s checked the Sniffies map—can tell you, there may be some truth to the comment.
Although it’s being introduced to a new generation, bathhouse culture goes back decades. Chris went to his first bathhouse in the early 90s. He saw an ad for the Mustang Spa in an alternative newspaper, and took an hourlong bus ride to get there. “I was really determined,” he remembers. “I got there, and I was scared to death.” Once he went inside, though, he felt right at home. “I saw guys walking around in towels,” he recalls, “I saw guys in corners having sex, and I immediately knew: I love this place.” Now, a few decades later, Chris is the general manager of Steamworks Seattle, a bathhouse that sees more than a thousand customers a week.
Like Chris, a lot of people had some of their first queer experiences at bathhouses and steam rooms. Its part of a queer legacy that dates back to when these spaces were some of the only places where queer people could meet—and, yes, fuck. In fact, bathhouses in the mid century were akin to modern sex clubs—on steroids.
New York’s famous Continental Baths, one of the largest venues in the country, reportedly had a cabaret stage, restaurant, bar, clothing boutique, and roof deck (with sand imported from nearby Riis Beach, of course). The venue would see 10,000 people per week—some would even stay the entire weekend. Bathhouses were a place where modern cruising took root; with guys locking eyes across crowded steam rooms, or wandering through steamy hallways looking for their next conquest. Or, in the case of the Continental Baths, finding their way to the “orgy room,” a carpeted amphitheater built specifically for huge groups to fuck for hours. Bathhouses were everywhere—some estimate there were more than 200 by the end of the 70’s—and they served as social spaces as much as anonymous sexual spaces for queers.
Many bathhouses were shuttered in the 80s as AIDS ravaged the community, and the venues that survived took another hit in the aughts as apps like Grindr took their place. “We saw a huge decrease in people coming to the bath houses,” according to Jason, assistant manager at Pittsburgh bathhouse Club Pittsburgh. The industry was in rough shape.
Now, things are changing. Sniffies, Jason says, has been a big part of a kind of bathhouse renaissance for Club Pittsburgh. “It has been a huge benefit to our business and other local businesses,” he says. Cruisers are looking for ways to meet irl, and on the Sniffies map, they’re able to discover bathhouses as a cruising destination—a place they can be as anonymous as they like, where they can meet other cruisers to explore. Another pillar of Club Pittsburgh's recent success: a big push towards inclusivity.
Although bathhouses have a reputation for being dominated by cis men, Jason says making an effort to open the space to other communities has helped the bathhouse thrive. It started with an all gender night which brought in couples and swings, and quickly expanded to welcome in trans people. “Trans men, whether or not they had had their ID markers changed. They are men. They should be allowed in anytime,” Jason says. “We then expanded to trans women as well.” Non-binary, genderfluid, and gender nonconforming people are also welcome, he says. “Everybody under the trans umbrella is welcome in seven days a week now.” The change, he says, increased revenue by 1000% in its first year. Chris, at Steamworks, said a similar message of inclusivity has taken root at other Steamworks locations around the country after he pushed to start a weekly trans-oriented party at Steamworks Seattle.
Now, as bathhouses open up to the larger queer community, they’ve begun to connect via the North American Bathhouse Association to share ideas and insights that can help bathhouse culture thrive. These spaces, once rundown and in decline, have started to return to the extravagant glory of what they once were. More than simply a place to fuck, Jason says, Club Pittsburgh now offers sexual health services, and has opened an events venue that holds raves, concerts, and drag shows. Bathhouses these days don’t have clothing stores and rooftop decks (yet), but don’t worry—they’re still as cruisey as ever.
