San Francisco, renowned for its commitment to gay rights, is reintroducing gay bathhouses after nearly four decades. Last week, the San Francisco Planning Commission sanctioned permits for Sanctum Baths, a new venture in The Hub neighborhood. This area is situated next to the historic Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District.
The plans involve transforming a two-story, 7,516-square-foot commercial space into a bathhouse and adult venue. As reported by the Bay Area Reporter, the backers of this project anticipate its opening by the year’s end. This initiative marks the first approval since the San Francisco Board of Supervisors lifted the AIDS-era prohibition on such venues in 2020, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
During their prime in 1982, the city hosted up to 20 bathhouses, offering spaces like saunas as gathering spots for sexual interaction free from law enforcement harassment. These venues became pivotal symbols of the gay liberation movement, as outlined by Jacob Binder in the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice.
Due to the AIDS crisis, these bathhouses closed by 1987. With the advent of new medications significantly diminishing the transmission and deadliness of HIV and AIDS, cities like Minneapolis and San Diego have started revoking similar restrictions.
Jonathan Ohene, a local business owner, highlighted the project’s significance, emphasizing the systematic stigmatisation and removal of sex-positive spaces in the past. “Authorizing this initiative is an essential move towards healing our past,” he noted.
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