Stories by Stephen Engel & Timothy Lyle

Not Just Another Glory Hole: Reconsidering the Bathhouse as a Community Space

The bathhouse was once part of a vibrant sexual culture and contributed to emotional empowerment, not just a sex den with glory holes

In 1984, This Local Coalition Took the Safety of NYC’s Gay Bathhouses Into Its Own Hands

The Coalition for Sexual Responsibility partnered with NYC bathhouse owners to keep their establishments open during the epidemic

Queer Activists of the 1980s Differed in Responses to the Community’s Promiscuity

If the sexual exploration of the post-Stonewall generation was grounded in promiscuity, was it the root of seemingly endless gay deaths?

This Closeted NYC Mayor Described Queer Sex as ‘Horrific’ and Helped Close Bathhouses in the ’80s

Despite longstanding rumors of his own homosexuality, Ed Koch was instrumental in the shutdown of NYC’s gay bathhouses