Being Homeless At The Gay Baths

Being Homeless At The Gay Baths

The weather has been crazy, and those who dismiss global warming as a myth are clearly in denial. The past couple of days have been below minus 10. We have gone from one extreme (a hot drought in the summer) to the other (frost in the winter). This cold weather has gotten me thinking about the homeless. Because of those zero-degree temperatures, homeless men routinely check into the baths for shelter.

We are all just a few paychecks away from becoming homeless. We are all susceptible to finding ourselves waiting in line at a food bank. Gay bathhouses are where the impoverished stay—both gay and straight men. Yep, you’ve read it right. Plenty of straight men spend the night at the baths. Beggars can’t be choosers, as gay bathhouses provide a low-cost and safe alternative for the impoverished. While an admission fee is required to stay overnight at the baths, if the choice were between staying at a shelter for free (where your life and valuables are in danger) or begging on the streets for money to stay at the gay baths, the baths would win every time.

The baths are a relatively safe environment (notwithstanding drug users and hustlers). You have a warm bed, a place to shower, and sometimes even free food. If you play your cards right, you can even get your laundry done. Every bathhouse has on-site laundry facilities to clean all those towels soiled with ejaculate, using strong bleach. However, only some bathhouses might be receptive to doing your laundry. The majority of bathhouses will say no. But it doesn’t hurt to ask. If you are a regular customer and charm the laundry guy, he may slip your clothes in the washer along with the sheets and pillowcases. Don’t worry about your clothes mixing with sheets and towels filled with ejaculate; the heavy bleach and overheated dryer will kill any residue.

You can even get entertainment via free cable. Years ago, several older men would arrive at the baths every night to watch ESPN. They would come armed with their dinner, snacks, and non-alcoholic drinks. Fully clothed, these men would plant themselves in front of the TV and watch hours of nonstop sports. Unfortunately, they were detrimental for business. The television was situated in the lobby, providing potential customers with a view of these older men through the cash window. They would see these older men sitting around, watching TV, and assume the bathhouse crowd was elderly. Thus, no one would come in. The situation escalated to such an extent that management felt compelled to remove ESPN from the dial in order to prevent these older men from returning every night.

How someone can afford to sleep every night at the baths is a mystery to me. Where do they get their money if they have no source of income? Wouldn’t renting a bachelor’s apartment be cheaper if they had the money? I can answer the latter. Coming up with the first and last month’s rent, a key deposit, a signed lease, and a credit check would only be possible with help. With no previous address, it can be challenging. What about a cheap motel? Since registration requires a credit card, if you don’t have one, you can’t get a room.

While renting a bachelor is generally less expensive, if you are living on a tight budget, the only alternative to a homeless shelter is the baths. Some homeless guys cannot afford a room and can only purchase a locker. Then the challenge is to find a discreet place to crash. Management dislikes this and will discourage it, rousing men from their sleep. But it is difficult to police. It is not uncommon to occasionally see fully dressed men sleeping on the patio at 3 AM. Occasionally, during my early morning visits to the gay baths, I would come across some homeless men who were on their way out. Their 8 hours were up, and it was time to check out. These men look like regular individuals you might encounter on the street, not realizing they are without a home.

Bathhouses don’t encourage the homeless to spend the night at the gay baths. But they aren’t discouraged either. Unless the person is a real nuisance, management has no reason to refuse entry to someone who lives on the streets. As long as they are not dirty, relatively clean, and don’t smell, they are fine—no worries about other customers encountering men who reek of odor. However, the gay baths are a business that needs to make a profit. They rely on a steady stream of men entering and exiting, swiftly turning over the rooms for the next patron. The more men check in and out, the more money bathhouses make. If the guys stay at the baths for all 8 hours, the profit margin decreases. For this reason, the management turns up the music to full volume at midnight. While this adds to the excitement of cruising the hallways, it more importantly discourages men from using the baths as a place to crash nightly. How can anyone sleep with the loud dance music blaring in their ears? Some guys circumvent that rule by figuring out which rooms are the quietest from the music. They will even put themselves on the waiting list for a specific room to become available, understanding the importance of a restful night’s sleep.

Despite the fact that I frequently encountered homeless individuals (both gay and straight) at the baths, I have only interacted with a few of them. One guy I first remembered was from England, looking for work. He had no place to stay, but he picked up day labor jobs that were cash only. He would go to work during the day. Then, at night, he arrived at the baths as if he were at home. Another guy who seemed completely straight (and morbidly obese) was going through a separation from his wife. I suspect he came out to her, and she kicked him out. With a low-paying job, his choices were limited. Like the guy from England, he also treated the baths as his home. Night after night, he would arrive at the baths to spend the night.

Then there was Kirk. Whenever I saw him, he was always upbeat and in a positive mood. Identifying himself as bisexual, he was utterly comfortable with his sexuality. You’d always see him in his towel, shooting pool, and guzzling beer. Early one morning, I walked in, and Kirk sat at the bar, sipping coffee. I was surprised to see how depressed he was that morning. Fully dressed, Kirk was enjoying the complimentary breakfast the baths serve every morning. Despite kicking his addiction and being a certified drug counselor, everything had gone wrong for him. He was unable to secure employment, had lost his housing, and was now living at the gay baths. Kirk asked himself what had gone wrong. After completing the program, Kirk is now clean, but he is still living on the streets. He wondered why he even bothered to get off of drugs. At least being on drugs, Kirk was part of a community, accessing services as a drug user and making cash selling narcotics. Where is he now? He was spending his nights at the baths and his days wandering the streets. He was lugging his coffee pot, bulging knapsack, and suitcase on wheels, wondering what he could do next.

Kirk cut all his ties with his drugged-out friends. Subsequently, the individuals he considered his friends vanished from his life. Only one person provided him with a job in his restaurant. Kirk made just enough cash each day to rent a room at the baths. Then he started to cry in front of me. I couldn’t think of anything to say. I had never seen anyone look that defeated. This individual, whom I believed to be in control and sober, had reached the lowest point. He asked himself, “Why bother getting clean?” There was nothing I could do, nothing I could say, and I felt so helpless. So, I gave him one of my free passes to the baths. That way, he wouldn’t have to spend any money when he returned later that evening. I ran into him a few days later on the street, and he looked much better. I didn’t get any details, as he was with someone else, and I haven’t seen him since. So hopefully, everything has worked out.

But not all homeless stories are that sad and depressing. Antoine is from a rather large metropolitan city. Despite being in his thirties, Antoine decided to take a risk. Antoine came here with no job, only aspirations of living in an even bigger city. He found some work and a roommate. But with a few missteps, he wound up jobless and homeless. Most guys usually spend their nights at the baths and spend their days on the streets. But Antoine does the opposite. For him, it’s a homeless shelter in the evening and gay baths during the day. Despite the horror stories I’ve heard about sleeping in a shelter, Antoine showed no fear in spending the night there. Before Antoine lost his housing, he told me he wanted to return home. Months later, Antoine hasn’t left, prompting me to inquire about his reasons for staying. Antoine told me that even though he comes from a big city, this one is bigger and better. Despite being homeless and jobless, there are more opportunities, more fun, and a better atmosphere than in his hometown. That is why he is staying.

Nobody wants to be homeless and out on the street. Since these men are like us, there’s no reason to fear them. Their survival is dependent on the gay bathhouses serving as their refuge. This is where the irony lies.