Pride Day At The Gay Baths

Pride Day At The Gay Baths

For any gay man, summer is a reason for celebration. Not only is the weather warm and beautiful, but it is also when most North American cities host their Pride Day festivities. We have made significant progress. Since Pride Day generally falls on a Sunday, many in the gay community take the preceding Thursday and Friday off work. That way, men can devote four days to enjoying the festivities leading up to the big Pride Day parade. If you want to know who is gay in your office, look around to see who works Thursday and Friday during Pride week. If someone is absent those two days but returns to work on Monday or Tuesday, then you know.

Many in the straight community associate Pride Day with celebrating the advancements of the LGBT community. Outsiders see it as the day all gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people can come together with Pride to celebrate being gay for just one day. But based on what I have observed, many gay men do not mark Pride Day that way. For the majority of gay men, Pride Day serves as an opportunity to indulge in their desires, including partying, indulging in alcohol or drugs, and engaging in as much sexual activity as possible within a 24-hour period.

You might be wondering, what connection does Pride have with the gay baths? You might expect the baths to be deserted. There is a parade, food trucks, vendor booths, information tables, and a lot of people celebrating being gay on the streets and in bars. Who would want to be in a bathhouse on Pride Day? It just so happens that Pride Day at the baths is their single biggest money-making day of the year.

Let us start with Pride Week and the events leading up to the actual Pride Day parade. As mentioned earlier, many men take Thursday and Friday off from work during Pride. During Pride Week, many of these guys rent rooms at the local baths, which is cheaper than renting a hotel room. Over the weekend, these men go bar and club hopping before returning to the baths looking for more action. This all explains why Pride Week is the busiest time for the gay baths. On those days and nights leading up to Pride Day, the baths are just as crowded as a regular Saturday night. With all of the celebrations and events just before Pride, scores of gay men push drinking and drugs to excess—so why not sex as well?

Interestingly, closeted gay men are also at the baths during Pride. They are completely at ease in the gay baths, fully aware of the ongoing Pride parade. My sense is that these men appear to be seeking a connection to Pride, but they choose not to participate in the parade. Therefore, their attendance at the gay baths represents a compromise. I think these men feel that being gay is only a part of their psyche, not 100% of their identity. But it is not just closeted gay men choosing the baths over the parade; openly gay men are doing the same. One year, I was shocked to see a relatively well-known gay writer at the baths on Pride Day. He is an icon in the literary world, highly respected for his work. Given his celebrity within the gay community, one would expect him to march proudly in the parade, receiving cheers from the crowd. But there he was, lounging by the pool, working on his tan. He has reasons not to go to Pride, and other gay men feel the same way for a variety of reasons.

Some men have seen the parade so many times that it has become redundant. Others feel it has become too large and intimidating, especially for older gay men who have difficulty maneuvering through the big crowds. While some believe Pride should be a 365-day celebration, why is it limited to a single day? At the same time, a handful of other gay men think that the event has become hypocritical. After years of gaining acceptance from the heterosexual community, the parade reinforces negative stereotypes in the media with images of half-naked gym bunnies, drag queens, and butch lesbians. However, other gay men arrive at the baths early, anticipating a packed house, wanting to secure a decent room in advance.

Once the parade is over, a new wave of gay men arrives, all hot, sticky, stoned, drunk, and incredibly horny. These men are prepared for one thing: sex, after witnessing an abundance of flesh and skin during the three-hour parade. Within half an hour, the baths become jam-packed, but the bathhouse crew has prepared for the influx. The staff places bowls filled with condoms and lube along the hallways and in the lounge area. Towels quadruple as the washing machine runs nonstop to keep up with the demand for new towels. After someone leaves, the staff gets the room cleaned and turned over at record speed. Waiting lists to gain entry get longer and longer. The room attendants carry walkie-talkies for that one day, as they are frequently in contact with the front desk. There is so much traffic going in and out of the baths. Some men stay for hours of non-stop sex. Others, however, drop by for a quickie. They come in, get off with someone, and then leave to continue partying somewhere else—all within 20 minutes.

As the late afternoon turns into nightfall, there is much more freedom in having sex that day than any other day. Men are walking around completely naked instead of wearing a towel. There are blowjobs, different types of sex, and orgies happening openly in the hallways. Couples arrive at the baths looking for a threesome. Many men are calling ahead of time to reserve a single room or even two!

One year, I remember one guy who did nothing but go up and down the halls, blowing on every guy he could find. Another year, so many guys came and went at record speed that the hot water ran out! Cold showers are not what many men expected on Pride Day. As this is a single massive orgy in which all participants engage in sexual intercourse with one another, and this is only the afternoon. When night falls, it gets busier, with even more men checking into the baths and looking to get off. Sex is happening non-stop. The orgies usually die down at around six the next day!

So, if you are curious about your local gay baths on Pride Day, drop by. Who knows who you might meet?