LGBT activist Peter Tatchell and Manchester’s Gay and Lesbian foundation have slammed suggestions that gay saunas should be banned.
Former soldier and LGBT campaigner James Wharton last week sparked controversy when he said sex saunas should be closed and are ‘a thing of the past’.
Following the tragedy, MM spoke to staff who have worked in saunas who revealed how instances of drink, drugs and dangerous sex have tarnished them.
Now prominent LGBT activist Peter Tatchell and the LGF have hit back at Wharton’s claims.
Peter Tatchell told MM: “I don’t think this particular LGBT movement has the right to act as the moral police. Lots of gay men use saunas responsibly, a few bad incidents is not justification for closing them all down.”
Wharton cited saunas as the ‘thorn in the side’ of the gay community that gives ‘bigots the ammunition to attack us’. He believes saunas threaten the march for equality that the LGBT community has made with legislation such as same-sex marriage.
However Tatchell told MM that heterosexuals have plenty of sex-related meeting points and the LGBT community shouldn’t be scrapping theirs to ‘fit in’.
He said: “James seems to want straight acceptance at any price. I disagree with his suggestion that we have to be more perfect than straights to win equality and acceptance.
“Heterosexuals go to saunas, massage parlours, go dogging and have wife swapping parties so why can’t gay and bisexual men have a bit of fun too?
“In a free and open society we should accept the right of individuals to make their own choices. If everyone consents and no one is harmed the state should butt out of people’s lives, and so should this particular LGBT movement.”
Tatchell’s sentiments have been echoed by Manchester’s Lesbian and Gay Foundation.
Rob Cookson from LGF told MM: “We work very closely with Basement saunas to ensure that testing services, condoms and lube are freely available. We need to focus upon how groups like ourselves can work with saunas to ensure this happens consistently.”
He believes Wharton is focusing on one issue at the expense of much bigger issues affecting LGBT equality.
Mr Cookson said: “When we look at LGBT equality issues, it can be tempting to pick out one issue, but we need to be looking at a broad range of issues. Like hate crime and the impact that’s having on people’s lives.
“One in two gay people accessing our counselling services have had suicidal thoughts, so let’s talk about suicide resulting from hate crime and a wider breadth of issues impacting upon the gay community.”
Saunas frequented by gay men have been present in the UK since the late 19th century, but legal establishments first started to appear in this country in the 1960s. However there were routinely raided through the 80s.
Concerns over police costs, accusations of homophobia and a lack of public interest in victimless crime saw this stop throughthe 90s, leaving saunas to run freely without regular police interference.
Saunas were a place for gay men to meet, socialise and cruise in a safe environment.
Times have changed, but essentially the role of the sauna hasn’t. One of Manchester’s first gay saunas was the Brooklyn Bath House and today there are several gay saunas in the Greater Manchester area.
A spate of crimes earlier this year at the canal side Undercroft cruising area led police to consider a possible closure of the area.
The underground canal tow-path that runs from Minshall Street to Dale Street, has seen a number of incidents, including the death of one man.
Users have witnessed violent crimes there, and it has been claimed that the spot leaves gay men increasingly vulnerable to attacks from thieves.
Many proponents of saunas say that if they were to close it‘s likely men would still cruise, but they’d be forced to use outdoor, exposed and potentially dangerous locations.
Wharton and other critics of saunas have also suggested that they facilitate anonymous and potentially unsafe sex and are therefore counterproductive in getting a safe sex message across.
However such accusations have been questioned by HIV charities such as Terrance Higgins Trust.
Jason Warinner, Clinical Director for the HIV charity, said: “Closing saunas would not stop people meeting for sex in these circumstances.
“However, it would make it more difficult for organisations like Terrence Higgins Trust to provide safer sex information, supply condoms and deliver HIV testing services among groups at increased risk of sexually transmitted infections and HIV.”
There is, of course, the issue of hygiene, which was one of the major issues cited by the coroner in the inquest into the death of Stephen Green.
However Tatchell said: “Undoubtedly there are some saunas that have hygiene issues but these short comings are not a reason to force all saunas to close.”
A spokesman for Manchester sauna Basement Complex, who also own H2O, said: “Customer and staff safety and welfare are our upmost importance and something that we take very seriously.
“Our venues operate within strict guide lines and we always work towards improving standards.
“Following the incident both venues have been visited several times by Environmental Health and other agencies including Public Health Manchester and health authority.”
He pointed out that the Basement Complex have a zero tolerance alcohol and drugs policy.
“We work closely with the LGF to help get campaigns out to the gay and bisexual community,” he said.
“We display poster campaigns and offer lots of free resources for customers to take away.
“We also host very successful outreach clinics. The clinic is run by staff from the Hathersage centre and support staff from LGF. They offer health screening, help and advice.”
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