But for some, the space was just a place to relax and unwind. I headed to the steam room, where most of the cruising – the perusal of anonymous sex – went down. Bridging the sauna and steam room doors were a number of showers stalls, which was a relatively tame open space. The one sauna room could fit more than 10 people, and through the glass I saw a party developing. My eyes darted everywhere but the screen.
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Paintings of nude men line the TV room, which switched between the news and dramas.īut most could not watch TV. Lube and condoms were in copious supply spread out around the space. Representatives from Whitman Walker, a D.C.-based health center specializing in LGBTQ health, were conducting optional HIV screenings. The entrance and large entertainment room has lockers, chairs and a television. With the locker rental – where I could leave my clothes after I disrobed – and a one-time membership, my total was $18 because Tuesdays are half off.Īfterwards, I was handed a towel and gained access to the first floor, which has a tanning room and gym. On display were typical items you’d expect for sale, like the appropriately titled “ultra douche,” and poppers, a drug that can make you feel heady and relaxes your muscles during sex. There’s no more information given by the employees, but you catch on quickly. They value anonymity here, so to pay, you go into another small room with a different employee. through the small window to prove he was at least 18 years old. Upon entering the building, there is a tiny lobby housing only a shut door, a circle porthole and one mustached man in line, who gave me a cursory look after slipping his I.D. I arrived at about 7 p.m., just as the workday was closing out and bathhouse patrons were coming in.
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The frosted windows allow for discretion alongside real estate offices and cocktail bars. NW, Crew Club blends in with the commerce almost too inconspicuously for all the testosterone ready to flood out of the building. and a return to the sex-positive aspects of the gay community. To older gay residents, the bathhouse may be a reminder of the life left behind in a post-AIDS crisis D.C. These are the spaces guaranteed not only to make everyone feel safe, but also to have a damn good time.Instead of scrolling through faceless photos on Grindr to find a hook-up, some gays opt for a steamy night out at D.C.’s scintillating bathhouse.Ī rite of passage for GW gays, or at the very least a seedy pipe dream circulated through the gay grapevine, Crew Club is D.C.’s only gay bathhouse and sauna.
Here are the best bars and parties for a night of queer debauchery-from shirtless specials to ’90s dance parties and everything in between. In general, I expect our hopes for our community are the same as many others' hopes-that we are just trying to be a truly better community all the time."ĭespite the rainbow extending to more spaces throughout the District, gay bars will always be the most well-lit beacons for the DC queer community to let their hair down, perhaps for the first time ever. So, our community is not only diverse, but it is also very smart and that makes for a lively, vibrant nightlife. Also, DC is a place where people with ambitious career goals come to pursue things seriously. “Because our city is such a magnet for people from all over the world, that keeps our community incredibly diverse. We have all sorts of people and all sorts of personalities,” says DJ and nightlife entrepreneur, Ed Bailey. "DC’s LGBTQ+ community is truly remarkable. The question of whether every place can now be considered safe in DC for queer people remains, but an ongoing shift is unmistakable as the LGBTQ+ community has begun to stake out their own space within more traditional watering holes, with outdoor beer garden Dacha, the trendy Takoda, and the bumping nightclub Flash as prime examples. Is it such a bad thing though? With each closure comes the inevitable, “where to now?” And the new answer seems to be: everywhere. Dupont Circle, once defined as the city’s gayborhood, is seemingly hanging on by a thread. Over the past few decades, countless openings, promising re-openings, and disappointing closings have taught us to expect the unexpected. The DC LGBTQ+ community is no stranger to change.