The Beast in the Bathhouse [It's Meth]

The New York Times ^ | January 12, 2004 | ANDREW JACOBS

[aculeus]

Bob looked haggard but was feeling fabulous. Chewing gum at a manic clip, circling the labyrinthine halls of the West Side Club on a recent Sunday afternoon, he had been awake since Friday, thanks to a glassine pouch of crystalline powder he had tucked beneath the mattress of a room he rented in this Chelsea bathhouse.

The powder, known as methamphetamine, or crystal meth, had helped Bob conquer a half-dozen sex partners during a 35-hour binge. Like many of the men cruising the two-level club lined with closet-size cubicles, Bob, a 37-year-old advertising copywriter, was "tweaking," high on a wildly addictive stimulant that has been sweeping through Manhattan's gay ghettos.

"The stuff is a wonder," he said, taking a pause from his prowling, his scrawny frame wrapped in a white towel. Asked about condoms and the niceties of safe sex, Bob shrugged. "Whatever," he said, turning away.

At the club, there were plenty of condoms for the taking, courtesy of the management, but in conversations with a dozen patrons who acknowledged using crystal, only two men said they were following the rules of engagement in the age of AIDS. "Some guys just throw you out of the room if you pull one out," said one of the men, James, who, like everyone else, would not give his full name. "To them, rubbers are a killjoy."

Health officials say a sharp increase in the number of syphilis cases in the city indicates an increase in unsafe sex, which they fear may lead to a resurgence in H.I.V. transmission.

For now, researchers say, crystal meth use in the city is largely confined to gay white men in Manhattan, although they fear its eventual spread to the wider gay population and beyond.

There are no numbers, however, to show what health care workers say is the growing role that crystal meth is playing in transmitting H.I.V. Although the evidence is anecdotal, health officials say that crystal, which erases inhibitions and spurs sex marathons with multiple partners, is helping to spread the virus.

According to the city's largest private clinic for lesbians and gay men, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, two-thirds of those testing positive for H.I.V. since June acknowledged that crystal meth was a factor in their infection.

Dr. Howard Grossman, one of the city's best-known AIDS specialists, said more than half the men who test positive in his private practice blamed methamphetamine. "This drug is destroying our community," he said. "It just seems to be getting worse and worse, and no one is doing anything about it."

[Mr. Lucky]

Of course, nothing in this article should be read to imply that homosexuals are queer.

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[Dallas59]

Yea it's a shame they live that way....but it's not anybodies fault except thier own. That goes for hetrosexuals that do the same.

[reagan_fanatic]

What a great country we live in.

Gays willfully ignore safe sex practices, while the Republicans get blamed for not doing enough about AIDS.

You can't win.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

From this article we can surmise why gay men have a much shorter life expectancy than straight men.

[2banana]

A lifestyle that is not only to be tolerated but celebrated. Hopefully, one day, schools will have national gay pride months, gay studies at universities and quotas/affirmative action for government contracts and businesses.

[AppyPappy]

That goes for hetrosexuals that do the same.

I've never heard of a hetero bathhouse.

[RonF]

Whoops! There's an obvious misquote here.

Dr. Howard Grossman, one of the city's best-known AIDS specialists, said more than half the men who test positive in his private practice blamed methamphetamine their own stupidity and lack of self-discipline.

There. Fixed it.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Stupid question, perhaps, but why are these bathhouses allowed to operate, yet brothels can't?

[Dallas59]

Heh...where you been?

[hellinahandcart]

"This drug is destroying our community," he said. "It just seems to be getting worse and worse, and no one is doing anything about it."

What action could be taken that wouldn't result in lawsuits filed by "your community"'s activists and lobbies, hmmm?

The drug is already illegal. Your community already knows how AIDS is transmitted. What do you want the government to do about people who are so fixated on sex and drugs that they don't care?

[hellinahandcart]

Hang on to your hat, hetero swing clubs are back in operation here too:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1055611/posts

Now, let's all join hands and sing a happy song while the dregs of society rise to the pinnacle. Wow, look how fast they're going!

[AppyPappy]

"Swinging" is different from a bathhouse. In a bathhouse, men will go through dozens of sex partners. Swinging generally involves a much lower number.

[CatoRenasci]

"...no one is doing anything about it."

Well, let's see. Meth is illegal, and I'm sure the cops would bust dealers they find. But, that's not doing anything about it.

And, the behavior the man is complaining about is voluntary: no one makes a homosexual man go to a bathhouse, take crystal meth, and have unprotected sex. Just what is anyone (and who is that anyone) supposed to do about it?

This is the whole problem with the AIDs epidemic among homosexuals: it's the result of voluntary behavior. The behavior used to be illegal, and now it's not. That may or may not be a good thing, but one can hardly argue homosexual behavior, and hence unsafe homosexual sex, has decreased since homosexuality became legal and tolerated.

I think the way I would deal with this if I had the power would be to allow insurance companies to deny insurance coverage for HIV contracted through voluntary homosexual behavior. If homosexuals want to kill themselves off, let them. Just don't expect the public to pay for trying to cure them or prolong their lives. Sort of like smokers. Let insurance companies exclude coverage, or increase premiums. This way, the market would regulate behavior and people would be taking responsibility for their actions.

[bmwcyle]

This drug is destroying our community,

Your life style is doing it not just the drug.

[SpinyNorman]

The powder, known as methamphetamine, or crystal meth, had helped Bob conquer a half-dozen sex partners during a 35-hour binge. Like many of the men cruising the two-level club lined with closet-size cubicles, Bob, a 37-year-old advertising copywriter, was "tweaking," high on a wildly addictive stimulant that has been sweeping through Manhattan's gay ghettos.

1)Gays "conquer" each other?

2)"Closet sized cubicles" speaks for itself.

3)There are "gay ghettos?" Another reason to avoid NYC.

4)Am I a "homophobe" for criticizing this clearly self destructive lifestyle? This is suicide on so many levels, one has to think that homosexuality is a mental disorder. Certainly, if a heterosexual was on a such a clear course of self destruction, he/she would be a candidate for some serious observation.

But hey, as they said on Seinfeld, nothing wrong with that!

[hellinahandcart]

Swinging generally involves a much lower number.

Only because Mother Nature made it easier to give than receive, generally speaking.

[captnorb]

Don't forget Disney Gay Days.......

[Pylot]

One weekend with meth permanently alters your brain chemistry.

It is the most addictive drug on the planet with an addition recovery rate of less than 6%.

Once this stuff gets ahold of you, it is pretty much over for any normal life going forward.

At any given time in America there are 10 to 11 million meth adddicts.

Sad, nasty wicked stuff.