<< Community News
10 • Bay Area Reporter • March 12-18, 2020
t
Coronavirus outbreak postpones SF bathhouse hearing by Matthew S. Bajko
T
he first hearing on allowing gay bathhouses to reopen in San Francisco has been postponed in light of the coronavirus outbreak. After initially issuing an order banning events with 50 people or more in city-owned buildings, San Francisco Mayor London Breed issued another order Wednesday placing a moratorium on all large gatherings of 1,000 people or more. That is in effect until March 25 and can be renewed. In light of coronavirus developments, Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee over the weekend
asked his colleagues to postpone their legislative proposals likely to draw a large contingent of the public to speak on the matter at City Hall hearings. Thus, gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman made the decision to postpone the planned hearing for Thursday, March 12, on his ordinance aimed at updating the city’s policies regarding private rooms in adult sex venues. It was to be taken up by the supervisors’ public safety and neighborhood services committee, which he chairs. As the committee meets every other week, the soonest the proposal could be heard is Thursday, March 26, though Mandelman’s office told
the Bay Area Reporter it would work in concert with the city’s Department of Public Health on rescheduling the hearing. Depending on if the coronavirus outbreak is under control or not, the hearing could be pushed back until April 9 or later. “It is a very dynamic situation and the top priority for the Department of Public Health has to be responding to the coronavirus,” said Mandelman. As the B.A.R. first reported in February, Mandelman’s ordinance would jettison the long-standing prohibition against having locked doors for private rooms rented by bathhouse patrons and rescind the requirement that such venues hire people to monitor the sexual activities of their customers. This week Mandelman told the B.A.R. he saw no reason not to continue to push for a change in the bathhouse policies in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Health officials are asking the public to limit social interactions in large settings and those with underlying health conditions to self-quarantine by working from home and curtailing travel. “I think it is kind of different issues,” Mandelman said. “This period of social distancing is not going to be forever.”
Bay Area bathhouses
So far the Bay Area’s two gay bathhouses, the Watergarden in San Jose and Steamworks in Berkeley, remain open and have not shut down due to the coronavirus. Both are operating on their usual 24-hours a day, seven days a week schedule. Curtis Jensen, Steamworks’ marketing and graphics coordinator, wrote in an emailed response to the B.A.R. Tuesday that the company has taken various actions at its clubs to protect both members and employees. It also has locations in Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, and Vancouver. “We have increased our cleaning protocols to include more frequent wiping
Professional headshots / profile pics Weddings / Events
StevenUnderhill 415 370 7152 • StevenUnderhill.com
Aw ee
d oo ew
ut & About at H O om nd e k
Jane Philomen Cleland
A Thursday hearing to discuss a policy change to allow bathhouses like Steamworks in Berkeley in San Francisco has been canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
and disinfecting of touch points such as door handles, handrails, and sinks and restroom stall doors. We will be maintaining our intensive regular cleaning routines,” Steamworks said in a statement. “We are using disinfectant in our cleaning routines which has been shown to be effective against human coronaviruses. We will ask members displaying common cold symptoms to please refrain from checking in during this time and look forward to welcoming them back when they are feeling better.” The Watergarden did not respond to a request for comment from the B.A.R. Tuesday.
SF bathhouse rules
San Francisco’s bathhouse restrictions were instituted in 1984 during the height of the AIDS epidemic in response to a lawsuit the city had filed and resulted in the businesses shutting their doors. That October a San Francisco Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order that shuttered nine gay bathhouses and sex clubs. In late November of that year an-
other judge lifted the restraining order but imposed new rules on how the bathhouses and sex clubs could operate. No longer could they rent private rooms, unless they secured a hotel license, and employees had to monitor the sexual behavior of patrons. Bathhouse owners, however, refused to open their doors as the court heard challenges to the new rules. The judge hearing the court case at one point toughened his order and banned any sex from occurring in the bathhouses. The legal case came to an end in 1989 when the city dismissed its lawsuit. By then the city’s gay bathhouses were no more, but over the ensuing years sex clubs opened their doors. Several, like Eros and Blow Buddies, remain in business, albeit without private rooms patrons can lock shut. By the 1990s the city’s health officials saw the sex clubs as avenues to reach gay men and educate them about safe sex practices. But they had remained resolute in their opposition to allowing gay bathhouses to open See page 14 >>
Ads feature man prosecuted in elder abuse case by John Ferrannini
A March 28 & 29 | Lake Tahoe
$
79
Online Specials!
Adult Lessons Lift Tickets
RAINBOW RIDGE SKI PARADE | SLALOM “DRAG RACE” DJ DANCE PARTY | FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS RAFFLES | SKI MEETUPS| VIP DINNER
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
SKIHOMEWOOD.COM
man who pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor counts of vandalism and false imprisonment stemming from an elder abuse case is featured in an ad campaign from the San Francisco Tobacco-Free Project. Natthakarn Laohacharoensombat, 34, who goes by “Ray,” is a model in the ads encouraging people to stop smoking featured on Muni buses. Laohacharoensombat’s face was also featured on the Department of Public Health’s website as recently as March 5. An individual once acquainted with Laohacharoensombat, who asked to remain anonymous because of safety concerns, said he finds his image on Muni buses to be offensive. “That is totally disrespectful to his victims,” the individual said. “That person left a wake of destruction in San Francisco. It’s jarring to see those ads.” As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, the charges Laohacharoensombat pleaded guilty to involved damaging the victim’s eyeglasses with graffiti, causing damages of less than $400, and falsely imprisoning the elder he was allegedly caring for, according to a copy of the criminal complaint against him. Laohacharoensombat currently is the subject of two stay-away orders. One is from the victim in the false imprisonment case. The second is from a former lover, according to court documents reviewed by the B.A.R.
A smoking cessation ad poster on Muni buses features a man who was convicted in connection with an elder abuse case.
As the B.A.R. previously reported, Laohacharoensombat violated the stay-away order in the false imprisonment case by attempting to enter the elderly man’s home shortly after the indictment. The man called the police and Laohacharoensombat fled. In June 2016, Laohacharoensombat filed a lawsuit in which he alleged he was not compensated properly during his time as an employee of Entour Castro, a clothing store at 3600 16th Street, according to court documents. However, Laohacharoensombat’s attorney moved that the action be dismissed and it was dismissed with prejudice in October 2016, according to court documents. Laohacharoensombat left the United States in December 2019 and is now in Thailand, according to posts See page 14 >>