Great Wall Institute: The Process of the Great Wall of Los AngelesMain MenuResearch of the DecadesResearch1960s Illustration DevelopmentIllustration DevelopmentPlaylists of the DecadesPlaylistssparcinla.org185fc5b2219f38c7b63f42d87efaf997127ba4fcGreat Wall Institute - Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC)
1970s San Fransisco Gay Life: Bath Houses 1
1media/Screen Shot 2023-04-03 at 1.44.49 PM_thumb.png2023-04-03T20:45:58+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a4912Advertising for a San Francisco Bath House, sometime in the 1970s. Once the Consenting Adult Sex Bill decriminalized sodomy in California in 1976, the baths increasingly functioned as cultural centers “that could both shape and respond to the rapid social, sexual, and political changes that were taking place” by providing gay men an opportunity to specifically interact with other gay men. Although men could no longer be prosecuted, they still faced harassment by police given that the privacy afforded by the baths was disputed. It was not until 1978 that the San Francisco District Attorney finally emphasized, “There’s no question this (bathhouse) was a private place,” in response to a raid at the Liberty Baths involving three arrests. However, bathhouses would soon face a new form of regulation.plain2023-04-03T20:51:33+00:001970sGina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49