Gay cruising stories
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Disclaimer: The contents of this website were written with due diligence and to the best of the author’s knowledge. Please be constantly aware of the local laws and behavioral guidelines regarding cruising in public and public intimate encounters, even on the beach, in the forest, or wherever it might happen. Our cruising guides and cruising stories are not intended to encourage unlawful behavior but aim to add an adventurous note to your trip. If you want to play it safe, we suggest visiting one of the many Gay Saunas in Europe.
When I was a young male in New York, it was effortless to get laid. There were parks and bathrooms, support rooms, more bathhouses and sex clubs than you knew what to undertake with—all the ways gay men had to get off before the internet.
I can clearly picture one date in particular in my late teens, cruising the Core Park Ramble. It was late spring, nearly warm enough to be summer. A breeze came in off the lake, the light was just first stage to set. I spent hours wandering those trails, getting my dick sucked in the bushes, fucking a sexy construction worker, getting fucked by a businessman in a dark suit. It was one of those days when everything aligned. A good day.
When I moved to LA in 1999, I remember discovering all the little cruise spots around town. Corners of Griffith Park where men would lurk. Veiled stairways and garages along Hyperion Ave in Silver Lake where orgies would converge after the neighborhood gay lock, Le Barcito, closed for the night.
Needless to tell, I think sex is good for you. I’m drained of the pervasiveness of slut-shaming and sexual morality, especially in the male lover community, and it’s sad that cruising today is far from what it once was. There’s
Cruising
by Luke Turner
The Sunday afternoon Bloomsbury Team tour drifted past, their guide waxing posh and poetic about Mrs Dalloway. Floral summer dresses caught the sunlight through the leaves; luminous , surreal and kaleidoscopic. I felt his hand on my hip and reached behind to instruction him inside me, biting my T-shirt so as not to cry out and give us away.
I didn't perceive his name and I can't call to mind what he looked like, only how he felt.
Tavistock Square Gardens was once one of the liveliest cruising grounds in central London, but it has since been tidied up; the bushes cut back, the gate locked reach dusk. It's no longer possible to hop off the bus or tube to leave the normality and chaos of the capital behind for the damp night, the large beech vegetation under which you'd be guaranteed to find an orgy.
To enter such territories of concealed lust – a park or lonely layby, forest thicket or public toilet – is to cross a threshold. Once over it, modern codes apply. Silent anonymity is the law. Who you are no longer matters, only what you do. Perhaps this is why these places persist – despite sex being so readily available via apps like Grindr and Scruff, many of t
Long before the days of Grindr and the internet, the queer scene was largely underground. Queer and bi men had to find creative ways to combine in discreet, yet relatively guarded spaces.
For many, the locals baths – or bathhouses- were a sanctuary where you could be yourself and meet other guys who were interested in both sexual and friendly connection.
Meanwhile, cruising spots were known general spaces where men met for casual encounters.
Yet for decades, the baths were routinely raided and became a battleground for the fight for queer rights and the gay liberation movement.
In today’s episode of #GayMenGoingDeeper, Michael is talking with long-time writer, activist, and educator Tim McCaskell about bathhouses and cruising. Together they’ll share personal stories while exploring topics such as:
- What really goes on in a bathhouse?
- Why are they important to our history and culture?
- Are they still relevant today?
- What are the risks?
- Tips for making the most of your visit
Whether you enjoy the bathhouse scene or not, this episode will shed light on the sociological and historical significance of these queer spaces from the perspective of two men of tw