Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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The Associated Press - Friday July 2, 1999
Jordan Lite, Associated Press Writer
"I used to go all the time," said Maybauer, who wants the bathhouses back.
"It was very much like a salon. It's a very civilized experience." But the bathhouses were banned by the city's health officials 15 years ago during the AIDS epidemic, and a recent petition drive to bring them back failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
Even talking about reopening the bathhouses has prompted strong editorials condemning the idea.
"Who wants to take a chance on reenergizing the AIDS epidemic?" read a San Francisco Examiner editorial last month. The San Francisco Chronicle called the movement "an absurd proposal that defies reason in a city that has witnessed the city's gay community decimated by AIDS."
The movement is being led by Michael Petrelis, who says the ban stemmed from public health concerns that don't exist any more. He says that with AIDS deaths declining and people becoming more educated about safe sex, there's no good reason for the bathhouse ban.
"I'm a gay man with AIDS who has buried many friends and I don't want a return to unsafe sex," Petrelis said. "I want that kind of bathhouse facility with condoms, safe sex information, showers and locked cubicles - and safe sex in that cubicle too, don't get me wrong."
Bathhouses are still open in New York City, Los Angeles and elsewhere. Near San Francisco, there are bathhouses in San Jose and Berkeley, and San Franciscans make up about half of the clientele at Berkeley's Steamworks.
The petition drive exasperated some AIDS experts. They say it could reduce support for AIDS prevention and encourage gays, especially younger ones, to become complacent about the deadly disease.
"Young gay men are not that different from young straight men in believing they're invincible. They don't have that horrible history in their memories," said Mervyn Silverman, the public health director who ordered the bathhouses closed in 1984.
Although new drugs are keeping people with AIDS alive longer, about 500 San Franciscans test HIV-positive every year, two-thirds of them gay and bisexual men.
"I think that people need to talk to persons with HIV who are often taking 60 pills a day and ask them if they think having HIV is becoming a minor issue in their lives," said Dr. Mitch Katz, the director of the city Department of Public Health who has been accused of trampling on the rights of gay men.
Despite only gathering 4,000 of the 10,500 signatures needed by Monday to put a measure on the November ballot, supporters say they will continue the fight. "Am I disappointed? Yeah, but like I said, 15 years of prohibition is what I'm trying to overcome," said Petrelis, who is planning to gather signatures to put the measure on the March 2000 ballot. "I'm in this for the long haul."
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