One undeniable truth still stands: public sex acts of any kind are illegal, as in, against the law.

Another day, another endorphin-boosting pump at the gym.

Next stop: the steam room.

My circulation and lactic acid levels will thank me later. After a quick shower, I approach the steam room door and, to my surprise, I see a notice taped to it:

STEAM ROOM RULES
Guests entering must be dressed appropriately.
Workout shorts, swim attire, or towel ARE REQUIRED at all times.
Camera use is allowed ONLY within the STEAM ROOM AREA.

Initially, I was taken aback.

In an environment meant to offer a moment of relaxation before diving back into the chaos of the city, the last thing anyone needs is a dose of CCTV surveillance. My shock was brief, though, as I quickly realized why the gym had taken such a drastic step.

This issue isn’t unique to New York City or David Barton’s Gym U. After several closures and re-openings of their steam room, Crunch WeHo — another predominantly gay gym — has indefinitely closed its men’s steam room. I also learned that a Crunch location in Brooklyn has followed suit. I imagine both gyms now display similar notices warning that ‘inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated.’

As anyone who’s frequented a gym’s steam room in any major city knows, these spaces are no strangers to cruising. This isn’t a new phenomenon. For decades, gyms – and their locker rooms and amenities — have served as ground zero for gay cruising. If this surprises you, pick your jaw up off the floor and Google the meaning behind the village people’s 
Young Men’s Christian Association. You might feel a little awkward the next time it’s sung en masse at a sports game or (eye roll) an inauguration.

Many see cruising as part of a shared gay culture at these unofficially gay fitness clubs. However, the growing number of complaints to gym staff about these post-pump antics suggests otherwise. This raises the question: has the ‘inappropriate’ behavior in these spaces become so prevalent that closures and Orwellian surveillance are now the only solutions?

Years ago, same-sex sex was a criminal act and treated as such. Back then, sex became a form of protest for many gay men and others in the LGBTQ+ community. It was a way of saying, ‘We exist, we have the right to exist and we have the same right to get off as anyone else.’

Since then, both the LGBTQ+ community and the politics surrounding it have evolved. With more queer people adopting what many consider a heteronormative or family-oriented lifestyle, and with the rise of sex positivity, can we still view sex as a form of protest? On the other side of the three dollar bill, are those who are getting down in the dank dark of our steam rooms seeing this action as a way of preserving a tradition that they hold near, dear and queer?

This situation is a bit more layered than a simple ‘then and now’ generational shift. Over the decades, certain fitness centers in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have been recognized as gay spaces, with a loyal, predominantly gay clientele. However, now these gyms are distancing themselves from their LGBTQ+ identity — sometimes quite literally shedding their pride flags.

Now, they’re offering student discounts not to the City Universities of New York, but exclusively to NYU and PACE — targeting a younger, straighter and more affluent clientele. So, when ’23-year-old finance bro Bobby’ walks into the steam room to find two men in the middle of a vigorous forearm workout… Sorry Bobby.

It’s the ultimate risk that comes with sneaking in that last “spot” off the gym floor. Many folks who don’t partake turn a blind eye – or even offer a blasé wink when they walk into the steam room. Then there are those who would prefer a steam room where people’s hands remain in sight while their other bits do not. In today’s tense political climate, is it ending up on a list forbidding you to be within 500 feet of schools?

Ultimately, the steam room – a once cherished space with a sense of freedom and unspoken connection as palpable as its wafting clouds of moisture – has found itself to be a microcosm of the broader tensions both within the LGBTQ+ community and society. As gyms shift their focus to serve a broader, younger, more mainstream clientele, the future of steam rooms remains, well, unclear.

AJ Sloan is a writer, retired adult performer, and clinical counseling graduate student. His work has been featured in Huffington Post and The Advocate and led his own weekly column for Fleshbot.