Bathhouses, City Await Ruling : Public Concern Wanes Pending Test of Ordinance

It has been a year since the San Diego City Council approved an ordinance to control gay bathhouses. But little has changed while both the city and bathhouse operators await a ruling testing the regulations.

Meanwhile, public concern and debate over gay bathhouses has subsided considerably as four of the business continue to flourish.

Passed last March and patterned after similar county regulations, the city ordinance gives the county health department the power to declare bathhouses inside the city limits public nuisances if operators allow high-risk sexual activity on the premises. If declared a public nuisance, the bathhouses can be closed.

Violation of Rights?

But a day before the ordinance became effective last May, attorneys for the bathhouses filed a lawsuit, arguing that the city ordinance violated the patrons’ right to associate for social, recreational and political reasons.

The suit, filed on behalf of Club San Diego, Vulcan Steam & Sauna, Club Mustang and Dave’s Club, also contends that there is no solid scientific evidence linking sexual activity in the bathhouses to the spread of the AIDS virus.

Health department officials have said they are convinced that any sexual activity in bathhouses--defined in the ordinance as anal, oral or vaginal sex, with or without condoms--contributes to the spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

That claim, the attorneys for the bathhouses say, has yet to be linked scientifically with the clubs. They plan to present testimony from medical experts to dispute the county’s contention, said Thomas Homann, attorney for Club Mustang and Dave’s Club.

Moreover, Homann and attorney Michael Crowley, who represents Vulcan Steam & Sauna and Club San Diego, say the bathhouses provide a forum for the education of safe-sex practices and a social setting for gays.

‘Like a Motel’

“In essence, as they operate now, a main part of their business is like a motel,” Crowley said. In the two bathhouses he represents, there are a total of about 225 private rooms for rent where patrons can stay overnight, he said.

“They are not these dark, shadowy caves. They are pristine, and one health department inspector told me he wished other health clubs were this clean,” Crowley said.

The ordinance has provisions that apply only to bathhouses, such a stringent lighting, ventilation and construction regulations, including a one-person limit in any locked room. The measure, which is to be enforced by monthly inspections from the county’s Department of Health Services, also requires operators to “immediately expel . . . all persons engaged in high-risk sexual activities.”

While the two sides await a Superior Court ruling, the ordinance remains unenforced.

“If we could have summarily closed them down, we would have already,” said Dr. Donald G. Ramras, deputy director for the county’s Public Health Services division. “That’s what our lawyers tell us and that’s all I can say.”

Action on Hold

The city attorney’s code enforcement unit, meanwhile, also waits to take action, even though it says it has evidence that sexual activity that contributes to the spread of the AIDS virus continues in the clubs, according to Deputy City Atty. Julie Furth.

The city attorney’s office filed a countersuit against the four bathhouses in September, asking that all four be declared continuing public nuisances for allowing high-risk sexual activity to continue. The suit claims that the clubs are operating without a permit, another provision of the ordinance.

“We don’t like the publicity, because then the pressure comes down on us and people say we are not doing anything,” Furth said.

“If the ordinance was ruled constitutional now, we could shut them down. Our approach will first be ‘comply with the ordinance.’ ” Only after repeated violations would the code enforcement unit seek to close them down, she said.

Lawyers for the bathhouses say last year’s debate over the ordinance was a “political football,” which politicians seized on in an effort to show that they are committed to stopping AIDS.

“It’s a total win situation for the politicians,” Crowley said. “This is such an easy shot for them, sure they’d jump on it.” He says the gay community was “divided on the issue and already small to begin with,” making the bathhouses an easy target.

Crowley said the ordinance and lawsuit have not caused any drastic changes in sexual activity. He said the bathhouses have been at the forefront in promoting safe sex and continue to be.

“Most of our population is not out to commit suicide,” Crowley said. “Nine out of 10 people are going to take precautions. Everything is provided if people choose to use it.”