HISTORY 

In the June 1971 issue of The Fountain, the headline read STOP SEX POLLUTION 

VENEREAL DISEASE 

The following article was prepared from an interview by The Fountain with Mr. Horton, Board of Health. The V.D program use case finding interviews to find and alert potential cases that have been exposed to a venereal disease. 

Venereal diseases are rampant in Oregon. Gonorrhea has now reached pandemic proportions. V.D. has increased 600% in the last ten years, with the largest increase by far in the last two or three years. 

And on page 12 of the same issue: V.D. 

At the May 19th general meeting of THE SECOND FOUNDATION OF OREGON The committee for the Eradication of V.D. presented a guest speaker, Mr. Don Cowne, of the Oregon State Board of Health. 

Mr. Cowne offered to the group a lecture on Venereal Disease. The lecture was followed by an informal discussion on specific problems of V.D. A great amount of concern was express by all who attended the meeting. 

Mr. Cowne pointed out the uncontrolled spread of V.D. in the State of Oregon. He stated that Venereal Disease had past the epidemic stages and reached pandemic proportions. It was pointed out that because of the prevalent life style in the gay community the Homosexual is much more susceptible to V.D. then those of other segments of the community. 

Ad in August 1971 issue of The Fountain 

Front page news in the May 1972 issue of The Fountain, HOMOPHILE NEWS FRONTS Salem, Oregon 

The State Emergency Board approved an increased program to combat the spread of venereal disease in Oregon. The Board allowed the State Health Division to accept a $247,000 federal grant to reduce the spiraling rate of gonorrhea increase in Oregon. 

The venereal disease rate in Oregon has leaped from 1,500 cases per year in 1952 to over 9,000 cases last year. Most of this increase has occurred in the 15 to 24 year age group. 

VENEREAL DISEASE IS PEOPLE POLLUTION AD 

October 1972- page 7 – The Fountain 

Checkout OPERATION VENUS TO TREAT VD page 5 of the November 1972 issue of The Fountain and on Page 3 of The Fountain, Foundation participates in VD Task Force. 

Page 6 March 1973 The Fountain, VD INFORMATION CARDS AVAILABLE 

Page 6, May 1973 issue of The Fountain, McCall establishes VD Committee 

June 1973 issue of The Fountain, page A2 – Governor’s VD Task Force Holds First Meeting 

Northwest Gay Review, issue May 1974, page 10 Operation Steam clean and on page 11 – V.D. Clinics are listed 

Per a paper written by Anne Mussey for the Gay and Lesbian Archives, Ruben Reynaga USNT 421 AERO-VAPORS and Workout Baths possibly circa 2000 

Interview with David Hamilton/Mame and Norm Costas: Workout Baths (531 SW 12th Ave.) was open from 1968-1969. t was not listed in the Portland Directory in 1970; however, it reappeared in 1971 with a new name, Workout Health Studio/Advisco Health Studio (1971-1976). In 1977 it was only listed as the Workout Health Studio and remained open until 1979. In 1980 a new health club was opened in that same location called Olympic Uptown Health Studio and it was listed in the directory till 1983; however, I was unable find when this health studio closed shop. This block which housed Workout Baths also included a variety of other businesses ranging from a barbershop (Washington Barber Shop to a luggage store (Fink’s Luggage) and an orthopedic shop. The Playmate Health Club (1974-1976) was listed on 525 SW 126 Ave. Across the street on Alder, the First Presbyterian Church stands (1854). Interestingly enough, the 531 address used to house Camp Here Girls Portland Area Council unt1 1965.

Workout Baths must have been a low-key business, especially to be allowed to continue for such a considerable long time near a church and other small businesses. However, one could argue that most bathhouses ran during late hours after the bars close; “therefore, there would be little traffic to bring alarm or annoyance to the other businesses. I did explore the area and found the building where the bathhouse business was located. It looked like a house, and it was empty. There is a dry-cleaning shop located in the 517 address that once was a barbershop. A bookstore, a beauty shop, and a luggage store presently inhabit this block. I went into the laundry shop and asked the owner (an Asian lady with an extreme accent) if she was aware what business used to exist prior to her dry-cleaning service. She said he had been there for fifteen years, and she did not remember what was there before she moved in. I asked her if she owned the space above her and she replied no. The entrance that once led to Workout Baths is locked and through the windows, one can see a variety of boxes.  I tried calling the listed number (227-8393) but it was disconnected or no longer in service.

My friend took it upon himself to ask some older men at Princeton, a health club on 11’th between Alder and Morrison that has a large gay clientele, about the gay community in Portland. Many were aware of the fact that there used to be more gay bars and bathhouses in Portland, yet they had a variety of reasons why gay-oriented businesses such as bars and bathhouses were in decline. The most common reason though was that gay men had other outlets to turn to meet other gay men, besides bars, bookstores, or bathhouses. There were a variety of political and gay-friendly organizations that gay men joined; however, it would be foolish to simply disregard the importance of bars and bathhouses in bringing in the gay community. These institutions serve an important purpose for gay men at every level of life, from those that are totally open to completely closeted. Gay bars often served as the first step towards accepting one’s sexuality, at least for me it did. It is evident that sexual minority youth now have access to more gay organizations than sexual minorities from the past, therefore, one can conclude that the importance of gay bars and bathhouses will decrease. By decreased importance, I do not mean that these institutions will disappear. The sex industry will remain as long as the libido of gay men continues. By importance, it is meant that gay men will no longer rely on these institutions solely to communicate with other gay men.

The AIDS epidemic had a tremendous impact on the sexual practices of gay came to impact the sex practices of gay men and eventually, it came to impact the sex practices of the general public. The quick spread of diseases through bathhouses was evident in the past and many gay men would simply attain vaccinations if they discovered they carried or caught a disease There was an outbreak of gonorrhea during the early 1970s, in Oregon among the gay population and even the Oregon Department of Health heavily advertised in the Fountain, a gay monthly magazine, to go get check-ups. Mr. Horton, the Venereal Disease Program Director of Oregon State Board of Health released the statistics that from01 1961-1971 there had been a 600% increase in gonorrhea cases, the eleventh highest in the nation. Bathhouses were dangerous because of the anonymous type of sexual contact between a high number of men. There was always a potential for some form of disease breakout, therefore, it should come as no surprise that AIDS would spread very fast. In Portland, the bathhouse Club Portland remained open, even during the AIDS crisis, and is still in business. There is a sex club in the basement called Zippers beneath Club Portland. The sex club Xes is located on 13th Avenue between Burnside and Washington There are only three businesses that cater that cater exclusively to gay men in Portland currently. During the 70s there were the following I had come across: Aero-Vapors Bathhouse, Workout Baths, Majestic Hotel Baths (303 SW 12th Ave.), and Olympic Sauna (359 SW Morrison). These are some of the heavily advertised bathhouses, some word only known by word of mouth. It is also important to note that the words sauna and health club basically provided the same service, a place for gay men to have sexual encounters.

Interesting paper on the subject. THE ROUTLEDGE HISTORY OF DISEASE Edited by Mark Jackson First published 2017 ISBN: 978-0-415-72001-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-54342-0 (ebk) 24 BEFORE HIV Venereal disease among homosexually active men in England and North America.