Bill Aimed at Risky Bathhouse Sex OKd

SACRAMENTO —  The Senate passed legislation Thursday that would enhance the power of local health officials to shut down bathhouses when they find evidence of high-risk sexual practices that could lead to the spread of AIDS.

The legislation, approved on a 22-0 vote without debate and returned to the Assembly for concurrence in amendments, is intended to bolster local bathhouse regulations adopted in Los Angeles, San Diego and other communities where gay bathhouses continue to operate and the incidence of AIDS has been on the rise.

Under the bill, local officials could shut down bathhouses if they produce evidence on a case-by-case basis that the bathhouses are encouraging or permitting high-risk behavior. In Los Angeles, the county Board of Supervisors voted in January to prohibit anal or vaginal intercourse and oral copulation at the bathhouses. The local regulations also limit private rooms to one person at a time.

‘Providing a Tool’

Assemblyman Bill Bradley (R-San Marcos), author of the legislation, said he saw the bill as “providing a tool” to local health officials to close down bathhouses. “San Diego seemed to be reluctant to close them down, so I thought I would just pass a statewide bill,” he said.

“Bathhouses are the same as prostitution,” Bradley said, and although “money doesn’t change hands . . . the end product is the same.”

The Los Angeles County ordinance is being challenged in court by the owners of two bathhouses, Mac’s in the Silver Lake Area and the Hollywood Spa in Hollywood. The action came after Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner threatened to shut them down for violation of the county ban on anal and oral sex in bathhouses.

In Los Angeles, there are 12 licensed bathhouses in operation, compared to the more than 25 that operated before the AIDS outbreak. Officials estimate that the 12 bathhouses cater to from 2,000 to 4,000 customers a week.

A 1986 study on the clientele and culture of bathhouses in Los Angeles by the UCLA School of Public Health found that of the 807 men interviewed, 10% acknowledged having unprotected anal intercourse--the type of behavior that experts say poses the highest risk of spreading the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV).

An additional 61% of the men said they had participated in sexual practices said by researchers to pose varying, but generally lesser risk. The remainder of those interviewed reported no sexual contact. The study was funded by a grant from the Los Angeles County Bathhouse Owners’ Assn.