The responsibility of managers to monitor the sexual behavior of patrons in gay bathhouses has a circuitous history. This paper explores each approach as described by club managers, staff, and patrons to understand the potential effectiveness of monitoring as an HIV prevention intervention. An analysis found that monitoring was influenced by the kinds of space available for sex, suggesting three approaches to monitoring: 1) monitoring all sex in clubs that only had public areas where men had sex 2) monitoring some sex in clubs with private rooms for sex and 3) no monitoring of sex, regardless of the kinds of space for sex. Yet, monitoring has received little evaluation.īetween 20, we conducted qualitative interviews with venue managers, staff and patrons in New York City, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Perhaps none of these are as intrusive to the venue's environment as what is called 'monitoring,' which involves staff, during every shift, repeatedly walking throughout the public areas of a bathhouse to check on patrons' sexual behavior. Many HIV prevention interventions have been launched in gay bathhouses and sex clubs since the onset of the AIDS epidemic, such as condom distribution and HIV testing.
