While stigmatized by the wider public as a site of transmission, some evolved into an important node for the dissemination of information about safe sex practices. Long used for gay sex, bathhouses took on additional social functions as the tragic impacts of HIV/AIDS became more evident. During the 1980s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic (which would become a global pandemic in its own right) swept through New York City’s gay community and shifted the role of its key institutions. Balancing the demands of social distance against the emotional toll of isolation, one thing becomes abundantly clear: the boundary between private and public space dissolves at the scale of a virus.ĬOVID-19 is not the first contagion to challenge that familiar distinction.
Virtual platforms for dating and sex work have seen surges in activity, while the challenge of being a sexually-active single person during a public health crisis begs questions about the possibility of harm-reduction campaigns.
Some have relished being forced into close quarters with significant others (or even roommates) for others, the stress of cloistering has become a major turn-off. Pandemic life has scrambled spatial patterns of intimacy.
