The Gloryhole FAQ (explicit language)
The website Cruising for Sex publishes The Gloryhole FAQ [explicit] by 'Lilfuzzyg'. A glory hole is
usually a small hole, at least fist-sized, placed in a fairly thin sheet of plywood or metal partition. The hole is placed about hip high for the average guy and is large enough to place a man's penis through to let the person on the other side perform whatever sexual activity he pleases on it.Understanding the glory hole phenomenon is useful when evaluating statements made by commercial sex shop operators such as Capital Video. For example, at Capital Video's license violation hearing in Springfield on June 18, they made much of the fact that they recently installed metal sheets between the viewing booths in their Apremont Triangle Amazing.net store. However, Lilfuzzyg, "an avid attendee of gloryholes", suggests above that metal partitions can be holed just as wooden ones can.
Here are some other observations from The Gloryhole FAQ:
...Below are legal issues you should ponder. Note that the validity of this information varies by state in the United States.If you are not familiar with the terminology, the question "Are you clean?" is not referring to your state of cleanliness. Rather, it refers to whether you have a potential to be diseased. If you respond "Yes", it means that as far as you know, you are not going to give the guy a disease or you have limited yourself to partners who also say they are clean. If you say "No", you either know you have some disease or you are not sure if you have some disease or you do not bother to check with the other guy to see if he is "clean". Needless to say, anyone can lie about this so be careful...
- Sex in an adult bookstore is NOT a private place. By law, it is usually considered a public place...
- Sex in an adult theatre is NOT a private place. By law, it is usually considered a public place...
- Touching someone sexually in a public place, even if they invite you to touch them, can get you arrested. This is not entrapment - even if it was a police officer that invited you to touch him or her.
- Exposing yourself in a public place, even if someone asked you to expose yourself, can get you arrested. This is not entrapment - even if it was a police officer that invited you to expose yourself...
Booths normally take quarters, dollar bills or tokens. The amount of video time you get for that money varies wildly.
Almost universally, no matter where I have been, patrons of these stores are not allowed to:Spend money and you will generally be left alone. These places have to stay in business and it is no one's God-given right to hang around there for free. It is not a public area - it is a place of business. If you don't have the money, go elsewhere.
- Be in a booth and not have the video running (that is, not spending money)...
Also, if you get into a booth together, it is generally accepted that both people put money into the slots...
OK, how do I find gloryholes?
Gloryholes come and go all the time and they can be found in the largest cities, rural locales, and, well, just about anywhere. Look for places offering video booths, couples booths or "buddy" booths...
How can I tell if an adult bookstore tolerates activity in the store?This is probably the best question I get asked. Remember that the following advice is a guideline -- not a guarantee. The store tolerates activity if:
- You see gloryholes in booths.
- Some or all of the booths are out of the line of sight of the store clerk (watch for cameras though!)
- The doors to the booths are lockable.
- You see people allowed to loiter a short while in the aisles...
[Glory hole sex] is sex at its most basic and raw form. It is sex with someone you do not know or love..
When Capital Video general counsel Lesley Rich declares that some Capital Video viewing booths have retractable "buddy windows", glory hole devotees can reasonably infer that Capital Video welcomes sexual activity in their booths. Glory holes have been such a distinctive feature of Capital Video's Springfield store they are mentioned prominently in its citation on Squirt.org, a website that helps members cruise for casual sex:
Most booths in arcade have glory holes, many times you can share a booth, have recieved some of the best blow jobs in my life here. Always some action going on. It's got 20 booths, 3 large glory holes, several peep holesThe phenomena of glory holes and high-risk sex at Capital Video's Springfield store do not appear to result from a mere transient 'employee breakdown', as claimed by its project and construction manager Anthony Nota (Gazette, 6/19/07). They are in fact longstanding and well-known features of this establishment. Springfield mayor Charlie Ryan should keep this perspective in mind as he determines the fate of Capital Video's viewing booth license this summer.
See also:
Gazette: "Porn store's viewing booths raise stink in Springfield"
During the hearing, Nota himself said one of the holes in the Springfield viewing booths had been made with a drill, something that we presume would make a lot of noise. More generally, Internet comments from patrons suggest that Capital Video's stores in Springfield, Kittery, Maine and elsewhere can be popular places for people to meet up for sex, at least when the store management chooses to be lax. And being lax is profitable. As one patron puts it, "theres more money going in the machines with lights off and holes in the walls..."
"We agree and will not dispute that in October and December certain things occurred on the premises that should not have occurred," said [Northampton attorney Thomas Lesser, representing Capital Video]...
'There were seven booths that contained holes in them that appeared to be 2 inches wide,' Stathis said...
'It's a never-ending battle,' said Nota, of preventing customers from altering the booths. 'We do our best...'
Massachusetts Health and Human Services: HIV-AIDS Epidemiologic Profile Fiscal Year 2007
October 2006 Fact Sheet
From 1999 to 2005, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS increased by 30%... As of the end of 2005, a cumulative total of 27,631 Massachusetts residents have been diagnosed and reported with HIV infection, with or without an AIDS diagnosis. Of these, 11,665 (42%) have died...
Male-to-male sex and injection drug use are the leading reported risks for HIV infection among people living with HIV/AIDS, accounting for 33% and 27% of all infections, respectively... Among males diagnosed with HIV infection, the proportion of HIV diagnoses with male-to-male sex as the primary reported exposure mode increased from 41% in 1999 to 53% in 2005.
Geographic Distribution
Top twenty cities/towns in Massachusetts by rate of HIV infection diagnosis (2003-2005):
- Provincetown
- Springfield
- Boston
- Holyoke...
Comments on Squirt.org shed additional light on the environment inside the Amazing.net store. Squirt is a website that helps members cruise for casual sex. Of all the Squirt listings for Springfield, the Amazing.net store currently has the most comments...
a1buttmuncher, 12/5/06: They have been cited by the city and had to close up the holes and they are keep a close eye on the back. The lights are up and if they see you opening doors they will throw you out. They are very serious I witnessed the manager throwing out a guy I saw there all the time. Be careful and discreet or you will not place to play during the cold winter months. I agree that it is not really worth the time with the bright lights and no holes but they will be back eventually. Be Patient!Many Porn Shops with Viewing Booths Likely Fall Short of OSHA Standards
In 2006, compliance appears to have been an issue at Capital Video's porn shop in Kittery, Maine. This porn shop contains 16 viewing booths. We recall last year's testimony from Kittery's police chief (emphasis added):
The Chief said their informant told them that on numerous occasions he had tried to clean but had not been given any information on how to wash the areas properly. Police Chief Strong said he believed the collection of material they made, along with the lab results, showed beyond a reasonable doubt that there were body fluids being exchanged or deposited that other people were exposed to...Sexual Ecology: Porn, Promiscuity, and AIDS (explicit language)
Rotello observes that all infectious diseases are ecological. The human behavioral environment is as important a factor as the biological properties of the virus. Variations in technology and culture explain why the same virus will remain rare in one population but start an epidemic in another. Epidemics depend on the infectivity of the virus, its prevalence in the community, and the rate of contact between the core group of infected people and the general population...
"...Based on the evidence, I have no doubt that if owners of commercial sex establishments had to file 'epidemiological impact statements' proving that they would not harm gay sexual ecology before they could get or renew their licenses, very few would be allowed to operate." (p.199)
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