There is a group that visits public sex places almost daily. It is made up of out-of-the-closet homosexuals who know each other. At any time of night, on any day of the week, regular visitors know they will find someone they have already met.
Other groups do not have social relations with the people who frequent the parks, movie theaters or public toilets. During the daytime, for instance, it is common to see young university or high-school students flocking to the parks to study individually or in groups. Movie theaters have all types of customers, not all of them gay. The same is true of public toilets, university campuses and recreation centers. Saunas are the only places where these heterosexual groups are absent. At the movie theaters and parks, a few women participate in public sex.
Another group of men who frequent such places are bisexual males, or homosexuals who have not come out and feel they cannot afford to be seen in homosexual bars. Many of these men who are still in the closet are more masculine, less “detectable”, which is an added attraction for other gay men.
A key group of regular participants consists of criminals and sex workers; their roles sometimes overlap. Sex workers visit public sex places to find customers and participate in sex acts for money. The intention of the criminals, on the other hand, is to mug their “clients”. Police officers also make an appearance from time to time, to repress sexuality, acts of sexual commerce, and crimes. Many of them, as we shall see later, also participate in the sexual life of public places, particularly in parks and university campuses.
As we have seen, gay men who visit bars are one of the groups that participate in public sex. This sector of the homosexual population is the most accessible for quantitative research. The fact that thousands of them visit the dozens of gay bars that pepper San Jose makes it easy to interview them as part of a survey. Therefore, if one wishes to understand the motivations and expectations of public sex aficionados, they are a key group.
The model of sexuality that is pursued by this group, as we shall soon learn, could be summarized in one phrase: The body and its pleasures. There are two components to this model: a homosexual identity is in place, and the entire body is involved.
Those who were interviewed did not see their sexuality as merely a form of behavior, but as a way of life. Practically 90% of gay men who visit bars define themselves as homosexual or bisexual; there is no difference between those who visit public sex places and those who do not (see Table 1). To begin with, they share the belief that people pair off in accordance with the object of their desire: homosexuals are those who like members of their own sex. Secondly, they believe that homosexuality is a more or less permanent state of being, something lodged in people’s minds. It therefore does not reside in any given part of the body, nor does it exclude any organ; there are no taboo body parts inaccessible to pleasure. Public sex is another way of enjoying the homosexual body. The goal is to stimulate and satisfy all the senses and all the organs.
According to this model — the body and its pleasures — sexual fantasies are the scripts that allow participants to receive and give the greatest stimuli to the senses. Public places become the stage where fantasies promote the enjoyment of the body.
Most gays who visit bars also visit public places. When asked if they had visited one, 54.5% said they had (Table 2). Moreover, as can be seen in Table 9, 36% visit such places at least once a week, if not more often. The most popular places include saunas (27%), La Llanura Park (17.9%), the Balneario del Fuego Spa (15.6%), the campus of the University of the Republic (11.3%), movie theaters (12.3%), and public toilets (11%).
Those who visit such places are mainly young men in search of new experiences. Table 3 shows some of their social and demographic characteristics. Most gays who visit public sex places, for instance, are between 20 and 29 years old. However, a third are between 30 and 39 years old.
They are not uneducated, either. On the contrary, most of them have attended university. Unlike the other participants, who have often had only a few years of schooling, gays are a privileged group. In an underdeveloped country, only a fraction of the population can go to college or to a university. Their motivation for attending public sex places, therefore, has no monetary basis, unlike the other groups in this study.
Users of such facilities are not closet homosexuals. As Table 4 shows, they are fairly open about their orientation. When it comes to the awareness their mothers, fathers and bosses have of their orientation, there are differences. Of those who visit public sex places, 60% of their mothers know about their sexual orientation, as opposed to 51% among the mothers of those who do not visit public sex places. The same was true of 45% of fathers, among those who visit PSPs, and of 30% of those who do not. Likewise, 45% of the bosses of those who go to PSPs were aware of their employees’ orientation while only 30% of those who do not visit PSPs were equally aware. People who engage in public sex, then, are more open to other people who play a significant role in their lives. This would undermine the myth that it is men who have not yet come out of the closet who tend to visit such places.
Finally, participants are not loners. It is true that 49% claim not to be in a “closed” relationship. However, that still leaves 38% who say they are involved in a monogamous relationship, which suggests that their partners are not aware of their illicit sexual escapades.
Table 5 shows that the group of men who visit public sex places experienced a somewhat earlier sexual initiation than those who do not. Of those who visit PSPs, 28% said they had their first sexual experiences between the ages of 10 and 14; by contrast, only 20% of those who do not visit public sex places made the same claim.
Regarding respondents’ regular or occasional sexual partners (Table 6), there are no surprises: those who visit public sex places have more partners than those who do not. Among users, 20% say they have had between five and nine sexual partners in the last year; only 5.1% of non-users said the same thing. Three times as many PSP users (8.5%) said they have had over 10 partners; only 2.9% of non-users made the same claim. In the 30 days prior to being interviewed, 57% of those who do not visit public sex places said they had remained celibate; however, only 35% of visitors said the same thing. Almost twice as many users (12%) as non-users (6.6%) said they have had more than two sexual encounters in the last month. More users (53%) than non-users (41%) said they had sex in the last month with someone other than their usual partner.
However, not having a stable partner does not seem to be a key reason for frequenting PSPs. Of those who do visit public places, 22% said they had not had a stable partner in the last 12 months, as compared to 29% of those who do not visit PSPs. Meanwhile, 45% of those who visit PSPs, and 51% of those who do not, have had a stable partner over the same period.
Those who visit public sex places tend to be better at sexual communication than those who do not. (See Table 7.) The differences between users and non-users became readily apparent when it came to oral sex. Those who visit public sex places find it easier to convey to their partner whether they want their nipples sucked or not, whether it is all right to ejaculate in the mouth, and whether to use a condom during oral sex. This suggests that visiting parks and other public spaces increases the ability to communicate about oral sex; an alternative explanation would be that men who like to engage in public sex are also those who are more open about their enjoyment of oral sex and can communicate their desires more effectively.
When asked for the reasons to visit public sex places, significant differences arose between those who visit them and those who do not (see Table 8). Those who use PSPs find them significantly more erotic because of the degree of danger involved (30.6% of those who engage in public sex thought so, as opposed to 23.4% among those who do not). Regular users are also more likely to say they feel uncontrollable urges to engage in sex: 41.5%, as opposed to 19.3%. They are also more likely to say they enjoy having sex with strangers (29.8% versus 12.4%), as well as group sex (29.8% versus 12.4%). Finally, only a small minority claimed that they visit public sex places because they feel unattractive.
Having sex with strangers is an additional attraction for the clients of public places. That much is clear. However, what is meant by the “sense of danger”? Gay life in Costa Rica implies a number of hazards in any case, so it is hardly surprising that people who had their sexual initiation in these places might have acquired a taste for the risks involved in such a liaison.
Kenneth explains:
I’m worried that this is becoming a need. It’s like an addiction that I can’t stop. When I don’t come here for a few days, I feel like I’m drowning. I come here without telling my lover, but some of my friends — people he doesn’t know — have told me that they’ve seen him hanging around here, “cruising”. You may think I’m a bit of a masochist, and maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m looking to get killed. Did you ever see a movie called Looking for Mr. Goodbar, with Diane Keaton? I loved that movie and I really identified with the main character. If you ever run across my name in the paper, in the obituary section, you’ll know how I died.
Juan, a chauffeur, had this to say:
I do this often. It’s like an addiction, „cause I have a lover and we get along real well. The problem is, we only see each other on weekends, because he lives out of town. In the middle of the week, this is where I come to get my kicks. But I tell you, it’s very dangerous. You can’t be completely sure of who’s getting into the car with you. There’s so many criminals around. . . . I get a kick out of the sense of danger.
Heriberto agrees:
Behind the park there’s a dark alleyway where I’ve seen many things happen. A lot of guys arrive in their cars, park them, and go in there. It’s a very dangerous place. It’s very exciting to be there. I find fear exciting, the idea that the police might show up, or a private guard. . . I like that sense of fear.
Part of the thrill comes from the feeling of the forbidden and the hurried. “There’s no need for long conversations and fancy courtships,” says Mario.
Some gay men who are regular clients of the movie theaters admit that they find the fear of exposure to be an exciting turn-on. One of them explains:
Once I was talking to a friend who likes to go there (to a particular theater) and he told me that for him it is like going on a safari, a kind of escape. He told me some experiences he’d had in the theater that made my hair stand on end. I could hardly believe what he told me, but it might just be true. . . .
Table 9 confirms these responses. When asked for the main reason why they frequented public sex places, 63.4% mentioned having sex without any strings attached, 54.9% spoke of the speed with which one could “score”, 53.7% mentioned the pleasure of meeting new people, 48.2% said they enjoyed doing something “forbidden”, 46% said they enjoyed watching other people having sex, 45% claimed they felt excited by the danger of being discovered, and 40.2% mentioned quick sex.
One attraction of the PSPs is to meet men who do not go to gay bars. Only a small minority of the gay community in Costa Rica go to bars that cater specifically to this clientele. Public sex places, therefore, offer “new faces”, including men who have not yet come out of the closet. Many gays are excited by this idea,
This is evident in the number of bisexual men who use these places as their only source of non-heterosexual satisfaction.
I don’t know why I do it. It’s an urge that’s stronger than me. I don’t understand what’s happening. I have great sex life at home. I make love very often. But about once every six weeks, my desires build up and then I need to make love with a man. . . .
Another attraction is the chance to make friends. As shown on Table 9, almost 63% of respondents say that this is the main reason they visit public places. With respect to saunas, the openly gay males who visit them do so in order to make friends and have sex without the complex mating rituals that often take place in bars. The sense of danger that often comes with the experience of visiting other public sex places does not apply in this instance, since saunas are not raided by the police.
I don’t really know why I come to places like this. Maybe it’s loneliness, and it gets to be too much of a burden sometimes. . . . It upsets me that gay people should be submerged in a world of fiction. . . . When you go to bars, they’re always talking about traveling, about cars, things like that, even when they don’t have a cent. You’re judged by the designer brand on your pants or your shirt. Here, we all know what we came for; everything is much simpler.
Other significant reasons include watching others having sex (78%), having someone masturbate you (54.3%), having someone perform oral sex on you (53.8%), and masturbating someone (50%). (See Table 9.) It is worth noting that more than 35% of those who visit PSPS say they do so once a week at least.
When we asked both groups to assess different places according to their degree of erotic appeal (see Table 10), we found that the preferred locations for both groups were: public toilets, parks, alleyways, movie theaters, saunas and cars, in that order. The places considered least erotic were people’s homes, apartments, the countryside, motels, and vehicles, in that order. However, those who do not visit PSPs consider them to be more erotic than those do, while the latter find private places more erotic. In other words, each group imagines that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. In the case of non-participants, they tend to fantasize that public spaces are more erotic. These findings contradict Carrier’s assertions about public sex in Guadalajara, Mexico. According to this anthropologist, the gays in that city have sex in public places because they do not have their own apartment, which they consider their favorite place for having sex .52
With respect to the dangers of HIV infection, only 25% of those who had visited public sex places had engaged in anal penetration during their last visit, even though 45% had consumed alcohol before the visit. Of those who did engage in anal penetration, 83.3% had used a condom. Moreover, 75% said they never penetrate anyone, much less allow anyone to penetrate them. (See Table 11.) Although the data refers exclusively to the last visit to a public place, this suggests that penetration is not the most popular practice and that, when it takes place, the majority use condoms. The ethnographic information so far collected seems to confirm this: public sex places do not stand out as focal points of unsafe sex.
In general, the favorite sexual activities are mutual masturbation and oral sex. In places such as parks, public toilets or alleyways, the danger of being discovered or exposed is so great that this discourages anal sex.
In the case of saunas and movie theaters, the fact that such establishments are exclusively homosexual, or benefit from the indifference of their owners, allow them to be the setting for longer-lasting sexual activities, such as orgies or anal sex. In spite of this, some establishments, more than others, are the scene of more dangerous practices, as far as the risk of HIV infection is concerned. However, the fact that saunas have private cubicles makes it impossible to estimate how common such practices might be.
One factor to take into account when assessing the degree of risk found in each place has to do with the type of clientele. When clients are professionals with high levels of education, this may incline them away from risky sexual practices. Another factor may be the attitude of the management towards unsafe sex. Some establishments display notices about safe sex and are more willing to distribute information or leaflets. Where this occurs, unsafe sex is discouraged.
In parks, the most common practice is mutual masturbation. But oral sex is common too, says Guillermo, a client. Even anal penetration is sometimes practiced:
Yesterday I saw something that left me stunned. On a bench close to where I was there was a guy sitting with his penis hanging out. Suddenly, another guy came up to me and said look how great that thing is, and would I like to sit on him? I thought he was kidding, because he’s a lawyer and looks very respectable. Besides, I had seen him handing out information [on safe sex] in bars. I pretended to continue the joke and said to him, “Why don’t you go sit on that guy?” Next thing I knew, he went right ahead and sat on the guy. What amazed me was that they didn’t say a word. The guy just pulled down his pants and the other guy just started shoving it in without any protection, without a condom. They carried on until the other guy came.
A similar story is told by Ernesto, another regular visitor to the park:
In the darkest part [of the park], I once got to see very late at night, maybe around three in the morning, how they fucked a guy. Just imagine, the guy . . . well, I was turning the corner when I saw the edge of a small bush that someone was holding onto and he was kind of shoving into the bush. I looked more closely and I saw that the guy was being fucked by some other guy. It was something anyone could have seen if they were paying attention.
People who get into other men’s cars may have oral sex or masturbate each other inside the vehicle, but most often they drive to a far removed spot, have sex, and then return to the same park where the passenger gets out.
In public toilets, mutual masturbation and oral sex are the most common practices. However, on one occasion our researchers saw a man in his forties taking a condom out of its package and putting it on his penis. He was about to penetrate another man whose pants were down. When they were just getting started, a heterosexual walked into the toilet. The couple quickly pretended they were doing something else and walked out of the dark toilet. Outside, they spoke and went off together.
Gerardo says that unsafe sex is practiced occasionally:
. . . A friend told me recently that he went past a bus stop, around seven in the evening, and there was this young guy, maybe 19 years old, with a big dick, and there was this other guy who asked him to fuck him. He pulled down his trousers and he pulled his underwear to one side over his butt, and the guy fucked him. My friend says they did it without a condom, without anything...
However, these are exceptional cases, says Heriberto:
They didn’t use a condom in the anal penetrations that I’ve seen, but you could say that most times people just play around with the other’s genitals, get turned on and then ejaculate. Every so often there are daring people who have oral sex, but that is not usual. Generally, what happens is that people masturbate each other, ejaculate, and that’s the end of the coupling, if you can call it a coupling, since it’s not a full coupling. . . .
Mutual masturbation is very common in movie theaters. However, the ethnographer witnessed a few rare instances of anal sex performed without a condom. One incident deserves mention: once, on the second floor of a theater, a young man between 18 and 20 years old was penetrated successively by six men who stood in line. None used a condom. This took place in an area near the staircase. There were about 10 men who were watching, masturbating themselves or each other.
In saunas, mutual masturbation and oral sex are also the most common practices, though the ethnographer also reports cases of penetration without the use of a condom. Others, however, insist that condoms are more widely used than in movie theaters and other public places. “I don’t like using it. But it’s the same as drivers who don’t like wearing a safety belt. It can save your life,” says Gilberto, a client.
The theoretical model we are discussing here (“of the body and its pleasures”) is based on the satisfaction of the senses and of desires. The gays who hang around in bars and visit public places do so as an additional stimulus to their sex life. They are young men, aware of their homosexuality, well educated, attractive, and capable of good sexual communication. For the most part, they engage in safe sex and take precautions, mindful of the risks they face in such places. However, as we shall see in the next chapter, there are other possible reasons for visiting public sex places: these may serve as a stage for the reenactment of sexual traumas -- some of them unconscious -- as a way of “resolving” some of the participants’ inner conflicts.
_________________
52 Joseph Carrier. De los Otros: Intimacy and Homosexuality among Mexican Men. New York: University of Columbia Press, 1995, p. 45.