New York lawmakers are advancing a proposal that would once again permit sexual activity inside bathhouses and saunas.
The proposal would repeal a 1980s public-health law that banned such facilities during the height of the AIDS crisis. Sponsors say the old restriction is outdated now that modern prevention tools are widely available.
State Assemblymember Tony Simone (NY-75) has described the venues as “part of gay culture” and argued they should be brought “out of the shadows.” He and State Senator Erik Bottcher contend that regulated bathhouses would be safer than the underground spots that already operate.
“Queer New Yorkers are being forced into the shadows … we all know these places exist,” added Simone.
“Actions taken at the height of the AIDS crisis are out of step with modern reality. The science has changed. Prevention has changed. Treatment has changed. It’s time for our laws to change too," Bottcher contends.
LGBT activist Allen Roskoff offered support for the plan, noting these bathhouses did not just provide a place for strangers to have sex in public.
“They were symbols of our community, our culture, and our fight for civil rights and sexual liberation. I spent much of my youth in them,” Roskoff said.
🚨NEW Legislation to Repeal 1985 Ban on Adult Saunas
— Erik Bottcher (@ebottcher) August 5, 2026
NYC’s adult saunas/bathhouses were an integral part of queer life for nearly a century. In 1985, during the panic of the AIDS epidemic, New York ordered them closed. Emergency measures somehow became permanent policy. pic.twitter.com/m44x4OGA8N
This sure does sound like a reckless revival of the very venues that once accelerated a deadly epidemic that claimed more than 100,000 lives in New York alone. Not to mention the other STDs that could more easily spread.
Political commentator Dave Rubin, in an interview with RedState, explained the scenario in the city at the time of the initial ban.
"New York City knew where AIDS was spreading: The bathhouses. The Republicans wanted to close the bathhouses where gays were having sex and doing drugs and then dying, but the Democrats pushed back to let the gays do their thing, calling Republicans homophobes," he said.
Expect more of that tactic as these two lawmakers, described by the Post as "represent(ing) Manhattan’s LGBT- friendly West Side," try to bring back the "adult saunas."
More than 100,000 New Yorkers have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the AIDS epidemic.https://t.co/hsuJaRqW2L
— NYC EMS Watch (@NYCEMSwatch) August 6, 2026
Now New York lawmakers want to bring back sex-fueled bathhouses. pic.twitter.com/RzKopR8iQK
At a time when the city struggles with rampant crime, open-air drug use, and disorder on the streets, lawmakers are instead prioritizing the legalization of anonymous public sex.
Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens) called the old bathhouses “awful” and warned they would be far worse if reopened today.
Separately, New York lawmakers have also reintroduced Cecilia’s Act, a bill that would decriminalize certain prostitution offenses between consenting adults.
If it is depraved, Democrat lawmakers seem intent on bringing it out of the shadows and into the public eye.
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