For those of growing up in a world of NO gayborhoods, gay bars, spas and clubs, hooking up with other dudes for sex was a bit of a challenge.

The upside was that we learnt how to put out the feelers, chat up the dudes, and still get to have our share of fun in life.

Care to share your fav places/methods here?

KD

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I learned from an older gay man how to cruise back in the '70's in SF. He picked me up in a bar in the Castro and we became friends and lovers but he had a thing for scoring straight guys. Over time we explored parks, retail places, gyms and even construction sites looking for those corners where guys know where to score. He was very experienced, very slick and very tuned in to surroundings and the guys who were hanging about. And he had a way of communicating in a very subtle way. I learned a lot from him both watching and telling his stories. He knew I was a Navy vet and he was as well. He told me of his time in WW II on a heavy cruiser in the Pacific how guys knew to come to a lower handling room at night on the after 8 inch gun mount and there would be at least two queers hanging out to give them head. This went on without incident for almost 3 years. Men will find a way to get off no matter the conditions.

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My favs were the gay part of nude beaches.

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Personal Preferences Left hand Theater behind Wall at Back huge Couch for Doggy Style Seeding and Breeding me.
3.3 Miles North of Power Road Red Mountain 202, at Mike Marker 22 past Granite Reef Recreation area, park on West side of Bush Hwy dirt lot. Go to North end and follow trees towards river use darkest tree tunnels. I will bexawaiting. Pull it out, I will drop to my knees. Put it into my mouth and I will arose You to full Erection. pPull me to my feet or make me lie flat, mountbme drive every inch of your Tool into my Unprotected Pussy-Ass. Fuck me and Stay inside me when your Cum spurts. Stay inside until condom slips off inside if me... Push it DEEP as you pull slowly out of me. I will satisfy you and you can leave after leaving a Baby Inside of my Belly👽

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I grew up and became sexually active in the 70s in the south. I'd never heard of the baths, the closest were so far away it wouldn't have mattered anyway as it would entail an entire day round trip just driving much less playing. All I had was a cruisy park that was notorious for getting busted. The beach bathroom was a hookup spot, but during the day the lifeguards (yes, this was back when the city/state paid lifeguards on the public beaches) would run you off. At night it was the cops. I ran into several there. Luckily there were cruisy trails out among the sand dunes that were safer, but some ambitious cops would walk the trails as well. If you were lucky and at the right place/time, a mall bathroom was a remote possibility. We had one gay bar right on the main drag where anyone could see you walk in so it wasn't the most popular place. Years later they finally opened one up off the beaten path but I had already moved to college.

After moving away to college into a medium sized city, I found more parks to cruise. Some had bathrooms and some had woods. All were risky and had stings from time to time. There were 3 bookstores where I now was (6 hours away in a different state). Only one of the 3 had any real action, with a few exceptions of course. Entry was $2 in quarters. The arcade generated a lot of money and raising the price to $3 didn't hurt it. Porn itself was expensive in those days. Those Swedish Erotica 8mm reel films (anyone remember Seka?) were 99.99 each. A "magazine" ran anywhere from $12 to $20. This was 1980 and working for minimum wage at 3.35/hour took one or 2 part-time days just to buy a magazine. It was the older guys that had professional paying jobs that bought stuff, but retails sales were nowhere near what they are today in sex shops. Arcade sales were their bread and butter. We were lucky to have those 3 arcades, the next closest were 3-4 hours away. Our mall had a gloryhole in the men's room that only lasted a few more years until the AIDS crisis made mall security cover it up and actually install cameras in the bathroom. One of the gay bars (we only ever had 2 at any one time) had a gloryhole in their bathroom. Ironically, the bookstore arcades did not have gloryholes. I think it would have been too much back in that era in the south, like admitting the sex shop for actually used for sex. The most active one had a security clerk that just sat on a chair at the arcade center. Every few hours he'd have to leave and go to the bathroom and you should have seen how fast the dudes paired off into booths. When one left the booth, the other would wait minutes, literally, hoping that the guard wouldn't notice that someone had already left that one without anyone entering afterwards. He would warn you against more than 1 in a booth but he wasn't mean, just a nice soft-spoken man that had the tone of "I'm just doing my job here, so be cool with me and I'll be cool with you".

Really the only place to advertise was the back of magazines and that took months to get printed, assuming they didn't just outright take your cash if you were trying to be discreet and not write a check or use a credit card (or charge card as we called them back then). So we had to be creative in parks and even bookstores. Bars were ok but bi and married guys wouldn't be caught dead in them back then. Bi was hardly more acceptable than gay. It was all about signals and clothes and which pocket your hanky was in or your earring was in. Tapping shoes. Flashing brake lights. This is the era that brought forth those now almost forgotten discreet things. Now guys just wear a rainbow T or one that explicitly says "cum in me bro" to (quietly? haha) indicate what they are looking for. It's easier today, but the fun and thrill of the hunt is diminished as is the intensity of finally getting to suck a dude off after weeks of discreetly looking around. Cruisy parks are at a low compared to back then since it was one of the few ways to hook up. In some areas bookstores have grown in number but not all have arcades or theaters, and are finding out curing this last year that they can survive well enough without them. In most bookstores, they aren't used as much as they were in the 70s wen it was a necessity of sorts. There's exceptions without a doubt but they aren't the bread and butter for most like they were even 20-25 years ago.

I know major metro areas are different and had a lot more outlets--theaters, arcades, baths and parks. I wasn't in a huge metro areas until 1983 in Atlanta and all the bookstores and theaters had been forced to close by then. I heard a lot of stories from the locals though that really made me leak they were so hot. But I was a day late and a dollar short to join in that fun. But MAN the trails in Piedmont Park back then were practically cum-paved!

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The fear of AIDS rapidly shut down known opportunities to hook up in the early 1980's. That change forced changes in behaviors and the fear going thru the population cut in to the straight and bi cruising population, Guys will find a way. We have learned a lot since then. It is best to have spots that are safe and controlled. Bars, adult book stores and the web sites help guys link up and do so with relative safety. Thanks for the great work on your article. Well done!!

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Lonewoof -

Thanks for the great memories. Some of them I am familiar with - some I never experienced.

It was both easier and harder back then - being gay was much less open and accepted - as you say now you can just wear a t-shirt that says what you want - but the one good part about back then was you did not have to "declare" or even address your sexuality. You could have gay sex but not have to emotionally deal with the idea "I am gay" - we just said we were getting off because there were no girls around.

There was a gay bar in my hometown - but even if I had been old enough to go I doubt I would have had a courage.

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