From the Jan 10 – Jan 16, 2002 issue

News

Man to Man

Police Reports Detail Sexual Assaults at Local Bathhouse

by Amy Jenniges

Club Seattle, a men's bathhouse on Capitol Hill (Summit Avenue East, between Pike and Pine) is set up for consensual sex. Members pay $20 annually, plus an additional rental fee for a room or a locker each time they visit (the cheapest is a $12 locker, on a weekday). Once inside, guys strip down to a towel (or less) and enter the maze of lounges and spa rooms. Drugs and alcohol aren't allowed in the club, and there are free condoms everywhere--both policies are meant to keep members safe.

But in the last month or so, safety precautions failed to protect a few people. Since December 1, two men have reported sexual assaults at Club Seattle. The Stranger has learned of a third sexual assault police report, and filed a records request with the police to see if there are others.

These reports raise several thorny issues. First, gay male sex is taboo to begin with, so male victims of male sexual violence face unique hurdles. Secondly, the assaults happened in a sex club, upping the ante on the traditional "she was asking for it" argument, which puts the blame on the victim. And finally, it's unclear what the recent reports mean. Do they indicate a trend of increasing male-on-male rape; or has male-on-male rape always happened, but victims are only now comfortable reporting it?

In the early morning of December 1, a Club Seattle employee was raped, the first police report says. The employee had worked three shifts, and took a break in one of the club's rooms, according to the report. Several other employees saw a large Hispanic man having sex with their coworker, but they assumed it was consensual.

"At the time, nobody knew that this wasn't with his permission," says Armand Dalmage, Club Seattle's general manager for the past three years.

The employee blacked out and doesn't remember the rape. He went to Swedish Medical Center the next day, complaining of abdominal pain. Dalmage reported it to the police at the suggestion of Swedish staff.

A second assault allegedly occurred on December 26. The victim, a patron of the club, reported later that a tall twentysomething man assaulted him in one of Club Seattle's rooms. The victim complained of pain in his left thigh, and the police suggested he go to Harborview for medical treatment.

Dalmage didn't know about the December 26 incident, but does recall another recent situation where club personnel called police to escort a man out of the building. In that instance, the man wasn't taking no for an answer when he approached another club member.

These assaults are shocking, partly because men sexually assaulting men is an issue reserved for prison jokes. Sexual assault of women is a widely discussed issue, backed up with plenty of resources for women who have been victimized. Plus, cases involving women are often seen as a larger public safety threat.

For example, after an attempted rape of a woman near Madison and Minor on Capitol Hill last fall, police sent out notices to the community, warning them about the incident. The police say that situation merited public notice because it happened on the street and involved a stranger.

"You're talking about a random citizen on the street being attacked by a suspect," says Officer Duane Fish, Seattle Police Department spokesperson, "and that's something the public fears more than anything."

In addition to a lack of public awareness about gay male rape, there are few statistics, and little academic research about it.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a whole lot of statistics about how prevalent it is," says Basil Shadid, a community advocate at Northwest Network, a group that works with the queer community on issues of domestic and dating violence. "It's something that's so not talked about, and so not researched."

In turn, gay men also have more difficulty finding services tailored to their situation. Though organizations like Home Alive and Harborview's Sexual Assault Resource Center will work with gay men, their programs aren't specially tailored to meet that community's needs.

"There's a perception that gay male health is only about HIV/AIDS," says Avram Katzman, media and events coordinator at Gay City--whose mission of promoting gay men's health includes preventing sexual assault and domestic violence. "But there are less talked-about issues, like rape and domestic violence, that are also real in people's lives."

Discussing these assaults gets trickier when the location--a sex club--is thrown in. Men pay a fee to become members, and usually expect that they will have sex in the building.

Shadid says that talking about sexual assault in a sex club requires a different way of thinking.

"You have to just take it out of the context of how the mainstream talks about sexual assault," Shadid says. "The entire context of the situation changes."

Gay City's Katzman agrees.

"Sex clubs are a place for consenting adults to have consensual sex," Katzman says. "Wearing a towel or being nude at a sex club does not mean a guy is looking to be violated and attacked."

Dalmage also tries to keep Club Seattle's members safe by enforcing what he calls his biggest rule. "No means no," Dalmage says. "If someone doesn't listen, they're out of here, or we call the police."

These recent police reports--at least two in one month--could mean that there is a growing culture of sexual violence at Club Seattle, and possibly the other men's clubs in town. Or, as Dalmage argues, the reports could indicate that men are becoming more comfortable reporting assaults.

Dalmage says sexual assault allegations are not common, and the fact that they've had at least two in the last month is a coincidence.

"We did have a little rash of it," Dalmage says. "That's probably the whole year right there in one month."

But the fact is, sexual assault probably happens more frequently than the numbers show. "A lot of people in the queer community just don't feel comfortable calling the cops," Shadid says.

"I don't believe that the stigma about reporting rape or going to sex clubs has lessened," Katzman says. "If anything, it has increased."

amy@thestranger.com