Latino Youth ‘Queer Prom’ in Chicago Sponsored by Adult Homosexual Bathhouse

Is gay sex club marketing to future clients? Adults also allowed to attend ‘prom’

By Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH Exclusive

Steamworks, a 24/7 Chicago homosexual bathhouse where men go for anonymous sex with other men — one man said it is “like the Disneyland of gay sex” — is one of the sponsors of a “Queer Prom” tomorrow night for Latino homosexual youth.

A link for the bathhouse is found in web articles promoting the “Queer Prom,” which, ominously, is also open to adults to attend.

The item below in the Chicago homosexual newspaper Windy City Times (May 14, 2008) points to the problem of “gay youth” events, which too often expose impressionable and already sexually confused young people to the hyper-sexualized, adult (male) homosexual culture; note that the event is open to adults:

Queer Prom approaches

Get out your suits and dresses, because Queer Prom 2008 is May 23.

The dance for LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning] youth and friends will take place at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1952 W. 19th, at 6:30 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by Radio Arte, the National Museum of Mexican Art, CALOR, Steamworks, the Association of Latino Men for Action, the Young Women’s Empowerment, Amigas Latinas, Latinos Progresando, Project Vida and Lambda Legal.

There is a $10 suggested donation for youth, and a $25 suggested donation for adults, but no one will be turned away due to lack of funds….

One click away

As you can see by viewing THIS LINK advertising the event, youth are a mere click away from the web page for Steamworks, which caters to men 18 years and older. It appears as if the bathhouse owners are doing smart public relations to attract future clients to their sex business.

Here is a description of Steamworks bathhouse from its website (a photo from the site is at left; emphasis added below):

“STEAMWORKS has been providing men 18 years & older with a clean, comfortable and stylish place to meet other men, relax, workout and play 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 30 years….

“With over 800 lockers and over 230 private rooms, combined with over 10,300 gallons of water in our hot tubs and almost 44,000 square feet of club space… as soon as you walk into any of our clubs, you are grabbed by that inescapable Steamworks sexual energy. Whether you are here hanging out, working out or making out, think of Steamworks as your free space on the game of life – a place where man2man interaction is not only accepted, but encouraged!”

On a homosexual, pornographic website dedicated to helping men find public sites across the country where they can anonymously “cruise for sex” with other men, a satisfied out-of-town customer happily described his sodomitic encounters (he lost track of how many) and said: “I recently traveled to Chicago and before going I came to [the homosexual “cruising” website] as I was looking for some hot experiences. Man! Steamworks is like the Disneyland for gay sex.”

Steamworks, located in Boystown, the Chicago “gay” neighborhood north of downtown, is part of a chain of homosexual bathhouses (the others are in Toronto, Seattle and Berkeley, California, near San Francisco). Although Illinois’ best-known homosexual activist, Rick Garcia, claimed in the media not to know what goes on at Steamworks (located down N. Halsted Street from his offices at Equality Illinois), bathhouses and sex clubs are fixtures of big cities with large homosexual populations. (See this blog post about bathhouses by homosexual activist Keith Boykin, and the interesting comments that follow.)

One big problem with bathhouses — and one of the reasons why Americans For Truth About Homosexuality supports the permanent closure of all bathhouses and commercial sex clubs — is that many men who do not identify as “gay” use them. Places like Steamworks make it easy for bisexuals or men with girlfriends or wives to secretly engage in perversions, thus putting their spouses at risk.

The following description of the “Queer Prom” is found on the website Think Pink Radio (where there is also a web link to the Steamworks website):

Chicago’s only queer prom for youth who want a chance to go to a fancy party as themselves (with a real date) is looking for volunteers. No need to go in a group or with a friend, this is a safe space for anyone in high school or college that identifies as some form of queer. Presented by Homofrecuencia and WRTE Radio Arte, this annual gala will take place at The National Museum of Mexican Art on Friday, May 23, 2008. Interested volunteers can go here and fill out the form. If you are young and just looking to party, tickets are (suggested donation) $10 for youth and $25 for adults. Queer Prom 2008: “Todos Me Miran” will be super fun and filled with tears of joy, as always. … –Stinky Pinky

Mario Diaz, a Hispanic American pro-family advocate and policy director for legal issues for Concerned Women for America, said, “It’s bad enough that there’s a prom which celebrates deviant and unhealthy sexual behavior. But the fact that it’s sponsored by an adult homosexual bathhouse where men meet for anonymous sex is appalling.

“This goes against everything that the Latino community stands for,” Diaz said. “Latino organizations should be working for a better future for Hispanic youth, not encouraging them to celebrate self-destructive behaviors and a lifestyle that God opposes.

“This is another reason why parents need to be involved in the lives of their children,” Diaz said. “Not one Hispanic family I’ve ever known would approve of their children being involved in this kind of activity.”

AFTAH Board Member Matt Barber, also with CWA, said, “I want to know what business adult homosexuals have co-mingling with impressionable youth at an event centered around sexuality. What are their intentions with these teenagers?”

Perhaps since this is an event open to adults, parents and concerned members of the community should attend to monitor the event and ensure that minors are protected.