............Cruising was dangerous on all fronts, getting outted, trapped by homophobes, cops and of course AIDS was running rampant back then. With the danger was an excitement element, I guess you could equate it to the thrill seeker that skydives or races cars. I remember the bathhouse's were my first time experiences, then I got bolder and went to the gay bars, even though I wasn't 21, they let you in. Funny, I remember the cops closing the bathhouses down (AIDS), but they seemed to leave the bars alone, I remember the cabaret nights but there wasn't any of that wild dancing you see on TV going on. Seems there was an unwritten rule about leaving alone, first time I decided to go home alone I was scared to see four huge guys following me out, turns out they wanted to make sure I got to my car safely. The next thing the cops closed down or better yet, closed up was the glory holes in the movie arcades, then they got rid of the closed doors on the booths replaced with the bar style type doors. (Funny thing was years later, I was sent in to inspect this for compliance as part of my job ) About a year ago, I was in a section of town for a meeting, afterwards I saw an old haunt, I was surprised that it was still open, I stopped by (not looking for any hook-up) and it was being patronized by straight couples and gays alike. You'd think the straights would avoid a place named 'The Back Door' , I shot some pool had a few beers and learned that the entertainment still played out on the weekends. No escort to the car this time, I guess the homophobes left the place alone by then. I'm not ashamed of what I did back then, there was no internet, GSA meetings, or safe gay friendly establishments like there are today. Neither would I advocate anyone doing such a thing today, it was simply a sign of the times and the way it was.