Link to a new youtube video later tonite...
After living in London for years, the seeking out of a another nations gay bar wasn't exactly feeling like a leap into the unknown. A gay bar is a gay bar is a gay bar...isn't it?
Well, the one my pal and I visited (still on our first nite in Warsaw) we felt was something rather unique. Gay men, lesbians and bisexuals happily - naturally - danced, drank and socialised together without the covert - or even overt hierarchical system that often ensconces gay clubs and bars. It wasn't a gay men's bar that 'allowed lesbians in' some days of the week. It wasn't even a gay bar that quietly disapproved of its bisexual elements but let them occasionally slip through the door (like in London for example).
No, this was a place that celebrated the diversity of sexuality - that gayness didn't seem to put you into a box so much as let you out of one. The club had 6 floors. The basement had a funky dancefloor, next to which was a mixed sex Jacuzzi, full of overflowing bubble bath, with those soaking chatting to those just hanging around. It felt like everybody was welcome. The other floors consisted of chill out, bar area, another dance floor - and the top floor - which suprised us the most - no doubt about it - was the mixed sex 'darkroom'. For those unfamiliar with the term, a darkroom is where a room is made PITCH BLACK for people to enter for sex with the unknown. Its all touchy, feely, lube laden orifices exposed for the taking. There was a beautiful young woman that sat at the base of the stairwell leading up to the room, taking the first names of everyone who entered so they could know at any one time who and how many were inside - how many males, females etc. She sat next to a few boxes of condoms, however was sufficiently ignorant of their clear usefulness to all those taking the 'D' stairwell, that it made me ask the 'H' question. 'Are people aware enough of HIV to take on messages about the importance of condom use? - Do people actually pick up these condoms on their way up the stairs? ' The Beautiful Woman shifted uncomfortably in her chair before saying, "Well, no...I mean - I don't like condoms with sex, it is better without them! Everybody thinks so! Why? Don't you agree also?' She gave my friend and I a quizzical look then it was our turn to shift uncomfortably on our chairs. But don't you know that condoms prevent HIV and sexually transmitted infections? Do people talk about this much in Poland? The Beautiful Woman looked directly at us before answering very seriously, no. People don't talk about it, indeed HIV sounded like a a far off drama being played out in Africa somewhere and was certainly not a real or live issue for the youth of Warsaw. It wasn't translating well, even for a drama of this magnitude. I felt myself feeling shocked at not just the naivete of this response, but also the sheer confidence in which it was spoken. As we talked, boys, girls, gays, bi's and lesbians all passed in front of us to head up the stairwell, never once did anyone ask for a condoms, and all night the 2 boxes that sat on the windowsill, stayed there...
I am intrigued to hear more about sexual health in Poland - what the stats show, what the effects of such intense respect for the Pope and Catholicism has had on rates of HIV, teenage pregnancy, STD's and condom messages. Incredibly, or maybe not so, messages that still haven't been picked up even by those living on the furthermost edges of acceptance from the church they've grown up with. BP will aim to dig up such stats from Poland throughout this conference where there are many Polish health and drug workers and drug user activists ready to shed some light on this 'dark' (room) subject. We'll keep you posted.
After living in London for years, the seeking out of a another nations gay bar wasn't exactly feeling like a leap into the unknown. A gay bar is a gay bar is a gay bar...isn't it?
Well, the one my pal and I visited (still on our first nite in Warsaw) we felt was something rather unique. Gay men, lesbians and bisexuals happily - naturally - danced, drank and socialised together without the covert - or even overt hierarchical system that often ensconces gay clubs and bars. It wasn't a gay men's bar that 'allowed lesbians in' some days of the week. It wasn't even a gay bar that quietly disapproved of its bisexual elements but let them occasionally slip through the door (like in London for example).
No, this was a place that celebrated the diversity of sexuality - that gayness didn't seem to put you into a box so much as let you out of one. The club had 6 floors. The basement had a funky dancefloor, next to which was a mixed sex Jacuzzi, full of overflowing bubble bath, with those soaking chatting to those just hanging around. It felt like everybody was welcome. The other floors consisted of chill out, bar area, another dance floor - and the top floor - which suprised us the most - no doubt about it - was the mixed sex 'darkroom'. For those unfamiliar with the term, a darkroom is where a room is made PITCH BLACK for people to enter for sex with the unknown. Its all touchy, feely, lube laden orifices exposed for the taking. There was a beautiful young woman that sat at the base of the stairwell leading up to the room, taking the first names of everyone who entered so they could know at any one time who and how many were inside - how many males, females etc. She sat next to a few boxes of condoms, however was sufficiently ignorant of their clear usefulness to all those taking the 'D' stairwell, that it made me ask the 'H' question. 'Are people aware enough of HIV to take on messages about the importance of condom use? - Do people actually pick up these condoms on their way up the stairs? ' The Beautiful Woman shifted uncomfortably in her chair before saying, "Well, no...I mean - I don't like condoms with sex, it is better without them! Everybody thinks so! Why? Don't you agree also?' She gave my friend and I a quizzical look then it was our turn to shift uncomfortably on our chairs. But don't you know that condoms prevent HIV and sexually transmitted infections? Do people talk about this much in Poland? The Beautiful Woman looked directly at us before answering very seriously, no. People don't talk about it, indeed HIV sounded like a a far off drama being played out in Africa somewhere and was certainly not a real or live issue for the youth of Warsaw. It wasn't translating well, even for a drama of this magnitude. I felt myself feeling shocked at not just the naivete of this response, but also the sheer confidence in which it was spoken. As we talked, boys, girls, gays, bi's and lesbians all passed in front of us to head up the stairwell, never once did anyone ask for a condoms, and all night the 2 boxes that sat on the windowsill, stayed there...
I am intrigued to hear more about sexual health in Poland - what the stats show, what the effects of such intense respect for the Pope and Catholicism has had on rates of HIV, teenage pregnancy, STD's and condom messages. Incredibly, or maybe not so, messages that still haven't been picked up even by those living on the furthermost edges of acceptance from the church they've grown up with. BP will aim to dig up such stats from Poland throughout this conference where there are many Polish health and drug workers and drug user activists ready to shed some light on this 'dark' (room) subject. We'll keep you posted.
