From: tim@ear-ache.mit.edu (Tim Wilson)
Subject: tearoom sex and bathroom police
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Distribution: soc
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 11:47:08 GMT

Here at MIT there is currently an ongoing brouhaha regarding tearoom
sex.  The campus police are engaging both visible and undercover
operatives in an attempt to shut down one of the more established
tearooms on campus (and in Boston).  The operation seemed to begin
after the publication in _The Tech_ (the "traditional" campus paper)
of a letter complaining about fear of going to the bathroom, spoo on
the floor, etc.  Several weeks after the effort began, the MIT Police 
lieutenant who implemented the policy had a lesbian sergeant post a
notice of the policy to the MIT-lesbigay mailing list.  

The initial reaction was a lot of useless grief for the sergeant who
posted the notice; many people who read the message didn't know that
she was family.  In an attempt at fairness, the lieutenant posted the
same notice to the newsgroup mit.bboard (Keywords: sex police).  There
was also an article about the action in the _The Thistle_, the
"alternative" campus paper.  As you might imagine, a great deal of
flamage followed on the lesbigay mailing list.  (There seems to be
little awareness of the earlier letter to _The Tech_.)

I was personally surprised by the ease with which many contributors
treated the problem as a theoretical one; there were subject headers
like "How far to defend our fellow queers" and the like.  While
several contributors were forthright and down to earth in their
representation of the history and practice of tearoom sex, it never
seemed to occur to a larger number of correspondents that some of
their readers might have had sex in a bathroom.  Like me. 

I got involved in the discussion once someone described those who
had tearoom sex as scumbags.  I wanted them to know that this
discussion involved real people. 

The discussion has been clouded by the H-word:  harassment.  Some
think that cruising bathrooms harasses the straight guys who pee
there.  As if taking their cues from the letter that started it all,
some posts to the lbg mailing list suggested that those who cruise
bathrooms are standing around accosting anyone who enters with "can I 
suck your dick?"  I'll admit to having seen some outrageous behavior
in the bathroom before, but only while adding that the participants'
gaydar seemed to be fully functional.  As I noted in one of my posts
to that discussion, I hate to see legitimate claims of harassment
diluted because some striaght guy thinks I looked at him "funny."

The lieutenant and sergeant from the MIT Police attended a meeting of
GABLES (Gay, Bisexual, Lesbian Employees and Supporters).  The meeting
was pleasant enough.  The lieutenant was ever so polite and seemed to
want a dialogue.  While changing the policy was not up for discussion,
certain items were clarified such as initially there would be no
arrest:  non-MIT people would be notified they were trespassing,
escorted to the edge of campus, their name recorded (if they were
caught three times, they might be prosecuted); it remained unclear as
to what would happen to MIT people except for the hassle of being
escorted from the bathroom.  It was also made clear that this wasn't
an entrapment operation, and that there was no intent to publish any
names.  (I should add that I'm a grad student.  That was my first
GABLES meeting.)   

At its most recent meeting, GABLES decided not to take a hard stand.
The consensus seemed to be that there was no consensus on how to
approach this.  Some favored a more confrontational approach, others
were aghast at the idea of defending folks who'd screw in the toilet.
(To be accurate, the proponent of the more confrontational approach was
absent from the meeting.  His position, though, had been made clear at
the earlier meeting and via e-mail.)  I agree with the perspective
that the group is too new (about one-year old) to expend precious
political capital on an item for which there is no internal consensus.

I'm sure that other schools and institutions have dealt with this
situation in a number of ways, but other than knowing that Harvard
took the doors off the stalls in the Science Center's downstairs
bathroom, I have little information.  I know that lesbigay employees
groups are a recent phenomena, but I'd imagine that student groups at
other sites have dealt with these situations.  

Beyond the interaction between powers that be and lesbigay
organizations, I'm interested in the response of the community in
general.  I was taken aback both by the theoretical no-one-we-
know-would-do-such-a-thing-so-why-should-we-defend-those-who-might
and by the no-one-should-ever-do-such-a-thing responses coming from
within the local community.  As the recent interactions with Cr*m*r
and W*lt*r brought forth, education is often a wasted effort.  How
does one approach similar attitudes within the community?

(I should add that I am in no way, shape, or form an officer or agent
of GABLES, and that there's no way my views could be construed to
represent those of that, or any other, group.  I hope my summary of
this episode is fair to all concerned.)
--
Tim Wilson
Internet:  tim@ear-ache.mit.edu	
UUCP:  mit-eddie!mit-athena!tim
Bad Colorado.  No business.