Police surveillance of homosocial meeting spaces first uncovered the existence of glory holes for scandalized cis heterosexuals back in 18th-century England, long before the Oscar Wilde trial turned sodomy into a scandal and homosexuality into an identity.Īccording to my highly scientific research, meaning I asked a straight colleague what came to mind when she heard the term “glory hole,” she explained that a certain generation of straight white women first heard the phrase during coverage of the 2007 arrest of Sen. The idea of a hole in a partition of a public men’s restroom - at waist level, to put a penis in or gesture for another person to do so - has been linked to queer men in the public imagination since before the notion of queer identity existed. Queer outlets quickly decoded the recommendation for straights: The department was encouraging the use of glory holes. It suggested, for instance, that New Yorkers try new sexual practices, including 'physical barriers, like walls, that allow sexual contact while preventing close face to face contact.” Last month, in the midst of coronavirus quarantining, the New York City Health Department encouraged residents to be sexually creative to stay safe.
