Bathhouse Blog

November 15, 2010

Edmonton actor and playwright Nick Green has written a new play entitled Undercovered, about the 1981 Pisces bathhouse raid in Edmonton. It has a reading tonight in public for the first time at Catalyst Theatre, and will be part of this year’s Exposure Festival for queer arts and culture in Edmonton, running November 12 thru the 21 of this year.

Undercovered documents the journey of several members of the Edmonton Police Force during the investigations into the Pisces Spa leading up to the infamous raid which took place on May 30th, 1981, an event that shook its way into Edmonton’s queer history. The further they dig, the more questions arise, probing into morality, privacy, and the subjectivity of the law. Are things really black and white? And how does the law function in the grey area?

Using actual police notes and internal correspondence The play is from the perspective of two cops who went undercover in Pisces, and created characters whose actions and words are ripped from the documents.

Photograph by: Bill McKeown, Edmonton Journal file photo, edmontonjournal.com

“Just as we walked out the door, a man whom I knew (a former jail guard) came out of a door from my left. Hoping he wouldn’t recognize me, I ignored him and continued to the Jacuzzi. When (my partner) and I were seated in the hot pool, I told him the person … knew I was a policeman.”

— Undercover officer notes, Pisces Health Spa — April 30, 1981

For more read The Night They Raided The Pisces Club by Ben Gelinas

October 12, 2010

11 patrons were arrested at Club Dallas following an anonymous complaint. Charges ranged from public lewdness, sexual activity in public and interfering with a police officer (which was a staff member trying to intervene).

Club Dallas

However one witness claims police acted unprofessionally and rude. He also added that he feels city officials are singling out the club, so they can make room for redevelopment.

You can read more at this link: 11 Arrested In DPD Vice Operation At Club Dallas

July 22, 2010

The gay community has been warned to stay alert after a staff member from Collingwood gay sauna Wet on Wellington was bashed in a vicious robbery.

Wet on Wellington manager Shane Gardner told Southern Star the staff member, who wishes to remain anonymous, left the premises on Sunday, July 4 at around 9.30pm and was walking along Peel St, towards Smith St, when he was set upon by at least three men wielding baseball bats.

Wet on Wellington

To read more click the article Gay Sauna Staffer Bashed written by Andie Noonan