Do Glory holes still exist?

I’ve got a fascination with glory holes. I have an entire archive of blogs on glory holes, the history of them and the psychology behind them. Yeah, I delved that deep into glory holes.

Do glory holes still exist? Yes, and no. They’re much harder to find, but they are still around in certain places. I know a lot about glory holes and will tell you what I know.

My sexual awakening came at a time when the world was still anti-gay, I was too straight to go to gay bars and other secret venues where men went to meet men.

One day, I discovered one behind a shopping centre in a public bathroom. And that was it, I discovered anonymous sex and I was hooked.

Years later, as I found alternative places to meet other men, and the world became more and more LGBTQ friendly, I no longer needed them. But they hold a special place in my past and I remember many experiences through them.

The Hole in the Door the Shameless Plug

In fact, I wrote a book called The Hole in the Door when I discovered that The Western Australian Museum did something unthinkable. They accepted a door, with a hole in it that had been used by men. This door was in a public bathroom that was about to be demolished. Two men, who also had fond memories of this door, rescued it and donated it. The fact that a government department accepted this door, to one day potentially include it in a history of Western Australia’s LGBTQ history, blew my mind.

So, I wrote a book about a fictional man named Brad, who was much older than I am but had a similar sexual awakening. A lot of my own experiences are in this book. It is gay erotica though, I must warn you.

So, do glory holes still exist?

Yes… they do, but… the popularity of them has declined over the years. They are still available in places and for many, are considered a kink.

There are adult cinemas, cruising locations and bars that often have them, you might still find them in public bathrooms, though authorities tend to close them up pretty quickly. 

There are sites that will list them. For example, Squirt.org, a popular website for men to meet men, also has a cruising listing location. The GPS tells you what’s near you, and what the location is. When you click on the listing, it often has pictures and information on that listing. People will tell you if there’s a glory hole there. You’ll also find updates in the comments section, where guys will tell you the latest on that cruising listing.

Other sites like Nifties, which is also considered a meet-up app, often has nearby locations that might include glory holes.

There’s nearly always someone on dating apps like Grindr, who will advertise a glory hole.

Why are glory holes so popular? 

Because they’re anonymous. The point of it is to get off, without knowing who’s on the other side. Imagine you’re a cis male and you want to get your dick sucked, but you don’t want anyone to know about it. Glory holes provide the perfect anonymous way to do this. That hole exposes genitals, and that’s it. Sure, I’ve seen guys kissing through them, but that’s not the main use. It’s like going to a highly rated Italian restaurant just for the dessert.

There are gay venues in cities all over the world with cabins, glory holes and other facilities, like saunas and steam rooms. I’ve even known gay gyms to have glory holes.

So, yeah, glory holes do exist, they’re just not as frequent as they were before the 90s. But they’re easy enough to find if you know where to look.

I ended up building a Glory Hole Archive here, pulling together blogs, history, and stories about a phenomenon that never quite disappeared, even when people pretended it had.

If you’re curious, you can explore the archive. And if you’re after something more explicit, there are plenty of stories too. Check out my Substack or Patreon.

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