Gay Tea Dances
This term – sometimes spelled T-dance – is also used within gay culture to designate similar dances: particularly those held on weekends (especially Sunday evenings) in night clubs, or at the end of the day at gay resorts (usually beside a pool). A live DJ typically plays recorded club music at these tea dances. It originated at the Blue Whale hotel/club/restaurant on Fire Island, NY, as a way to entice visitors to spend additional time (and money) before taking the Ferry back to the mainland to prepare for their workweek

Opening of the I-Beam
The I-Beam was founded and owned by Sanford Kellman, a former astronomer, with the help of his business partner Bob Wharton. The building it was located in was the former Park Masonic Hall. In 1966, the Park Masonic Hall was host to the ironically titled Straight Ashbury Viewing Society (Non-gays are called straights), a theatre that showed avant-garde gay films. In 1967, it was again ironically renamed as the Straight Theatre (Non-hippies were also called straights; the word straight rhyming with Haight.) and rock dances with psychedelic light shows were held there. The I-Beam began in October 1977 as a popular gay disco (dance club). Before opening the club, Sanford Kellman had an impromptu party there and found that all the neighbors complained about the noise. Therefore, Sanford Kellman was required by the City government of San Francisco to soundproof the entire building at great expense, delaying the opening of the club for several months.[1]. On the opening night of the club in October 1977, groups of bare chested men in jeans and construction hats carried I-Beams on their shoulders into the club.

Dancing, Dj's, Music, Clubs, and Events at the I-Beam
Inside the I-Beam was shaped like a giant cube about forty feet on each side. There were Mylar covered cardboard I-Beams hanging from the ceiling above the center of the dance floor. At the entrance there were framed pictures of various astronomical objects such as galaxies and planets put there by former astronomer Sanford Kellman. There was a small room in the front near the entrance with pinball machines and pool tables. Since the I-Beam closed at 2 a.m., afterwards, people went to the Trocadero Transfer, which was open until dawn.

Saturday nights and Friday nights at the I-Beam hosted heterosexual dance parties.
The most popular gay night at the I-Beam was always the I-Beam Sunday Night Tea Dance which took place from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Sunday night. Free passes to this tea dance were routinely handed out in the gay neighborhoods of San Francisco. Tim Rivers and Steve Fabus played at the Sunday Night Tea Dance from 1977 to 1980. From 1980 to its end in 1992 Michael Garrett was the DJ--he played modern rock dance music by artists such as Madonna, Prince, New Order, R.E.M., Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, etc. Lots of gay sex take place in the parking lot, as well as ladies bathroom. It was only used by the hardcore queens. At the Sunday Night Tea Dance, the temperature inside the I-Beam was deliberately kept as warm as possible in order to encourage people to take off their shirts while they were dancing.

In January 1988 three go-go boxes (cubes four feet square with a black and white checkerboard pattern of squares one foot by one foot on top; thus the surface of each go-go box had a checkerboard pattern of 16 black and white squares) were installed in the club, and on Wednesday night, the Boy Club was held, for which young male Go-Go dancers were hired by the I-Beam for the first time. The Boy Club continued until the end of 1988. From 1988 to 1992 many fun events were held at the I-Beam such as strip contests and appearances by gay porn stars such as Lou Cass. On Monday nights beginning in 1988, there was a hip-hop dance club that appealed to the African Americans in the neighborhood. In 1989, the year rave dances first started in San Francisco, Wednesday night became Acid house Night at the I-Beam.

Groups that played at the I-Beam
In the early 1980s, New Music Night was instituted on Monday night, and later Tuesdays at which emerging new rock groups played.

Monday nights became known as New Wave Nights and were booked by Cathy Cohn, a KUSF DJ. The crème de la crème of new wave, punk, industrial, and indie bands played the I-Beam from 1986 to 1992. Many well known groups played at the I-Beam such as Duran Duran, The Cure, Gene Loves Jezebel, Flesh For LuLu, New Order, Motörhead, Big Black, The Butthole Surfers, 10,000 Maniacs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Firehose, Soundgarden, Trouble Funk, Alice in Chains, Counting Crows, Soul Asylum, Camper Van Beethoven, Gwar, Jane's Addiction, X, Primus, The Slits, Sugarcubes, Bush Tetras, The Bangles, Wilma, Meat Puppets, and Chris Isaak.

End of the I-Beam
The I-Beam closed in 1992 after a long battle with neighbors over sound issues. Live rock music shows over the last few years were few and far between. The Sunday Night Tea Dance continued until closing in July 1992, but the last year had few patrons because by that time house music had become more popular than modern rock among gays who liked to go dancing.

After the I-Beam closed in 1992, the Park Masonic Hall remained vacant for 12 years. The former location of the I-Beam (the Park Masonic building) was torn down and an apartment house with retail at street level was constructed there in 2004.


Cottaging is a British gay slang term referring to anonymous male-male sex in a public lavatory (a cottage or tea-room), or to the practice of cruising for sexual partners in public lavatories with the intention of having sex elsewhere. The term may have its roots in the English cant language of Polari, or in the fact that many self-contained English toilet blocks have in the past resembled small cottages in their appearance.

The term "cottage" used in this sense is predominantly British (a cottage in the usual sense being a small, cozy, countryside home), though the term is occasionally used with the same meaning in other parts of the world. Among gay men in America, lavatories used for this purpose are called tea rooms.

In 1970, an American graduate student at Washington University, Laud Humphreys published a famous and controversial PhD dissertation, Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places, on the tearoom phenomenon, attempting to categorize the diverse social backgrounds and personal motives.

Cottaging is more common among gay and bisexual men than among lesbians or heterosexuals, but the term can apply to anyone, and all sexual orientations. However, equivalent public sexual activity by heterosexuals is, in the United Kingdom, known as dogging.

The term cottaging is rarely used outside gay communities and as attitudes to homosexuality become more tolerant fewer individuals find themselves limited to covert and illicit ways of meeting others.
 

Costa Rican Gay Tea Time, Gay Hotel and Gay getaway
Costa Rica Gay Hotel LaFortuna, Near Arenal Volcano and Rainforest Waterfalls.

 Abercam La Fortuna villas are located in La Fortuna, Costa Rica where you will find luxury and special attention a priority, all nestled in a private tropical setting in full view of the Arenal Volcano. Our Gay Hotel is new and upscale. Our lovely private and secluded gay getaway is perfect for a private and discriminating vacation.

 Among our amenities are unlimited beverages for our guests, including soft drinks, juices, beer and cocktails (free), a clothing optional heated pool, lush tropical gardens and beautiful volcano views from our property. Here you may choose to unwind and do nothing at all or select from the many activities nearby which include horseback riding, canopy zip-lines, ATVs or take a ten minute walk from our property to the entrance of the gorgeous La Fortuna waterfall.

Each of our over sized villas offer spacious rooms, air conditioning, TV, comfortable beds, quality linens, hot water, private balconies and indoor and outdoor showers. Our gorgeous pool overlooks Arenal and the Valley in between.

Start your day with complimentary coffee, teas, juices and a light breakfast. In the evenings enjoy our complimentary appetizers where you can meet new friends and share your Costarican experiences. Later in the evening the mood changes at the bar where you can dance and party the night away, followed by a swim in our heated pool.

Day Rates, Picnic Rates and Afternoon Delight Rates are available.

We look forward to sharing this paradise with you and hope to see you soon.