Glory hole

For other uses, see Glory hole (disambiguation).

A glory hole in a restroom stall

A glory hole (also spelled gloryhole and glory-hole) is a hole in a wall or partition, often between public lavatory cubicles or sex video arcade booths and lounges, for people to engage in sexual activity or to observe the person on the opposite side.

Glory holes are especially associated with gay male culture and anal or oral sex.[1][2][3] They are not exclusively favoured by gay people, and have become more commonly acknowledged as a fetish for heterosexual and bisexual individuals.[4]

In more recent years, public glory holes have faded in popularity in many countries,[5] though some gay websites offer directories of remaining ones. Glory holes are sometimes a topic of erotic literature, and pornographic films have been devoted to their use.[2]

  1. ^ Murphy, Timothy F. (1994). Gay Ethics: Controversies in Outing, Civil Rights, and Sexual Science. Haworth Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-1-56023-056-4. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  2. ^ a b Burger, John Robert (1995). One-Handed Histories: The Eroto-Politics of Gay Male Video. Haworth Press. ISBN 1-56024-860-2. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "We Asked People Why They Use Glory Holes. Boy, Did They Answer". BuzzFeed News. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  5. ^ DiMauro, Anthony (1 September 2020). "A Forgotten Sex Act's Unlikely Renaissance in the Pandemic". Slate. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.