In 1979, a gay man looking for sex in Pittsburgh was likely to find success at any of the three bath houses around the city, or at the Crossover Lounge, a leather bar just down the street from where Central Outreach is today. In 1977 the Holiday Bar in Oakland advertised its “new, deodorized men’s room” and “completely sanitized cruise bar” in a special issue of Gay Life magazine, whose cover story was a first-person account of a visit to the baths. Brian Michaels, who was also the magazine’s society columnist, tried to demystify the experience for readers: “Tonight I’m the new piece of meat in town ... It is usually assumed that gay baths are patronized for but one purpose — quick, anonymous sex ... but there are those who attend just to watch or be watched, or to make an attempt to socialize in a non-alcoholic environment." Start looking into these forgotten Pittsburgh bars, and you’ll uncover a decades-spanning history of gay nightlife and secret sex in the city. Writer Dade Le...