So we did what most people do when they wonder about something: We sent an anonymous survey.
In a matter of days, we received a thousand replies. A few responses came from scandalized pearl-clutchers, like a 40-year-old straight white man who felt the need to write: “I have never used a glory hole and I can’t believe that they are a real thing in any context.” (To which I say: OK boomer.)īut we heard from hundreds of gay men (thank you for trusting us!), including unsolicited emails from eager glory hole practitioners - advocating for glory hole awareness - who had set up private ones in their homes and were excited that their moment was finally here. We also received a sizable number of replies from straight or self-described “heterodominant” men who stumbled onto glory holes through Craigslist ads, video arcades, and swingers clubs. The wide range of replies is very revealing about how glory holes fit into people’s erotic lives and why folks - both straight and queer - turn to them: It’s an experience that provides a kind of consensual nonreciprocity and an ability to focus on pleasure above all.
