The Global Gay Cruising Index by Erobella reveals which cities around the world offer gay men the widest variety of spaces for spontaneous sexual encounters. The ranking is based on the number of gay saunas, cruising clubs, gay bars, and public parks, combined into an overall Cruising Score.
At the top of the index is London, scoring 29 out of a possible 40 points. The British capital stands out above all for its abundance of cruising opportunities in public parks (10/10 points) and its strong offering of saunas and gay bars. Right behind is Berlin (26/40 points), renowned for its legendary fetish club scene, which is considered world-leading.
In third place comes Paris (25/40 points), boosted by its high density of gay saunas (10/10 points) and clubs, while Madrid (22/40 points) also scores well for its sauna scene, though it lacks cruising parks. Barcelona earns 18/40 points, benefiting mainly from its vibrant club scene.
In the U.S., New York leads with 14/40 points, driven largely by its impressive number of gay bars (10/10 points). San Francisco (11/40 points) and Chicago (10/40 points) follow, while Miami lags surprisingly far behind with just 8/40 points.
The index reveals a stark contrast between Europe and North America. While cities like London, Berlin, and Paris are thriving centers of gay cruising, most U.S. and Canadian cities fall behind. This divide is not coincidental – it stems from deep-seated historical, cultural, and political developments dating back to the 1980s.
The HIV/AIDS Crisis as a Turning Point
The devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s marked a decisive turning point. While the virus spread globally, responses in the U.S. and Europe diverged sharply. In the United States – especially in hotspots like San Francisco and New York – fear-driven and moralistic policies led to the closure of gay bathhouses.
Many within the community saw these closures as an attack on hard-won freedoms. Activists like Harry Breaux described them as severing the “lines of communication” within the gay community [1]. Bathhouses were more than just spaces for anonymous sex – they served as social hubs, gyms, networking sites, and egalitarian spaces where social status was irrelevant. The closures have been described as a “dignity taking” [3] – a removal of cultural infrastructure without legitimate public purpose, aimed at dehumanizing the community.
In contrast, most European countries adopted a more pragmatic approach. Instead of closing saunas, they were repurposed as centers for education and prevention. Only Sweden briefly followed the U.S. example in 1985, but reversed the ban in 2004 [4]. In countries like Germany and the Netherlands, health authorities collaborated with sauna owners and gay organizations to promote safer-sex practices and distribute condoms and educational materials. This strategy not only preserved vital spaces within the gay subculture but also built trust and cooperation between communities and institutions.
Lasting Consequences
The legacy of these divergent strategies is still visible today. Whereas Europe’s sauna and cruising culture survived and evolved, the American cruising scene never fully recovered from the closures of the 1980s. Bars remained, but they could not replace the diversity of spaces that once defined gay cruising. The Global Gay Cruising Index 2025 reflects this ongoing disparity.
To create the Global Gay Cruising Index, international cities were assessed for the accessibility and diversity of their cruising infrastructure. Four key categories were analyzed:
Each city received a score in each category based on the number of available venues. To ensure comparability, the values were adjusted for population size and standardized on a 1–10 scale. The city with the highest number in a given category received a score of 10; the city with the lowest, 1. All others were proportionally placed between these extremes.
The category scores were then summed to calculate each city’s Cruising Score. This score reflects the overall density of cruising opportunities and enables direct global comparisons.
[1] San Francisco AIDS Foundation. (2021, December 22). The bathhouse battle of 1984. https://www.sfaf.org/collections/beta/the-bathhouse-battle-of-1984/
[2] The New York Times. (1985, October 26). State permits closing of bathhouses to cut AIDS. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/26/nyregion/state-permits-closing-of-bathhouses-to-cut-aids.html
[3] Bates College. (2018, March 16). Did closing New York City bathhouses in the 1980s strip dignity from gay men? https://www.bates.edu/news/2018/03/16/did-the-1980s-closure-of-nycs-bathhouses-strip-dignity-from-gay-men/
[4] Woods, W. J., et al. (2013). Gay bathhouse HIV prevention: the use of staff monitoring and client intervention to reduce the prevalence of unprotected anal intercourse. PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3772683/
[5] TravelGay. (n.d.). The Best Gay Saunas in Europe. https://www.travelgay.com/editorial/the-best-gay-saunas-in-europe
[6] Steves, R. (2015, November 16). European Flesh and the American Prude. Rick Steves’ Europe. https://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/european-flesh-and-the-american-prude-2/
[7] ILGA-Europe. (2025). Rainbow Map 2025. https://rainbowmap.ilga-europe.org/
[8] Flores, A. R. (2021, November). Social Acceptance of LGBTI People in 175 Countries and Locations. Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law.
