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Who knew deviancy was so … traditional? While this is probably not the first time in history someone put his penis through a stall partition, the incident at the Lincoln’s Inn bog house is the first we have on record. It was under this threat of persecution that the term cruising was coined from the dutch word kruisen, meant to describe, according to historian Tim Blanning, the activity of men meeting with other men everywhere from public toilets to the “wooded area near The Hague” to “even the very grounds of the building in which the Court of Holland held its sessions.” Meanwhile, in Westminster, England, journalist Ned Ward reports in 1709 that “there are a particular Gang of sodomitical Wretches in the Town, who call themselves the Mollies, and are so far degenerated from all masculine Deportment, or manly Exercises, that they rather fancy themselves Women.” Incidentally, the increased scrutiny on homosexual and non-normative behavior fostered a lively subculture. The turn of the 18 th century was a particularly rough time for homosexuals (or sodomites, as they had come to be called): A religious revival was rocking Western European society, inspiring new laws to govern sexual practice and deviancy. So what about the gay meaning? In 1707, more than 100 years before glory hole entered the lexicon of glass production, the sex act we now commonly associate with glory holes made its (first historically documented) debut, also in England. So why do they call it that? Which glory hole came first? Which group owns the term “glory hole”? Would a glory hole by any other name smell as sweet? How did we get to me asking these questions? For glass blowers, the glory hole is a high-powered furnace burning at over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit-hardly suitable for sex acts of any kind. Those currently enthralled with Netflix’s hit competitive glass blowing show Blown Away may be justifiably curious about the presence on the program of “glory holes.”įor most of the culture, this terms refers very specifically to a public, quasi-anonymous sex act involving gay men, bathroom stalls, and a handily placed hole.
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This post is part of Outward, Slate’s home for coverage of LGBTQ life, thought, and culture. What Everyone Gets Wrong About Gen Z and the Sex It’s (Not) Having Some Deeply Odd Gilded Age Costume Ideas for Met Gala Attendees Who Are Feeling Brave