Glory hole

Numerous motivations can be ascribed to the use and eroticism of glory holes. As a wall separates the two participants, they have no contact except for a penis and a mouth, hand, anus, or vagina. Almost total anonymity is maintained, as no other attributes are taken into consideration. The glory hole is seen as an erotic oasis in gay subcultures around the world; people's motives, experiences and attributions of value in its use are varied. In light of the ongoing HIV pandemic, many gay men reevaluated their sexual and erotic desires and practices. For some gay men, a glory hole depersonalizes their partner altogether as a disembodied object of sexual desire. ==History==

The first documented instance of a glory hole was in a 1707 court case known as the "Tryals of Thomas Vaughan and Thomas Davis" in London, which involved the extortion of a man known in the documents only as Mr Guillam. At the time, gay sexual activity in public places could lead to arrests by members of the Society for the Reformation of Manners. Often the authorities would wait outside the Lincoln's Inn bog house in London for example to catch people. The courts heard that a man (Mr Guillam) had visited a toilet stall to relieve himself, when another male put his penis through a hole in the wall ("a Boy in the adjoyning Vault put his Privy-member through a Hole"). Mr Guillam, surprised by the action, fled the lavatory, only to be followed by the male who cried out that he would have had sex with him. Mr Guillam was then confronted by Mr Vaughan who, knowing Mr Guillam's innocence, threatened to turn him in to the police and reveal him to his wife if he did not pay him a sum of money. According to the Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang, "glory hole" first appeared in print in 1949, when an anonymously published glossary, ''Swasarnt Nerf's Gay Girl's Guide,'' defined it as "[a] phallic size hole in partition between toilet booths. Sometimes used also for a mere peep-hole." Public glory holes started to fade in popularity as the decriminalization of homosexuality was introduced in many countries and concerns over HIV/AIDS changed gay culture. A 2001 study in the Journal of Homosexuality found that public glory holes remained popular among many gay men "simply because they find [them] exciting and/or convenient." The Leather Archives & Museum was loaned a glory hole from Man's Country in Chicago in June 2019. A 2020 BuzzFeed article collected anecdotes from gay, straight and bisexual readers recounting their experiences with glory holes at swinger parties. ==Legal and health concerns==

Public sex of any kind is illegal in many parts of the world and police undercover operations continue to be used to enforce such laws. Adverse personal consequences to participants in glory hole activity have included police surveillance and public humiliation in the press, often with marital and employment consequences and imprisonment following a criminal conviction. Gay bashing, mugging and bodily injury are further potential risks. For reasons of personal safety, as well as etiquette, men typically wait for a signal from the receptive partner before inserting their genitals through a glory hole. ==In popular culture==

Glory holes are a recurring theme in pornography. Straight porn often features scenarios involving them; in some instances, it involves kink mistresses, who see it as a form of women's sexual agency and mastery. The early 20th-century pornographic cartoon Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure depicts the use of an improvised glory hole for zoophilic purposes. Jackass Number Two features a stunt where cast member Chris Pontius dresses his penis in a mouse costume and inserts it into a glory hole that feeds into a snake's cage. In The Illuminatus! Trilogy a glory hole, in the form of a giant golden apple with an opening in it, is used as part of the Discordian initiation ritual, causing the main character to wonder who or what is on the other side. American glam metal band Steel Panther's album All You Can Eat features a song entitled "Gloryhole", about the narrator's frequent visits to a local gloryhole. In the "Mac and Charlie Die (Part 1)" episode of the sitcom ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', the gang discovers a glory hole has been added to the men's bathroom in their bar. In 2024, comedy duo Rhett and Link gamified the glory hole for their annual Good Mythical Evening livestream. The game included a "Gory Hole" as the event was Halloween themed. The participant was instructed to guess what inanimate object was poking out of the hole while blindfolded and unable to use their hands. The Lonely Island returned to form with SNL Digital Short "Sushi Glory Hole" on the October 6, 2024 episode of Saturday Night Live. ==See also==