Come Here Often?

[March 1st, 2006] Who knew the first-floor bathroom in the City Hall of Malden, Mass., would rate five stars from www.gayuniverse.com for close encounters of the male-on-male kind?

Certainly not the Boston suburb's town fathers, who were so throbbing mad about the high Web ranking that one city councilor last week told the Malden Observer, "God forbid someone's kids are in there when this is going on."

Not wanting Stumptown to get caught with its pants down, WW went straight to the site to see if our City Hall measured up. Sadly, it didn't even rate a mention. In fact, many of the Portland-area listings on gayuniverse hadn't been updated since before Queer Eye went on the air.

Still, the idea pricked our interest. While it may be old news to some of you (and for once we aren't naming names), WW found several of the city's public places are apparently doing a stiff business.

Among the hottest spots, according to another website, www.cruisingforsex.com: the Portland Building next door to City Hall.

City officials say they didn't know about the Portland Building bathroom's rep.

"We have no knowledge that that is the case," says Mary Volm, spokeswoman for Portland's Bureau of General Services, which runs the city's buildings.

On Cruisingforsex, anonymous posters detail homoerotic encounters in and between stalls at some high-profile Portland businesses and public places, mostly restrooms.

They include:

Meier & Frank, 621 SW 5th Ave.;

the Portland Building, 1120 SW 5th Ave.; Portland State University's "Athletic Building"; Union Station, 800 NW 6th Ave.;

Wells Fargo Center, 1300 SW 5th Ave.;

Bally Total Fitness, 110 SW Yamhill St.;

the bike path along I-205, near the overpass at Flavel Street and Mount Scott Boulevard; and Fred Meyer, 5253 SE 82nd Ave., as well as Farragut and Washington Parks.