Virgin Active's Barbican branch is not a one-off.
, a website that lists places where 'men meet other men for sex, cruising, hook-ups, dating, fun and friendship', gives Virgin Active's Barbican location a four-star rating and offers this handy description: 'Massive gym, with loads of facilities, and after you've done all your hard work you get some pleasure in the steam rooms etc.' Harry, a regular there, says it's well known as a gay men's cruising spot, but adds that hook-ups actually 'used to be much more common than they are now'. Virgin Active's response to 'inappropriate behaviour' in the Barbican branch's male locker room wasn't just misguided. But even back in 2008, police guidelines essentially advised officers to turn a blind eye unless someone actually complained. Under the Public Order Act 1986, anyone who has sex in public can theoretically be charged if the police have enough evidence to convince a court that the activity was witnessed by a third party, or highly likely to have been witnessed by a third party.
