Last month, the owners of the Cedamus Amori bar in Nahalat Binyamin in Tel Aviv announced its closing after a year and a half. Cedamus was one of the few places of entertainment in the city serving the gay-lesbian community. Previously the Minerva and Carpe Diem bars, which catered to the community, also closed. A few years ago there were about seven "pick-up" bars and places of entertainment for the gay community; now only Evita on Yavne Street remains, along with parties in various bars and nightclubs, which cater to members of the gay-lesbian community.
The closing of entertainment spots for gays in Tel Aviv is part of an overall trend in big cities the world over.
The increasing legitimacy being granted in the West to gays and lesbians enables same-sex couples to live outside the big cities. On the other hand, the rise of Internet dating sites such as Gaydar and GayRomeo, and the Israeli site Atraf. For many, these sites and others have become the main medium through which homosexuals connect for romantic and sexual purposes. So the bars and the nightclubs are no longer necessary for this purpose.
Experts say that the Internet has helped gays and lesbians to consolidate their identity at an earlier age and to make contacts.
But these sites also have a negative effect: Many gays complain that the immediacy and the speed of the encounters via the Internet create a feeling of alienation, of a "meat market" or an "assembly line." Studies also show that casual Internet sex often tends to be unsafe.
A survey conducted in Holland two years ago studied some 5,000 homosexuals who surf dating sites. It found that about 10 percent to 15 percent of those surveyed consistently engage in unprotected sex with men that they meet on the sites. Other studies have shown that the Internet is a major arena of activity for people who consistently and deliberately avoide using a condom.
