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A glory hole (also spelled gloryhole and glory-hole) is a hole in a wall or partition, often between public toilet cubicles, public shower cubicles or sex video arcade booths and lounges, for people to engage in sexual activity or to observe the person on the opposite side.
Glory holes are especially associated with gay male culture and Anal sex or Oral sex sex. They are not exclusively favoured by gay people and have become more commonly acknowledged as a fetish for heterosexual and bisexual individuals as well.
In more recent years, public glory holes have faded in popularity in many countries, or have simply been removed or closed up by authorities, although some gay websites offer directories of remaining ones. Glory holes are sometimes a topic of erotic literature and pornography films have been devoted to their use.
In light of the ongoing HIV pandemic, many gay men reevaluated their sexual and erotic desires and practices. Queer theorist Tim Dean has suggested that glory holes allow for a physical barrier, which may be an extension of psychological barriers, in which there is internalized homophobia (a result of many societies' reluctance to discuss LGBT practices and people). For some gay men, a glory hole depersonalizes their partner altogether as a disembodied object of sexual desire.
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."
Another reference to glory holes appeared in Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places, a controversial book published by sociologist Laud Humphreys in 1970, where he suggests the "tearoom", or bathroom stall, as a prime space for men to congregate for sexual fulfilment. It also appeared later in the 1977 book The Joy of Gay Sex.
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."
Despite the fading prominence of glory holes in public, some gay bath houses and sex clubs maintain the presence of glory holes in their establishments and some people have acknowledged installing private glory-hole walls in their own homes. Sexual activity in public toilets remains a fetish for a subset of gay men in particular, who engage in similarly anonymous acts below a toilet cubicle separator rather than through a hole in the wall.
In 2018, the Western Australian Museum added a "historic glory hole" to its collection. It had been situated in the toilet stall of the Albany Highway-side of the Gosnells train station, but was removed and saved in 1997 before the toilet was demolished.
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.
The early 20th-century pornographic cartoon Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure depicts the use of an improvised glory hole for Zoophilia 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.
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