ABSTRACT
The salient risks of the game are the long-range contingencies, particularly those that may result in injury or stigmatization, in damage to the participant's person or his personal identity. Every state in America has codes prohibiting sexual activities in public places, and arrest is an ever present possibility for the participants in tearoom encounters. Blackmail is not only a threat to all who take part in games of deviant sexuality but, when that activity takes a homosexual form, the participants gain the distinction of being the only known group who are discriminated against for being prone to blackmail. The other general categories of risk that confront tearoom participants involve the possibility of bodily, rather than social, harm. Respondents assure that one of the more attractive aspects of the tearooms as places of sexual rendezvous is that they offer an instant alibi for one's presence. Another threat to be considered is the risk of infection from venereal disease.
