The San Diego City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday, Sept. 1, to repeal a 38-year-old bathhouse ordinance that city leaders called outdated and offensive to the LGBTQ+ community. La Jolla's representative, Council President Joe LaCava, brought the repeal forward.

The ordinance, Chapter 4, Article 2, Division 4 of the San Diego Municipal Code, placed strict restrictions on bathhouses that "encourage, facilitate and/or knowingly allow their patrons to engage in sexual practices that pose a significant risk for the transmission of HIV." It was established in April 1988 and last updated in 1991, during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis.

When it was written, more than 700 San Diegans had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and half had died, NBC San Diego reported. At least 10,000 San Diego residents have died from complications of HIV/AIDS since the virus arrived locally, according to city data cited by NBC San Diego.

"This language does not reflect who we are as a city," LaCava said at the Sept. 1 meeting. "It is an outdated and offensive perspective and I do not support this kind of language."

LaCava said a staff member discovered the language while searching the municipal code. His office first brought the repeal to a Rules Committee hearing in June, where it was approved before reaching the full council, according to Fox 5 San Diego.

The ordinance was no longer enforced. The San Diego Police Department and the city's Development Services Department had stopped applying it, LaCava said. His office said all regulations for such businesses are now overseen by the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, making the code section unnecessary.

Patrick Loose, who oversees San Diego County's HIV, STD and Hepatitis Branch, told PinkNews that gay and bisexual men had already begun adopting safer-sex practices by the time the ordinance was passed in 1988.

The vote drew personal reflections from council members. Councilman Raul Campillo said his uncle Francisco died of HIV/AIDS in 1992 and thanked LaCava for updating the code. Councilman Stephen Whitburn, who is gay, thanked LaCava for bringing the repeal forward, Instinct Magazine reported.

San Diego joins a growing list of cities shedding AIDS-era bathhouse laws. San Francisco repealed its ordinance in 2024, Minneapolis followed in June 2026, and New York City lawmakers are pushing to repeal a similar law, according to PinkNews.

The repeal is final. The ordinance is now removed from the municipal code.