The Gay Subculture in Early Eighteenth-Century London.Rictor explained that the first known gay brothels and cruising spots may have appeared in London circa 1600.However, Rictor made the dubious discovery relating to the Buckingham palace site when he stumbled upon the writings of English politician Clement Walker, who in 1649 mentioned the existence of “new-erected sodoms and spintries at the Mulberry Garden at S.