I heard about a lot of hiv being passed around steambaths. why was that?

Unprotected sex: In the 1970's-80's, many large cities had steambaths (or bath houses) where men were able to frequent and engage in unprotected (i.e. Without the use of condoms) sex with many other men. During the early part of the aids crisis (1986-1996), many of these places were condemned/closed.

Person to person: Good question. Getting HIV "from" a steambath is not the concern. Hiv may have been passed from person to person during sexual encouters in a bath house, but the steambath itself was not infectious. Hiv is not spread in steam or through showering in a public place. It is spread by close physical / intimate contact in which body fluids are exchanged.