LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District

LeatherWalk 2022 had to be postponed due to the weather.  It has now been rescheduled for SATURDAY, October 15, 2022.

Full details are here..

On Saturday, October 15, 2022, there are so many exciting events happening in SOMA that you probably can’t attend all of them.  But it might be fun to try:

Farmers Market — The SOMA West Farmers Market at Eagle Plaza happens every Saturday through October, and the event on October 15 will run from 9 am to 1 pm, on 12th Street at Harrison.

LeatherWalk 2022 — Proudly produced by the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District, LeatherWalk 2022 starts at 11 am in Civic Center Plaza, across from City Hall, visits favorite neighborhood spots, and ends up at the celebration of body positivity called the Bearrison Street Fair!

Bearrison Street Fair — The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the Bears of SF offer a supportive, welcoming, and inclusive event for all members of the adult LGBTQ+ community.  It will happen from noon to 6 pm, on Harrison Street at 11th.

LDG Fetish Fair — The San Francisco Leathermen’s Discussion Group presents the Fetish Fair 2022, from 3:30 to 8 pm, at Transform1060  (1060 Folsom Street).

Post Fetish Fair Play Party — GearUp Weekend and San Francisco Leathermen’s Discussion Group present a hot, fun, men-only play party, starting at 8 pm, immediately following LDG Fetish Fair, at 1060 Folsom Street.  The doors will remain open until 11 pm, with play continuing until 1 am.

How Weird Street Faire 2022 — The 23rd Annual How Weird Street Faire,  “Close Encounters Of The Weird Kind”, offers a mix of music, art, costumes, and dancing, in the area around Second and Howard Street, from noon to 8 pm.

Have a great day!

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District was pleased and proud to be part of the 2022 Folsom Street Fair.

We send our thanks to the tireless volunteers who staffed the booth, including Bob Brown, Tessa Antonia Delsener, Richard Dupler, Norm Lynde, JConr B. Ortega, Sumiko Saulson, and Stan Wong.

Our booth also hosted folks from the Bearrison Street Fair, the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, ELSE, and BABKA (the Bay Area Bi/Pan Kinky Alliance).

At the booth, we spoke to hundreds of guests about the Cultural District, signed up more than 50 folks for our mailing list, showed off items from our new Merchandise Store, gave out stacks and stacks of informational materials, (including our popular postcards), and, of course, extended our invitation to everyone to join us for LeatherWalk 2022 on October 15.

Our warmest thanks and heartiest congratulations go out to Folsom Street, who produced a magnificent event.  The return of the full-strength Folsom Street Fair experience had been long awaited and keenly anticipated by our entire community, and the reality did NOT disappoint.

[If you were unable to attend, or want to refresh you memory, may I recommend the uncensored photos of BIRON, here. — NSFW.]

Special mention to everyone involved in the vaccination efforts, both leading up to and actually at the Street Fair; this all-out effort is helping assure that we can enjoy our kinkiness as safely and responsibly as possible.

And kudos also to all the attendees, both locals and visitors, who showed respect, positivity, and common sense, assuring that the event went not just smoothly and safely, but joyfully.  We are exhausted, but proud, happy, and inspired!

See you at LeatherWalk next month!

The next online meeting of our Diversity and Membership Committee is set for Thursday, October 6, 2022, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Join via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87865884248, or call 1 408 638 0968 and use Meeting ID: 878 6588 4248.  RSVP is not required.  More info is here, or contact manager@sflcd.org.   We hope you can join us!

---

The next SOMA Second Saturday! event will be on October 8, 2022, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm, on 12th Street (between Folsom and Harrison), in San Francisco.  Full info is here.

---

The next online meeting of the Communications Committee is set for Thursday, October 13, 2022 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.  Join via Zoom here.  More info is here, or contact the committee chair,  Bob Brown!

---

We now host our Erotic Storytelling Hour on the second Thursday of each month.  Our next one is Thursday, October 13 2022, from 8 to 9 pm.

Come hear some provocative, graphic, sexy, titillating, and funny stories (and more) from selected writers of our community, hosted by award-winning author Sumiko Saulson. It’s fun, it’s naughty, it’s online.  Click here or here for more details and Zoom link, and click here to see videos of some of our past evenings!  (Be 18+!)

---

The next online meeting of the Land Use Committee Meeting is set for Tuesday, October 11, 2022, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Zoom into the meeting here. More info is here, or contact the committee chair.

---

The Second Bearrison Street Fair will be held on Harrison Street at 11th Street, on Saturday, October 15, 2022.

Bearrison — a collaboration between the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc., (SPI) and the Bears of San Francisco (BOSF) — is an inclusive event for all members of the adult LGBTI+ community, which promotes body positivity for all and builds a more supportive, welcoming, and inclusive bear scene by representing a diverse arena of cultures.

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District was proud to have been a Presenting Sponsor of last year’s Fair; pictures from that event are up on their web site.  We will be a Sponsor again this year.

This would be a great time to sign up to volunteer.  (Early volunteers get best choice of shifts!)

There is still time to sign up to be a vendor, here.  And if your organization would like to be a Beverage Partner, apply here.  

When it comes to corporate sponsorships, the sooner the better.  Start by dropping them a quick note here.

Only a limited number of spots are open in the Barbells, Bears, and Butts Deadlift Competition, a new feature of the Fair this year, sponsored by Fitness SF and MetalBob Training.  Learn more and sign up now at https://www.bearrison.org/deadlift.

Admission to the event is free, but VIP tickets are cheaper this year, and the perks of being a VIP will be better than ever, so order yours now and save! .

Because the  Bearrison Street Fair is, above all, a good time!

Please educate yourself about Monkeypox. Start at sf.gov/monkeypox. Additional links are on our Resource page, here.

Thanks to some useful input we have received, we have been able to update our Leather & LGBTQ Resource Guide with new links to health-related resources, including new info on Monkeypox, and about recommendations for Meningococcal Disease vaccination.

See the new links at https://sfleatherdistrict.org/leather-and-lgbtq-resources/#health.

The monthly SOMA Second Saturday event on October 8 (from 1 to 5 pm, in and around Eagle Plaza) will once again feature our fun new “Rough Trade” Gear Swap!

The Gear Swap is your chance to clear out the closet, and earn some money for your used leather boots, fetish attire, kinky toys, bondage gear and…  who knows what else!

You can let us sell your items for your stated price, OR hang out at the Gear Swap booth, so you can negotiate and haggle with potential buyers.

If you have a Venmo account, you can send us the account name or QR Code to make payment easy.

You’ll be reducing clutter, raising cash, and getting gear into the hands of folks who might not otherwise afford it.

Best of all, you can choose to keep 100% of the cash receipts, or donate some or all of them to Folsom Street!

So, if you have some items that no longer fit your lifestyle (or your body), sign up here, or read full details here.

---

Other reasons to join us for SOMA Second Saturdays can be found here.

Hi.  Thanks for your interest in the “LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District”, created by the City of San Francisco to honor, support, and protect the unique and special culture that has flourished in the South of Market area.

We encourage anyone with an interest in the leather or kink community to learn about this project, and participate however they can.

There are lots of ways to get informed and involved:

• Read this brief introduction.
• View our brochure.
• Visit our “About us” page.
• Become a Member of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District – or at least get on our mailing list – to be notified of meetings and other events, join a committee, or volunteer your skills.
• Attend one of our semi-annual  Membership Meetings.
• Attend (as a guest) one of our monthly Board Meetings.
• Consider joining one of our important Committees, including the Arts and Culture Committee, the Communications Committee, The Governance Committee, the Land Use Committee, or the Diversity and Membership Committee.   
• Share your opinions about our community’s needs, and our organization’s priorities, either by using our survey, or by chatting with a member of our Board. 
• Read the Resolution as approved by the Board of Supervisors, and signed by the Mayor on May 9, 2018, here.
• Read the Vision and Mission Statements for the Cultural District here.
• Read our full organizational Bylaws, here.
• See a list of our current Board of Directors, here.
• View a map of the Cultural District here.
• Check out our calendar of Cultural District meetings and events, here.
• Like and follow the SF LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District on Facebook.  
• Join our Group on Fetlife.
• Follow @sfleatherdist on Twitter or Instagram.  
• Write to our group’s elected President, Bob Brown, using the email address president@SFLCD.org or more generally to info@SFLCD.org.  

Let’s see what we can do to make this happen, and make it happen right!

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District’s leadership is deeply pained by the racist violence which continues in this country.

We stand in solidarity with Black and Brown people and their allies worldwide who are peacefully expressing their outrage at racism, injustice, and abuse of police power.

We stand in solidarity with the protesters engaged in powerful actions to demand justice, accountability, and systemic change.

Only by standing together will it be possible to put an end to the senseless brutality we have witnessed for too long.

The Leather and LGBTQ communities have a long history of collective strength in times of crisis and now we invoke that strength to call for freedom and fairness for all oppressed communities.

We call on the entire community to work together to dismantle ingrained systems of inequality wherever they are found.  It will be a long journey to the end of institutionalized racism, but our community will act with strength, purpose, and solidarity until we see that day.

Black Lives Matter.

---

Community members have encouraged contributions to some of the organizations listed below.  Although the Cultural District has not reviewed these suggestions, and cannot specifically endorse them, we do urge our community to support the hard work of achieving safety, freedom, and fairness for all oppressed communities.

• • National Bail Fund Network
  • Bay Area Anti- Repression Committee Bail Fund
  • San Francisco’s Transgender District
  • Anti Police-Terror Project
  • The Bail Project™ National Revolving Bail Fund 
  • Protest & COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund for Community Bail & Bond Funds 
  • Minnesota Freedom Fund 
  • Reclaim The Block
  • Black Visions Collective
  • Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project
  • Center for Black Equity

Other Lists of Resources:

• • SF Queer Nightlife Fund: Antiracism Resources
  • Northstar Health Collective
  • Tools For Fighting Racism In The Leather Community
  • Website Planet: List of Black-Owned Businesses