The world's first city recognized LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District
On Sunday, September 19, more than 200 people welcomed a treasured tradition back to the streets of SOMA. LeatherWalk 2021 was a resounding success, raising both spirits and funds.
We stopped at Oasis, Hole in the Wall, Powerhouse, Azucar Lounge, Wicked Grounds, Leather Etc., Mr. S Leather, Ringold Alley, and Lone Star Saloon before arriving at Eagle Plaza for the Leather Pride Fest, hosted by the SF Eagle.
The next online meeting of the Arts and Culture Committee is set for Thursday, September 23, 2021, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Info at Facebook post. Join with Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89554242702 or call 1 408 638 0968 and use Meeting ID: 895 5424 2702. The full agenda will be posted soon. Please contact the committee chair, David Hyman, to get on the mailing list for this Committee, or for more info!
The next meeting of the Ad Hoc Gateway Committee will be scheduled as needed. For more info, click here or contact Committee Chair Bob Brown.
We host an Erotic Storytelling Hour every other Tuesday, and our next one — a special Megahood Recovery Edition — is Tuesday, September 28, 2021, from 8 to 9 p.m. Come hear some provocative, graphic, sexy, titillating, and funny stories (and more) from selected writers of our community.
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 Walking Tour Subcommittee Meeting is set for Wednesday, October 6, 2021, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Join at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88470691792 or call 1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose) and enter Meeting ID: 884 7069 1792.. Help us create an Internet-based Walking Tour of noteworthy past and present locations in our South of Market neighborhood. RSVP here, or view the agenda here.
The next online meeting of our Diversity and Membership Committee is set for Thursday, October 7, 2021, 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 the committee chair, Gene Edmond! We hope you can join us!
The next online Land Use Committee Meeting is set for Tuesday, October 12, 2021, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. Zoom into the meeting here. More info is here, or contact the committee chair.
The next online meeting of the Communications Committee is set for Thursday, October 14, 2021 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. Join via Zoom here More info is here, or contact the committee chair, Bob Brown!
The next meeting of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District Board of Directors will be held on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. As always, all are welcome to attend, and time is reserved for public comment. ASL interpretation provided if requested ten days in advance. To participate, join the Zoom Meeting here, or call 1-408-638-0968 and use Meeting ID: 847 8906 0820 and Passcode: 972086. More info is here. Please contact manager@sflcd.org if you have questions. Minutes of past Board meetings can be reviewed here.
We send out a newsletter each month, right before our Board Meeting. Do you get it?
If not, view a recent newsletter here, then sign up to get it monthly here.
Do you own or manage a building or business in our Cultural District? Does it have some history relevant to our queer and kinky communities? Do you want to learn more about it? Look here.
And while we have your attention, building owner/manager: Would you like a mural on your building? We would like to make it happen for you! Decorate The Streets
Another queer and kinky street fair is coming to town next fall.! The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the Bears of San Francisco will host the Bearrison Street Fair on Saturday afternoon, October 23, 2021, at and around the corner of 11th and Harrison Streets. Learn more details at their web site and their Facebook page.
If you just learned about San Francisco’s LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District…. Welcome!
Please explore below for information about the Cultural District. If you are not already receiving email from us, please click here to be kept informed about our meetings and activities.
Threats to our South of Market businesses and institutions can arise quickly, and may require a quick community response. Sign up here to join our SOMA Action network.
Do you have opinions? Sure you do, but we mean specifically do you have opinions about SOMA and kink and the future of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District? Please share your opinions using our Community Input form!
If you have not yet seen it, please read our Statement of Solidarity, and consider what you personally can do to fight racism, injustice, and abuse of police power.
SF Catalyst is expanding to better serve leather, queer, and kink organizations and individuals! But it will need your help. Find more details and donate to ensure SF Catalyst remains a thriving community space here.
A Governance and Legislation Committee meeting will be scheduled shortly. Please contact the committee chair, Bob Brown, to sign up, or for more info!
The next meeting of the Board of the Friends of Eagle Plaza is scheduled for Wednesday, September 8, 2021, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm.
Zoom into meeting at Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89493852487 or call 1-669-900-6833, and use Meeting ID: 894 9385 2487. To be added to the “Friends of Eagle Plaza” mailing list, click here. To make a donation to the Friends of Eagle Plaza, click here, To stay up to date, like and follow them on Facebook. To learn more about the Plaza’s design, construction and stewardship, click here or write to info@eagleplaza.org.
| A safe, fun afternoon with queer art, kinky crafts, local artisans, clubs and organizations
A smoke-free event Applicable COVID-19 precautions enforced. |
For your and others’ safety, please mask up. |
Enjoy beverages at the Eagle, and food at Willows, Manora, DNA and other local restaurants! Donation requested Event subject to weather, city guidelines, etc. |
Organizations and Vendors: Apply Here for A Booth!
Detailed Info for Exhibitors and Volunteers
The Golden Gate Guards are having an on-line leather silent auction hosted by 32auctions.com. This is a golden opportunity for you to add to your leather collection.
They have more than 120 items, including high quality leather boots, chaps, jackets, pants, vests, accessories and even some BDSM equipment. Many items are in excellent condition, while some show gentle wear.
Check it out at 32auctions.com/202
The Auction is now OPEN, and is scheduled to close on Friday, September 17, 2021 at 09:00 PM PDT. You will need to create an account at 32auctions.com in order to bid for the auction items.
This online event is to raise funds for the Golden Gate Guards, a leather-Levi, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, open to both men and women, that serves the San Francisco Bay Area. They host safe, sane, and enjoyable events for those with an interest in leather, Levis, motorcycles and uniforms, while raising money for other non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations. They have a lot of fun, too!
An entertaining and informative conversation called “B.A.R. Talks 5: Living in Leather” with Race Bannon, Scott Brogan, Gayle Rubin, Rich Stadtmiller, and Graylin Thornton, held online on September 2, 2021, can be viewed on the Bay Area Reporter’s Facebook page, or below.:
Representatives of the new owner of 729 Bush Street, the site of the now-closed Nob Hill Theater, will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, August 17th, from 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. to present draft plans for a proposed renovation of the building to create a surgical center with dwellings above, reaching a height of 50 feet. The façade of the existing building will be retained.
The public meeting is being held to showcase the history of the theater and solicit feedback from members of the public. 729 Bush Street housed the Nob Hill Theater, a prominent gay adult theater and gathering place from circa 1968 to 2018.
You can attend the meeting via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86153240322 (or call +16699009128,,86153240322#), or view a copy of the presentation and submit comments at 729bush.com. All comments will be shared with the SF Planning Department, and considered as plans for the site are finalized. Questions may also be sent to nobhilltheaterhistory@gmail.com.
A full press release about this can be viewed here.
No one reading this needs to be reminded of the importance of being vaccinated against COVID-19. It’s essential for your personal health and safety, it’s essential to our community, and now it’s essential if you want to get a drink.
Throughout SOMA (and elsewhere), bars, clubs, private parties and others are increasingly requiring patrons to provide proof of vaccination, or extremely recent negative COVID-19 test results. (See the SF Eagle’s detailed page on the subject.)
So when you visit SOMA, please bring proof of vaccination. The original paper vaccination record will do, but for faster service (and to make life easy for the door personnel), consider getting an official State of California Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record right on your smartphone.
And if you aren’t yet vaccinated, please click here for info on how you can get it. It’s free, it’s easy to get, it’s safe, and, oh yes, it might just save your life.
The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District is pleased to present another edition of our bi-weekly online event for persons 18+ only:
The Erotic Storytelling Hour!
Leather Edition
Come hear some erotic, sexy, and funny stories and more
from selected writers of our community!
Tuesday, September 14, 2021, from 8 to 9 p.m.
Join via Zoom
Or call 1 408 638 0968 and enter meeting ID: 868 6820 8302 and password: 507379\
Info on Facebook
Be 18+
Hosted by:
Sumiko Saulson
David Hyman
Cal Callahan
Click here for info about all our wonderful Erotic Storytellers!
Want to be a reader for a future event? Contact: manager@sflcd.org.
If you enjoy listening, please become a member of the Cultural District: https://join.sflcd.org
With the planting of the landscaping on the eastern side of 12th Street, Eagle Plaza now appears virtually complete. A variety of trees and flowering shrubs now populate the space, and a reinforced Leather Pride Flag flies overhead.
Chairs and tables will soon be available on the Plaza during daylight hours, and it is expected to be converted to a pedestrian zone. After that, expect to see more frequent programming bring activity and interest to the Plaza, perhaps including art shows, farmers’ markets, celebrations and other events.
One small construction project remains, a “curb cut” and ramp in the middle of the Plaza. We also await the installation of additional plaques to honor and thank the generous donors who made Eagle Plaza possible.
Perhaps most welcome of all is the fact that the SF Eagle bar is now open on a regular schedule (Fridays 2PM – 2AM, Weekends: 11AM – 2AM), with a full range of events (including its legendary Sunday Afternoon Beer Bust). [Note that the SF Eagle, along with many other local bars, is now requiring patrons to present proof of CV-19 vaccination, or a very recent CV-19-Negative test result. See details here.]
We hope the entire community will take advantage of this civic amenity!
As reported in the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco Democrats have elected city native Honey Mahogany as the first transgender and first Black chair of the local party. The first trans person in the U.S. to chair a local Democratic Party, Mahogany is now one of the party’s highest-ranking transgender officials in the state and country.
The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District congratulates Mahogany, who is also chief legislative aide for our District Supervisor Matt Haney, part of the Stud cooperative, a co-founder of the Transgender District, and a long-time friend of our community and organization,
The local queer and kinky community has been working over the past year to help protect the San Francisco Eagle Bar by having it designated an historic landmark.
On May 19, 2021, the Historic Preservation Commission voted, 7-0, to recommend to the Board of Supervisors Landmark Designation of the San Francisco Eagle Bar as an individual Article 10 Landmark. The matter now goes back to the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor for a final ok.
Many letters and emails of support for this designation were received by the Commission, and several folks also called into the hearing to endorse the action.
Thank you for your help! Please consider joining our Save SOMA Action Network now, to be kept informed when we need you again.
It appears that someone posing as our Board President, Robert Goldfarb, is sending out emails asking people to buy gift cards and send pics of the cards with the code exposed.
This is a common type of scam. No one associated with the Cultural District would ever ask anyone to do such a thing or wire money or anything of the sort.
If you’re getting these emails, please delete them.
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.
Other Lists of Resources:
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:
Let’s see what we can do to make this happen, and make it happen right!
Here is a list of some of the references to the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural Districts – and San Francisco’s other Cultural Districts – in newspapers and other media.
9/15/2021: BAR looks back at LeatherWalk history.
7/19/2021: BAR reports on the return of LeatherWalk, and other SOMA Leather news. (Front Page image)
5/26/2021: BAR reports on the election of Honey Mahogany as San Francisco Democratic Party Chair.
5/26/2021: Bay Area Reporter reports on the new Sylvester mural at Oasis.
5/17/2021: SF Chronicle reports on the SF Eagle’s imminent Historic Landmark Status.
4/19/2021: BAR reports about how Leather projects in San Francisco South of Market are advancing (also available here).
4/8/2021: The BAR reports that the Board of Supervisors have approved the Leather District plaques resolution.
3/18/2021: An article in Hear/Say about “How San Francisco’s Cultural Districts Work”
2/2/2021: The Bay Area Reporter reports on the passage of the resolution by the Board of Supervisors.
2/1/2021: CBS reports on the Board of Supervisor’s vote on the SF Eagle landmark designation.
1/27/21: SF Weekly reports on the hearing on Landmark Status for the SF Eagle bar.
1/27/21: The Bay Area Reporter reports on actions to preserve and protect the SF Eagle bar.
12/16/2020: The Bay Area Reporter covers controversy regarding the Big Belly Trash cans.
9/ 23/20: The Bay Area Reporter has a new article about the planned Sidewalk Plaques, which you can read here.
8/3/2020: The Bay Area Reporter reports on our hiring of Cal Callahan as our District Manager.
2/12/20: A very nice write up appeared in the Bay Area Reporter about the Bar Crawl we held on February 6, 2020, during which LCD Board and supporters visited five landmark venues within the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District with District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney and other city officials.
9/22/19: The Bay Area Reporter covers the raising of the Leather Flag in Eagle Plaza.
8/14/19: The Bay Area Reporter did a full roundup of the three queer Cultural Districts.
3/3/2019: The Los Angeles Times has printed a lengthy and excellent article about the district: 2019-03-03 – LA Times about District.
A companion video is viewable here.
6/3/18: The Bay Area Reporter covered our historic ribbon-cutting event.
4/25/18: The hearings at City Hall were covered by the Bay Area Reporter.
Please send additional items to Web@sflcd.org. If you are a media representative and would like to contact us for any reason, please write to info@sflcd.org. Thanks!
LeatherWalk returns on Sunday, September 19, as the traditional launch to San Francisco’s Leather Week.
Proudly produced by the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District, our queer and kinky communities will gather at 11 am on the Polk Street steps of City Hall, and parade through SOMA, visiting favorite neighborhood spots and watering holes, pausing for a moment of memory on Ringold Alley, and arriving at Eagle Plaza around 3 pm for a joyous Leather Pride Fest presented by the SF Eagle, to include a beer/soda bust benefitting Tenderloin Tessie, and the raising of our community’s grand new Leather Pride Flag.
Volunteers are needed to help make LeatherWalk 2021 go smoothly. For information, click here.
LeatherWalk has always been a major community fundraiser; this year it will benefit the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District, working to keep SOMA queer and kinky. But LeatherWalk is 100% free, and all are welcome!
