The San Francisco Leathermen’s Discussion Group is now accepting applications for its Mentoring Program.

Pups, kinksters, leather folks, gearheads, fetishists and others have explored and deepened their spicy side in a safe and trusted way with the Leathermen’s Discussion Group since 1996.

The mentoring program is for male-identified people to explore kink/fetish sexuality, community, and relationships, at any stage of their journey.

The mentoring program will begin with an orientation meeting in late January, complete the matching process by mid-February, and continue through September.

Learn more and apply here.  You can also contact the Mentoring Program Director, Richard Sprott, if you have any particular questions.

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District is launching the second cohort of its Entrepreneur Training Program, a 9-week program to help leather community folk start and build their businesses.

The program is led by Eddie Tang of Above Consulting, a seasoned San Francisco business consultant, and features Zoom-based group sessions and one-on-one consultations.  At the end of the 9 weeks, participants will present their business plan to a panel of local business leaders, experts, and potential funders.  Those who complete the program will each receive a $500 grant to help with their startup costs.

Our first cohort of this program graduated in September of 2022; the second cohort will begin on Thursday, January 26.  If you wish to apply for the program, please fill out this application form.  We will send you an invitation to attend a 30-minute introductory session.

Click here for full info!

SOMA Second Saturdays:
GAME DAY!
February 11, 2023, noon to 5 pm

at the NEW Folsom Street Community Center
1286 Folsom Street (near 9th) in San Francisco

Presented by the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District
Folsom Street
& the SOMA West Community Benefit District

Games may include: Kinky Pictionary KINKO!  “South of the Slot” Trivia UNO Dare! Cards Against… Your Own Favorites!  Free snacks and non-alcoholic beverages!

Socksgiving! Bring new socks, gloves, beanies, etc. for the unhoused. Info here Wish list here.

Preview the new Folsom Street Community Center space in advance of their grand opening! Applicable COVID-19 precautions enforced. Please bring proof of vaccination. Donation requested.  A smoke-free event

Volunteers Needed!
Contact manager@sflcd.org to sign up!

Upcoming Second Saturdays:
March 11, 2023:  Watch for Details!
April 8 and beyond:
SOMA Second Saturday returns to the streets!

Find out who else is going and join the chat with Bloom! 

The LetSync Study of the UC San Francisco Center for Aids Preventions Studies (CAPS) is a project being done to evaluate a mobile health intervention for couples living with HIV. They are looking for 110 couples throughout the U.S. where:

• At least one person is HIV+ and identifies as a racial/ethnic minority
• Both persons are 18+ y/o, assigned male at birth*,
• Both persons have a smartphone and valid phone #, and a valid U.S. mailing address.

* They are looking for cis men, trans women, and/or non-binary folks

The study goes for 8 months, and study visits are every 2 months over Zoom. Each member of the couple can earn up to $430 in incentives for completing online surveys, doing take-home dried blood spot (DBS) tests and urine dipstick test to measure ARV or PrEP adherence. There is also an Exit Interview when the study is complete.

If you are interested, please click here or scan the QR code above to take 2-min. screener!

Kink Is My Superpower, a multi-media project from Divine Deviance, highlights the honesty, freedom, and strength of kinksters who have found our way out of the shadows and live proudly and openly.

They exist to help others tell their stories, share their experiences, and celebrate the superpowers they have discovered in kink, through films, books, calendars, and social media.

They are now developing an exciting book and documentary project about kink called Kink Is My Superpower.

These folks are inviting kinksters, whether of the 24/7 or occasional bedroom antics variety, to complete a very brief survey to help inform their project.

Click on “Take Survey” on their site, or go directly to the survey.

After serving the SF Bay Area community since 1986, the Golden Gate Guards “rolled up their banner” and dissolved the club at their 36th Anniversary Party at the SF Eagle on Saturday, November 19th.

The Guards’ board of directors decided that after 36 years of community service, fundraising for charities, and fellowship with the leather/Levi LGBTQIA community, it was best to retire the club and preserve its legacy as one of the longest active leather/Levi clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The event was catered by long-time Guards supporter Don Ramon’s, and guests received pins, t-shirts, mugs and other classic Guards memorabilia.

There were presentations to the now-emeritus members, personal stories of past events, an a solemn reading of the honor roll of Golden Gate Guards who have passed away.

As part of the process of shutting down the guards, all remaining assets will be divided between their 2022 beneficiaries, the San Francisco Leathermen’s Discussion Group and the LGBT Asylum Project, with additional funds going to Tenderloin Tessie Holiday Dinners.

The Guards’ website. is being transformed into a lasting archive of facts and photos from the Guards’ history.

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District is working with the Guards to help them to find suitable permanent archives for their documents, and will take over ownership of the flags, to continue the Guards tradition of providing honor guards for LeatherWalk and other parades and events.

The Cultural District will also be taking on the famous Golden Dildeaux Awards, preserving another important historic (and fun!) community tradition. Please watch for updates about the Awards next Spring.

Special kudos to Oscar Macias at DPH for coordinating these efforts with us. We are also grateful to BayPLS, Mission Wellness Pharmacy, the SF Eagle, AGUILAS, and the volunteers working line control for their participation in this effort, and are pleased and proud to have contributed to the community effort to control MPX.

LGBTQ health-related resources can be found here.

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.

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