LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District

Nominations for the Board of Directors of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District are now open, and will remain open until July 31, 2020.

During this time, the Nominations Committee will be reaching out to our entire community to encourage individuals to nominate themselves for the three open seats, each term to last three years, starting August 19, 2020.

In order to achieve diversity and representation on our Board, we are particularly encouraging the self-nomination of individuals who represent some of these communities and constituencies:

• • Women
  • Trans, Non-Binary, and Gender Nonconforming Folks
  • People of Color
  • Kinky Heterosexuals
  • Young People
  • Traditional and Non-Traditional Families
  • Artists
  • Businesses

Directors are expected to attend monthly meetings (currently held online on the third Wednesday evenings of each month), and to take leadership roles on our various Committees (most of which also currently meet online monthly, on weekday evenings), and/or otherwise participate and support the work of the Cultural District.

You do not need to currently be a voting member of the LCD in order to nominate yourself for the Board.  (You will need to become a voting member prior to the election; note that membership dues are easily waived at this time; see join.sflcd.org for details.)

Being a Director of the LCD means having a voice in the future of our South of Market neighborhood:  helping it to recover from current challenges and become the vibrant, safe, and uniquely kinky space we all have our own reasons to love and be a part of.

If you believe you might be a good choice as a Director, OR if you know someone you think might be, please read the details here, and use the linked forms to nominate yourself or them.

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.

This is a great time to become a full Voting Member of the Cultural District!  Click here to get started!  And, during the current COVID-19 crisis, anyone whose income or living situation has been impacted by it is eligible to receive the low-income dues waiver, regardless of other circumstances.  Your free membership is good through December, 2020.

The next meeting of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District Board of Directors is scheduled for Wednesday, June 17, 2020 from  6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

The city of San Francisco desperately needs volunteers to help deliver meals, deliver medications, connect with elderly residents, and all sorts of help for our community. Info is at https://sf.gov/be-emergency-volunteer

Remember:  You can text “COVID19SF” to 888-777 to receive official updates on how San Franciscans can best cope with the COVID-19 crisis.

The BALL Gag fundraiser was a great success, and raised over $5500 in donations and auction bids.  But you can still donate to the Bay Area Leather Lifeline at ball.leatheralliance.org.

Recipes for the winning entries of the coveted “2020 LCD Award for Best Beverage” (Patty,  IMsL 2014’s “Cherry Wood Smoked Chocolate Martini”) and the much-lusted-after “2020 LCD Award for Best Pastry” (Bob Goldfarb’s “De-floured Chocolate Cake”) can now be viewed here.

Tenderloin Tessie is still offering food to those in need. Please contact Michael by private message or by voice at 415-584-3252. The community has supported Tenderloin Tessie all these years so they want to give back.

The San Francisco Arts Commission, in partnership with
Kua`aina Associates, is offering a new train-the-trainer program titled “Transformative Grant Writing: Seeding Reciprocity”, launching next month.  Apply by Friday, May 29.  Full info is here.

This Committee will have three key functions:
1. Membership drive and process
2. Diversity part I- outreach to groups and gain attendance from all clubs and groups within our community
3. Diversity part II- ensure our committees are functioning from a viewpoint of diversity in their structure and event planning.

RSVP is not required.  For more information about the Committee or how to participate online, please contact the committee chair, Beth Hunt!

Hope you can join us!

The next online Land Use Committee Meeting is set for Tuesday, June 9, 2020, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.  Join with Google Meet at meet.google.com/iea-nutj-fsg, or by phone +1 405-646-0218 (PIN: 291474477).

An agenda will be available in advance of the meeting.  Please contact the committee chair, Lexx King, for more info!

The next online meeting of the Communications Committee is set for Thursday, June 11, 2020, from 7:00 to 8:00, pm.  Join Hangouts Meet at meet.google.com/tvc-qukg-eia, or Join by phone at ‪+1 501-991-4076‬ PIN: ‪248 525 687‬#

An agenda will be available in advance of the meeting.  Please contact the committee chair, Bob Brown, to join this new Committee, or for more info!

The Town Hall for the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District, originally scheduled for Wednesday, March 25, 2020, has been postponed.  A new date will be announced as soon as practical.  

Want your voice in the leather community heard? Want input on what the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District does in the future? THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE!

For more information,  please look here or on the Facebook event, or write to info@SFLCD.org.

A Governance and Legislation Committee meeting will be scheduled shortly.

Please contact the committee chair, Bob Brown, to sign up, or for more info!

Just FYI, the first meeting of the Board of the Friends of Eagle Plaza took place online on Monday, April 20, 2020.  Future meetings will be announced here, and are Because this is an initial, organizational meeting, only the Board members will attend.  Info about Eagle Plaza can be found at  https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofeagleplaza/ or http://www.eagleplaza.org/friendsofeagleplaza .

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District has been invited by the San Francisco Arts Commission to refer folks from our community to a new train-the-trainer program titled “Transformative Grant Writing: Seeding Reciprocity”, launching next month:

Having artists in our community with this kind of training could be extremely valuable to us, and to all of San Francisco’s rich Cultural Districts. Please review the attached documents for further information.

The application deadline has been extended to Friday, June 5, 2020. 

• Introduction Letter
• Short Invitation
• Long Invitation

South of Marketers were saddened to learn that The Stud — the oldest LGBT bar in San Francisco, and the first worker-owned cooperative queer bar and performance venue in the United States — is permanently closing down at its 9th and Harrison Street location.

However, we were pleased to hear that The Stud, the nightlife entity, is not dead. They have every intention of reopening as soon as possible in a new space, but “with the same lovingly outrageous vibe”.

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District is seeking a District Manager to wrangle and execute our shared vision.

You’re ambitious, charismatic, and capable of operating both strategically and deeply in details. You understand how non-profits blend scrappy creativity with bureaucratic policy to serve the needs of their constituents. You love creating, fundraising for, executing, and measuring the success of a wide range of programs to support those needs. You will thrive working closely with the diverse business, organizational, artistic, citizen, and visitor stakeholders of the Cultural District, alongside the community-elected Board of Directors and folks at San Francisco City Hall, to make amazing things happen to protect and promote the global capital of Leather inside SoMa.

The full Job Description is here.

Apply by 5:00 p.m., June 5, 2020, by sending a letter, references and resume to: jobs@SFLCD.org

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The folks who created last year’s live theater project on the streets of SoMa, now offer an antidote to being physically disconnected from our communities! An interactive, online show performed live, touring the streets of San Francisco…virtually.

OUT of Site: SOMA is virtual-live-street-theater project that explores the history of San Francisco’s South of Market district, a catalyst for radical change and a stronghold for queer and activist organizing.

The online show promises to include immersive theater, drag, live music, puppetry, a virtual tour, a dance party – all in celebration of our radical LGBTQ+ figures who fought for justice and visibility.

It’s play performed live in digital space…

It’s a concert with live music and sexy perks…

It’s an immersive experience – a hot spot to parade your best leathers on a virtual stage, and volunteer to appear in a scene!

It’s a dance party – mix up a dandy cocktail and mingle with cute Queer audiences from around the world. Who knows? You may meet a new sweetie in the crowd.

This project honors stories of resistance, resilience and rising to the occasion when faced with great adversity. We’ve been here before, and this show reminds us that we have solutions for dealing with times like these.

This project believes that it’s impossible to move forward without knowing where we came from. And this project does just that. It will remind us of how we can get through this, while bringing us together.

Performances are set for June 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28, 2020, starting at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time.  For video previews and information, or to order tickets, visit eyezen.org/out-of-site.

You can also help make this event great by contributing to their fundraising campaign at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/out-of-site-soma-the-virtual-live-performance#/.

At our Diversity / Membership Committee meeeting on 4/2/2020, it was agreed that, during the current COVID-19 crisis, anyone whose income or living situation has been impacted by it is eligible to receive the low-income dues waiver, regardless of other circumstances.  Your free membership is good through December, 2020.

That makes this an excellent time for you to head to our Membership Signup Page.  Members get to vote on Directors at the annual elections in August, and vote on critical matters presented at Special Membership Meetings.  Of course, anyone is welcome to attend and speak at our monthly Directors meetings and Committee meetings.  (Meeting dates and time, and online meeting log-in information can be found on our Calendar.)

If you can afford to pay the full annual membership dues of $15 per year, we hope you will do so, to help cover our administrative costs and to show your support for the Cultural District’s work.  But the important thing is for you to be a member, to add your voice to ours when we discuss community needs and priorities with project developers and city leaders.  

So join today.  And if you do happen to be stuck at home with nothing to do, feel free to explore this Web site — there’s lots of interesting stuff here!

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District is pleased to present a special online event for persons 18+ only:

An Erotic Storytelling Hour!
Come hear some erotic, sexy, and funny stories and more
from selected writers of our community!

Tuesday, June 9, 2020, from 8 to 9 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeeting
Meeting ID: 860 8517 1256
Password: 865938
Or call +16699009128,,86085171256#,,1#,865938# US (San Jose)
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kvifvMc2k

Have you done some erotic writing?  A memoir, a fantasy, a poem, a short story, a blog entry?  If you would like to read it to an appreciative audience from the comfort and privacy of your home, here’s your chance!  Please contact manager@sflcd.org to sign up!

If you enjoy listening, please donate to
Bay Area Leather Lifeline: https://ball.leatheralliance.org/,
or the SF Queer NightLife Fund: https://sfqueernightlifefund.org/.

And don’t forget to become a member of the Cultural District: https://join.sflcd.org 

For over three years, SF Catalyst has provided a social and educational space to the SF bay area kink community. Now, SF Catalyst has the rare opportunity to expand to the rest of the property located behind the existing play space.

This would allow true wheelchair-accessible access to the main space, expand maximum capacity, create additional event space, and provide a secure outdoor area which includes limited parking. SF Catalyst envisions being able to provide the community with options to hold two events simultaneously and to provide meeting space for more smaller groups than we can currently accommodate. They will also be able to host cigar socials and other outdoor community activities.

As an entirely volunteer-run venue operating as part of the non-profit SF Bay Area Leather Alliance, Catalyst will need the community’s support to make it happen. A special one-time fund-raising appeal is being planned.  (Watch this space for details.)  But meanwhile, you can help by making a monthly donation to their Patreon at www.patreon.com/sfcatalyst.

For more info about SF Catalyst, visit www.sfcatalyst.org.

We have been asked by the San Francisco Mayor’s office to help our community stay informed about the COVID-19 crisis. Important information has been provided by the Mayor, the Board of Supervisors, and various agencies and civic bodies.  We have also compiled information from the Governor, and various public and private institutions, as well as leaders of our local leather and kink communities.

We urge you to view these materials, and share them with others who may find them relevant.  Thank you:

Please click here for important COVAD-19 resources and information.

Also:
Text COVID19SF to 888-777 for official updates.

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 original (2018) brochure, or our new (September 2019) color brochure.
• 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 our Town Hall.  This was originally scheduled for Wednesday, March 25, 2020, but has been postponed. Watch for a new date and time.  More info about the Town Hall can be found here or on the Facebook event.
• 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.   
• 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.
• 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. 
• Write to our group’s elected President, Robert Goldfarb, 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!

We are happy to invite you to become a full Voting Member of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District.

Become a Member
Please click here to become a full Voting Member of the Cultural District.

Join the Mailing List 
Please click here if you just want to get on our mailing list.

View your information on file
If you are already on our mailing list, you may click here to view and edit the information we have about you (including Committee memberships).   We will send you an email with a link to your data.

To pay your annual membership dues with a credit card or e-check, click here.

If you wish to make a credit card or echeck donation to assist the Cultural District, click here.

NOTES:

• Anyone is welcome to attend and speak at our monthly Directors meetings.  Only Voting Members get to vote for Directors at the annual elections in August, or vote on critical matters presented at Special Membership Meetings.
• Membership dues are $15 per calendar year, and are intended only to cover our basic administrative costs.  Anyone who cannot afford the $15/year membership dues — or anyone whose income has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis — can receive a Low-income Dues Waiver, but they must still agree with the Vision and Mission of the Cultural District, and meet other requirements.
• Our finances are handled by our fiscal sponsor, SOMArts.  When you make a dues payment or donation, they will ask for your address and billing information, but they do NOT share all of that with us.  Please provide your LCD name and email address (if different) as a comment with your payment, to make sure we know it is coming from you.
• We will send you an email confirming your official membership once we have verified your eligibility and confirmed receipt of your dues (or eligibility for dues waiver).  This is a manual process, so please be patient.  As always, if you have questions for us, use the contact phone number or email address shown on the right side of this page.
• Do you not use email?  Do you and your partner share an email address?  Do you have some other special situation?  Do you want to support us as a business or organization?  Please give us a call – our contact info is on the right side of this page.
• Thanks!