LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District

New News! 
There will be a special Zoom event this Saturday
to provide more info and an answer questions about the
Guaranteed Income Pilot For SF Based Artists.  

Saturday April 10, 2021   10:30 AM

Join Zoom Meeting here
Or call 16699006833 and use Meeting ID: 820 2830 9679 and Passcode: 979481

A pilot program has been created to provide monthly income to selected San Francisco artists, and applications are now open.

• Funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission
• Administered by the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts
• 130 artists, randomly selected
• whose artistic practice is rooted in a historically marginalized community,
• live in Zip codes 94102, 94110, 94112, 94124, 94134, 94103, 94107, 94109, 94115, 94117, 94130, 94158, or 94108, 
• meet income eligibility, and
• face loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
• will receive six regular monthly payments of $1000 between May 21 and October 1, 2021.
• These are disaster relief payments, and will not be taxed.  May affect benefits.   

For full information and to apply
click here!
Applications close April 15, 2021.

The SOMA West Community Benefit District (SWCBD) has just announce a new Night Shift Neighborhood Ambassador Program.

The Program will help maintain a welcoming and vibrant neighborhood, focusing on direct interaction and outreach, using Night Shift ambassador teams who will tour the neighborhood, in vehicles, on bicycles, and on foot, from 6:00 PM to 2:30 AM, Monday through Friday.

Remember:

• If a matter is an immediate safety issue, please dial 911. 
• For non-emergency police matters please call the SFPD non-emergency number at 415-553-0123. 
• The SOMA West CBD Night Shift Supervisor, David, may be reached at 415-937-4668.  
• For cleanliness issues please use https://sf311.org/  — The CBD will receive the notification, and get on it ASAP.
• For full info about the new program, click here.

We sent out our March newsletter recently.  Did you get it?
If not, view it here, then sign up to get it monthly here.

More folks than ever are now eligible to receive COVID-19 Vaccinations.  If you live in San Francisco, you can visit https://sfhealthnetwork.org/covid-19-vaccine/ for up-to-date info, including new health condition eligibility details, drop-in and appointment-only vaccination sites, and more.

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

Have you seen Justin Hall’s  “Marching Toward Pride” poster series?  They were installed in the bus stops along Market Street as part of the 50th Anniversary of the San Francisco Pride celebrations, and they illustrate six moments of SF LGBTQ history, each one colored to represent one of the six colors of Gilbert Baker’s original rainbow flag. You can view them all at Justin Hall Awesome Comics, and read the 49 Hills article about them (including an interview with Justin) here.  

The city is moving slowly but surely towards a major upgrade to Folsom Street.  Read about it here.    

The next meeting of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District Board of Directors will be held on Wednesday, April 21, 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 Zoom Meeting  here, or call 1-408-638-0968 and use Meeting ID: 847 8906 0820 and Passcode: 972086.  Please note the meeting time, and contact manager@sflcd.org if you have questions.   The proposed agenda will be posted soon.  Minutes of past Board meetings can be reviewed here.

The next online meeting of the Arts and Culture Committee is set for Thursday, April 22, 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 proposed 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!

We host an Erotic Storytelling Hour every other Tuesday, and our next one is on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, from 8 to 9 p.m.  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 our Diversity and Membership Committee is set for Thursday, May 6, 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, April 13, 2021, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. Zoom into the meeting here. More info is here, or contact the committee co-chairs.

The next online meeting of the Communications Committee is set for Thursday, April 15, 2020 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm.  Join via Zoom here    More info is here, or contact the committee chair,  Bob Brown!

Another queer and kinky street fair is coming to town next fall.! The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the Bears of San Francisco have submitted a permit application for a 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.  They also invite your participation on one of their planning teams. Join a team at https://forms.gle/dh8ornvA14heyoki9.

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.

Want to keep up with all our upcoming Board and Committee meetings.  They are all on our Calendar, or check out our our new Events page!

We would love for you to become a Voting Member of the Cultural District!  Click here to get started!  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.  All memberships last one full year.  

Already a member?  Wondering if it is time to renew?  Click here!  and we will send you an email with your current membership status, and a customized renewal link!  

Remember, your membership must be current by May 20, 2021 to vote in our August elections.

We are actively seeking community input on ways to preserve and improve our special South of Market neighborhood.  We invite you to submit your own ideas, suggestions, and thoughts on a number of important topics: 

Give us your Input!

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! 

Dr. Gayle Rubin, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan and member of the Board of Directors of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District, was honored with a Leather Leadership Award 2021 at “Virtual CLAW 8” .  on February 13, 2021.  You can view her acceptance remarks here.

To see a video about our CHHESS report by Julia Sabory, from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD), please click here.  

The city of San Francisco 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.

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, March 10, 2021, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm.

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. 

Yes, the Woodies are back!

Vote now for your friends (or enemies) to receive the Golden Gate Guards’ famous Golden Dildeaux Awards.

These humorous awards are intended to poke fun at various sexual activities while at the same time providing a unique charity fundraising opportunity.  The way it works is simple:

• • Between now and April 22, 2021, go to https://ggguards.org/gda/ and vote!
  • There are 25 Nomination categories, including “Best Looking Ass (the Golden Globes Award)”, “Best Impact Bottom (the Red Tail Award)”, “Best Novice Player (the Rookie Award)”, and lots more.
  • Each vote costs $1, with the proceeds going to the Emergency Financial Assistance fund of the Positive Resource Center (PRC).
  • You may cast as many votes as you wish for as many candidates as you wish, even in the same category.
  • Then, on Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 7 PM Pacific Time, attend the 49th Golden Dildeaux Awards, online live on Zoom, with Masters of Ceremonies Star D. Love (Ms. San Francisco Leather 2016) and Cody Elkin (Mr. San Francisco Leather 2016).
  • So join the fun, and let’s see who gets a Woody!

Vote now!

Plan are under way for a new Street Fair in the District:  the Bearrison Street Fair, to be held on Harrison Street at 11th Street on Saturday, October 23, 2021.

You can read all about it on their web site, or on their Facebook page.

You could just sit back and wait for it to happen, or you could help make it happen.  Sign up here to join a “Bearrison Team”.

Great work, everyone!

Thanks in large part to the outpouring of community support, the Land Use Committee unanimously recommended the SF Eagle’s landmark designation to the full Board of Supervisors. The Supervisors in turn have also voted unanimously in favor. Now the application goes to the Historic Preservation Committee.

Submit your photos and stories of the SF Eagle! They will be sent to the Historic Preservation Commission to help achieve landmark status for the bar. We are working with the Planning Department to support the effort. We are particularly looking for these stories or photos, especially from the 80s and 90s:

• • • Notable events/parties/meetings/gatherings which occurred on the premises and may have helped shape/define SOMA’s Leather/LGBTQ community.
    • Significant people associated with the venue (performers, patrons, etc.).
    • Photos (interior/exterior, historic/current).

If you have any contributions toward the effort, you can go to our Facebook event and click the “Discussion” tab to post them there, or email them to manager@sflcd.org.

Thank you for your help!

Please consider joining our Save SOMA Action Network now, to be kept informed when we need you again.

Click here for links to media coverage.

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
  • People’s Breakfast Oakland
  • San Francisco’s Transgender District Fund
  • 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
  • Northstar Health Collective
  • Website Planet: List of Black-Owned Businesses

Folsom Street Events — the producers of the Up Your Alley and Folsom Street Fair — have announced the opening of their new facility: the Folsom Street Community Center for Alternative Sexualities, at 145 Ninth Street.  

Check out this article from 48Hills.org, which includes quotes from FSE Interim Director Angel Adeyoha, and a video preview of the new space.    Additional info is in the BAR article here.

Watch for more details soon, and a gala opening in July (conditions permitting).

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 using one of our open surveys, or by participating in a Focus Group or personal interview. 
• 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, 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!

Members of LGBTQ+ communities in the Bay Area have formed a Friends of the Lyon-Martin House group to preserve the longtime home of pioneering lesbian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon on Duncan Street in San Francisco, which recently sold for $2.25M. Lyon and Martin purchased the property in 1955 and lived there together until Del Martin’s death; Phyllis Lyon lived on in the house until her passing earlier this year.

A “Friends of the Lyon-Martin House” team has been created, including Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, the GLBT Historical Society, and San Francisco Heritage, to ensure that this property is designated a San Francisco Landmark and preserved as one of San Francisco’s most iconic cultural sites.

Check out the new website for the Friends of the Lyon-Martin House: https://www.friends-of-the-lyon-martin-house.com/.

While on the site, you can sign a letter to the Board of Supervisors and Historic Preservation Commission, which will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors in advance of their 10/19 hearing.

Please share the website and letter — created by Grete Miller — with your communities.  Thank you.

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!

For over three years, SF Catalyst has provided a social and educational space to the SF bay area kink community. Now, SF Catalyst has taken a leap of faith and signed a lease, expanding Catalyst into the rest of the property located behind the existing play space.

This will allow easy wheelchair access to the main space, expand maximum capacity, create additional event space, and provide a secure outdoor area. Once permitted to reopen, SF Catalyst will be able to provide the community with options to hold two or more events simultaneously and to provide meeting space for more smaller groups than it 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, and ijdeed to survive through the difficult times we are now in.

You can help make sure that SF Catalyst is there for us then, by making a monthly donation now, through their Patreon campaign.  For full info and to make your donations, please visit www.patreon.com/sfcatalyst.

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