LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District

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

The next online Land Use Committee Meeting is set for Tuesday, January 12, 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, January 14, 2020 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.  Please note the new time, to avoid conflict with the GLHS event.  Join via Zoom here    More info is here, or contact the committee chair,  Bob Brown!

Check out the GLBT Historical Society’s new “Queer Culture Club,” series, starting on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 7:00 pm, with the Historical Society’s executive director Terry Beswick interviewing gay “radical sex” photographer Mark I. Chester.  More info is here...

We host an Erotic Storytelling Hour every other Tuesday, including our next one on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, from 8 to 9 p.m.  It’s fun, it’s naughty, it’s online  Click here for more details and Zoom link, and click here to see videos of some of our past evenings!  (Be 18+!)   

The next meeting of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District Board of Directors will be held on Wednesday, January 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 Zoom Meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84789060820?pwd=MWJibExLMEN3VGgzUGgrTm41WURRUT09, 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, January 28, 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 and meeting notes from last month 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 Arts and Culture Committee has created a Walking Tour Subcommittee, whose next meeting is set for Wednesday, February 3, 2021, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.  Join via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88470691792 or call 1-408-638-0968 US and enter Meeting ID: 884 7069 1792. You can view the proposed agenda here, or read all about the project here.  All are welcome to participate.  Please contact the committee chair, David Hyman, to be brought up to date, and get on the mailing list for this Subcommittee! 

The next online meeting of our Diversity and Membership Committee is set for Thursday, February 4, 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!

Were you bothered by the way the Stud’s mural was painted over?   This will interest you: https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/artists-sue-building-owner-whitewashing-stud-mural-15732095.php

Attention artists: the Contemporary Jewish Museum has a new “Artist Studios at The CJM”, program, providing studio space, resources, and cash to a couple of artists in need.  Learn more here.  

Another queer and kinky street fair is coming to town next fall.  The 2021 Bearrison Street Fair invites 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 (beta) Events page!

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 for one year.

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! 

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, January 13, 2021, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofeagleplaza/ or http://www.eagleplaza.org/friendsofeagleplaza, or write to eagle.plaza.mailing.list@sflcd.org.  

As reported in the Leather Journal, Gayle Rubin is one of four individuals due to be honored at the 33rd annual Creating Change Conference, to be held virtually in late January of 2021.

Gayle Rubin is an anthropologist, theorist, writer, historian, and a proud member of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District Board of Directors.

She will be honored with the Leather Leadership Award for her work and studies within the Leather community, as part of the four-day Conference, run by the National LGBTQ Task Force as a space for learning, connecting, and growing among LGBTQ activists, leaders, allies, and changemakers from across the nation.

The presentation to Gayle is scheduled to occur between 1:45 and 3:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Sunday, January 31, 2021.

You can read more about Gayle in the Leather Journal article.  For more information about the Conference, or to register to attend virtually, visit https://www.thetaskforce.org/creatingchange.html.

As reported on SFGATE and NBC Bay Area, Supervisor Matt Haney has proposed creating a recovery fund to save ‘the heart and soul of S.F.’ —  its nightlife.

According to Haney, the San Francisco Music and Entertainment Venue Recovery Fund is desperately needed as many of the businesses are facing permanent closure as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

“What this pandemic has done to our economy and our way of life has been nothing short of a nightmare, and for our city’s venues, there has been no reprieve. They were the first to close and will likely be the among the last to reopen,” Haney said in statement.

“When we talk about the heart and soul of San Francisco, many of us think of our city’s venues,” Haney said. “The many shows we’ve seen and the bands and artists and music that have all come out of San Francisco, they inspire us and bring us together. These spaces are a reflection of who we are and what we love, and they are in danger of disappearing.”

A recent report from the city controller’s office revealed nightlife businesses generate $7.2 billion for the local economy and create more than 63,000 jobs, which in turn generates some $80 million annually in payroll and sales taxes for the city.

Haney’s legislation is set to be heard at a Board of Supervisors committee in January, 2021.

The GLBT Historical Society has announced a new program series for 2021:  the “Queer Culture Club,” a monthly series on the second Thursday of each month that focuses on LGBTQ people who are defining the queer culture of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

These programs feature GLBT Historical Society executive director Terry Beswick as he interviews queer culture-makers, including authors, playwrights, historians, activists, artists and archivists, to learn about their work, process, inspirations, hopes and dreams.

In this first installment, legendary San Francisco gay “radical sex” photographer Mark I. Chester will discuss his forthcoming new book of contemporary photography, “Street Sex Photos”(2021).

The event will take place online, on Thursday, January 14, 2021 from 7:00 to 7:30 pm. It is free, with a suggested donation of $5.00. After you register, you will receive a confirmation email with a link and instructions on how to join the Zoom webinar as an attendee. The event will also be livestreamed on Facebook and then archived on YouTube.

For full information on the event, visit the event page on  Facebook or on the GLBT Historical Society website.

Registration and tickets are here.

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District has been gathering input from all corners of our community, to help us to create our District’s Cultural History, Housing and Economic Sustainability Strategies (CHHESS) report, which will guide our organization’s efforts — and help shape San Francisco city policy and priorities — for the next 3 to 5 years.

We are doing this through a variety of methodologies, including individual interviews, a major Town Hall event, and a series of  Zoom-based “Focus Groups”, each one targeting either a specific area of concern or a specific demographic group.  In this way we can get honest input from a diverse, varied and representative set of people, even if some individual focus groups are not, in themselves, socially or culturally diverse.

Here is a list of some of these events, past and upcoming:

• Arts and Culture Focus Group, 7/20/2020
• Economic Vitality Focus Group 11/30/2020
• Sex Workers’ Focus Group, 8/13/2020
• Town Hall, 8/25/2020
• BIPOC Focus Group, 9/17/2020
• Transgender Focus Group 10/6/2020
• Women’s Focus Group, 10/15/2020
  

  ---

  Upcoming

• Disabled Persons’ Focus Group:  Monday, November 9, from 6 to 8 pm: Register/attend here.
• Tenant / Land Use Focus Group: Tuesday, November 17, from 6 to 8 pm,  Register/attend here.
• Leather Folks’ Focus Group: Thursday, November 19, from 6 to 8 pm: Register/attend here.
  
• Kinky Folks’ Focus Group: Tuesday, December 1, from 6 to 8 pm: Register/attend here. 

If you have not participated in one of our Focus Groups yet, we want to hear from you. 

Please select a group and register or attend using the links above.   (If you register in advance, we’ll send you a confirmation email.  If you click on the link just before or during the meeting, registration will take you directly into the meeting.  Registration is needed to discourage “zoom-bombing” by intruders.)

Focus Groups are recorded for our internal use only:  you are encouraged to keep your camera off and/or use a different display name if you wish greater anonymity.

If you can’t attend any of these dates, there is a Google Form you can use to provide similar input, here.

The CHHESS Report we write will go to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for their approval; once approved, it will be used to guide and direct public policy for our neighborhood, in everything from art installations to zoning laws.  The Focus Group process will also help the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District to set its own priorities for programming, spending, and public advocacy.

Please let us hear your voice.

We are pleased to let you know about an upcoming Next Generation Manufacturing training session which begins on January 18th, 2021.

This is a free 12-week program where participants get hard skills related to 3D printing or CNC, and get soft skills training and assistance with resumes, cover letters, and other job readiness. Additionally, participants get full access to the shop so there are plenty of other skills and machines to learn such as the laser cutter, vinyl cutter, wood shop, metal shop, 3D printers, industrial sewing and much more.

Priority will go to applicants who are low income, women and people of color, but our only eligibility requirements are that applicants be 18 years or older, have a high school diploma or GED, and fluent in English. The language requirement is flexible and is included because class instruction and the materials are only available in English.

More info is in the video below, and at https://www.humanmade.org/workforce-development.

If you or someone you know might be interested, fill out this interest form or reach out directly to Brenda Orellana, Humanmade Client Support and Outreach Coordinator, 510-227-4451, at brenda@humanmade.org.

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.

Thanks for attending our Town Hall!

If you missed it, OR if you did not get a chance to give input on all the topics you care about, please use our
Community Input form !

This meeting was a key step in the creation of our District’s Cultural History, Housing and Economic Sustainability Strategies (CHHESS) report, which will guide our organization’s efforts — and help shape San Francisco city policy and priorities — for the next 3 to 5 years.

The Town Hall included this presentation about our CHHESS report by Julia Sabory, from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD):

The meeting also included breakouts session, with focus groups on the following topics:

Historic Preservation
Preserve and develop cultural and historic buildings, businesses, organizations, traditions, arts, events, & district aesthetics.

Tenant Protections
Protect tenants from displacement and promote affordable housing & homeownership.

Arts & Culture
Attract and support artists and cultural enterprises.

Economic & Workforce Development
Promote jobs, tourism and economic opportunities that stabilize the district’s economy.

Land Use
Create City regulations, tools and programs that support businesses & industries that advance the cultural district.

Cultural Competency
Promote culturally and appropriate City Services, policies, and narratives.

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

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.

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!

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.

Why Become a Member?

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!