Month: September 2020

LAVENDER TALKS: BODY POSITIVITY IN KINK CULTURE

This Thursday at 2:00 p.m., join the Commonwealth Club for the latest in their Lavender Talks series, presented with San Francisco Pride and exploring a wide range of topics of interest to the LGBTQ world. 

In this program, they will explore the role the “kink” subculture plays in the larger LGBTQ community.  The discussion will cover body positivity, inclusion and exclusion, and different attitudes toward desire. How do issues of age discrimination, conforming and nonconforming presentation, racism and more get addressed by and within the kink subculture? There might be some surprising answers, as we look at the state of the kink in the age of pandemic, economic crisis, and racial justice.

Participants will include local kink community leaders:

• Beth “Bicoastal” Hunt, Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District Manager Emeritus; Lifelong Artist/Performer
• Danny Thanh Nguyen, Writer; Lambda Literary + Ragdale Foundation + Kundiman Fellow; Columnist, Recon
• Bianca Spencer, Ms. Rubber San Francisco 2020; Co-Founder, The Unruly Social Club; Former Chairwoman, Lesbian Sex Mafia

It will be moderated by

• Michelle Meow, Producer and Host, “The Michelle Meow Show,” KBCW TV and TuneIn; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors.

This event is online-only; register to receive a link to the live stream program. Registration ends 1 hour before program begins.

This is a free program; please consider making a donation during registration to support their online program production.  

Full information can be found here.  

Register here

Little Shop of Whores – Learning From the Pros

A kink + BDSM workshop series

Presented by the LQBTQ & Leather District Cultural Center & Curated by Maxine Holloway

Thursday, September 24th, 7-8:30 pm

FREE (Donations to our class facilitators during the class are welcome and encouraged)

Pre-register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwucuurpjIuGdQXLktk9k82l6P4bE_A8Xfl

The District Announces it’s latest educational series: Little Shop of Whores – Learning From the Pros. September Class, Practicing Anti-Racism in kink and BDSM Play Negotiations.’ 

Ready to take your BDSM and kink to the next level? 

The LQBTQ & Leather District Cultural Center brings you a unique monthly workshop series: Little Shop of Whores – Learning From the Pros. The District is partnering with talented Bay Area sex workers to bring you professional level skillsets and expertise in an exciting 90-min Zoom class. These workshops are all newbie-friendly but great for seasoned players who want to expand on what they already know. 

Little Shop of Whores, workshop series ceremoniously debuts on Folsom week. On Thursday, September 26, at 7p, we will dig deeper into how we negotiate our play. Professional Dominatrix, erotic performing artist, and kink and BDSM educator, Mistress Vivienne Vai will be leading us in ‘Practicing Anti Racism in kink and BDSM Play Negotiations.’ 

By registering for this workshop, you will be supporting your local sex workers, meeting other kinky folks, and learning some new tricks and tips to take back to your own play.

Classes are free and open to the public, please pre-register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwucuurpjIuGdQXLktk9k82l6P4bE_A8Xfl

Donations to our facilitators during the class are welcome and encouraged. 

Workshop Description: Practicing anti-racism in kink and BDSM play is necessary to make play safer for BIPOC to engage in and thrive in.  But structural racism can show up in insidious ways in our kink institutions, and play negotiation is one area where it can often cause harm that is overlooked and invisible.  Vivienne will facilitate a discussion and workshop about ways to practice anti-racism in play negotiations with partners, and will also offer some insight into ways that kinky BIPOC players can hone their awareness of their own boundaries and safety needs while navigating kink play spaces and negotiations.”

This will be a monthly series – stay tuned for our next Little Shop of Whores workshop in October! sfleatherdistrict.org/littleshop

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More about our presenter:  Vivienne Vai (they/them) is a professional Dominatrix, erotic performing artist, and kink and BDSM educator.  As a performer, they aim to spread their deviancy through live fetish experiences that explore the boundaries of sex, desire, pleasure, and politics.  Their goal as an educator is to help empower people to accept, understand, and celebrate their erotic desires, and to learn how to use kink and BDSM to practice intimacy of all kinds with their partners and themselves.  They strive to support their QTBIPOC community and to center their/our experiences and needs in kink and BDSM spaces.”

We are pleased to welcome some big-bellied residents to the Cultural District:  they are the dozens of new Big Belly Trash Cans installed by the SOMA West Community Benefit District all around the neighborhood, many featuring artwork submitted by our Cultural District on behalf of local leather, kink and queer artists.

Here are pictures of just a few of those trash cans:

Artwork by Nicole Shweiterman, Harrison and 9th, SE Corner; Howard and 12th, SE Corner

« ‹ of 12 › »

The images below were submitted to the CBD and initially accepted though not used.  We are currently in discussion with the artists and the CBD about possible modified use of these images.

Justin Hall

« ‹ of 4 › »

UPDATE (3/8/2024):

A new Big Belly Trash Can has been installed at 12th and Harrison Street, right on the corner of Eagle Plaza, featuring the work of one of the previously rejected artists.  We are pleased to welcome Axeish’s art to our streets!

An important announcement has been provided to us, regarding the opening of additional businesses and activities in San Francisco, including indoor gyms, salons, and tourist hotels.  There are strict safety protocols in place; both business owners and customers are urged to familiarize themselves with these rules:

San Francisco:  Requirements for Activities Reopening Today (9/14/2020)

In other COVID-19 news:

There has been a lot posted recently about sex and COVID-19.  We have added some interesting articles, with various perspectives, to our COVID-19 Links page.  You can find these resources here.

Of particularly timely interest, the City of San Francisco has prepared a flyer of information about Air Quality and COVID-19.

Although we will continue to maintain our page of information about businesses open in our Cultural District, the SOMA West Community Benefit District is now offering a very comprehensive list of dining options in the entire SOMA West area, here.   Whether for takeout or socially-distanced outdoor dining, please do patronize these businesses as often as possible, and help our neighborhood to survive these challenging times.  Thanks!

For the Cultural District’s full list of COVID-19-related links, click here.