Author: AdminSFLD

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.

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

A Candidates Night will be held starting at 6:00 p.m. on the evening of Wednesday, August 12, 2020, during which time all candidates for the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District Board of Directors will be invited to speak and respond to questions.  Please mark your calendar now!

LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District Board of Directors Candidates’ Night
Wednesday, August 12⋅starting at 6:00 pm Pacific Time
Logon here 
or call +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) 
and enter Meeting ID: 893 2635 4467 and Password: 648097
Find other local phone numbers here .

Online voting will open immediately following this meeting, and close at 5:00 p.m on Monday, August 17, 2020.  All eligible voters are urged to vote during this five-day interval.

You can read the Statements of Candidates who have nominated themselves here.  Expect more names to be added there throughout the month of July.

The next meeting of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District Board of Directors will also be the Annual Membership Meeting, on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 from  6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Note that, due to COVID-19, elections for the Board of Directors and President are being conducted online in advance of this meeting.  At the meeting, the election results will be officially announced, the newly elected Directors welcomed, and other Board Officers for the coming year will be elected by the new full Board.

Although no items are scheduled for community or membership voting, Cultural District voting members and the general community are, as always, welcome and encouraged to attend.

Please note the meeting time, and contact manager@sflcd.org if you have questions.   The proposed agenda can be viewed 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.

The next online meeting of the Arts and Culture Committee is set for Thursday, August 27, 2020, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Watch this space (or our Facebook post) for logon info.

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

The next online Land Use Committee Meeting is set for Tuesday, August 11, 2020, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.  Join the Zoom Meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82017329999?pwd=YVlFVWtLWFkrdFRlbTJMWGtZWVBIZz09, or call 1 408 638 0968 and enter Meeting ID: 820 1732 9999 and Password: 846051.  (Or find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kyUkPBsMo).

Please contact the committee chair, Lexx King, for more info!

The next online meeting of the Communications Committee is set for Thursday, August 13, 2020, from 7:00 to 8:00, pm. Join with Hangouts Meet: meet.google.com/tvc-qukg-eia or join by phone at 1 617-675-4444‬ PIN: 549 663 311 6019#‬.  An agenda will be available in advance of the meeting.  Please contact the committee chair, Bob Brown, to join this Committee, or for more info!

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 soon.  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 is pleased to present another edition of our bi-weekly 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, August 4, 2020, from 8 to 9 p.m.
Join via Zoom
or call +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
and enter Meeting ID: 856 5465 2578 and Password: 007266
(Find your local number here.)

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 become a member of the Cultural District: https://join.sflcd.org 

See and sign the letter here.

A major construction project bringing in 700 new residents is planned for 1560 Folsom Street, the site of Action Rentals and 3 auto shops that wrap around Oasis.  This is the very heart of the entertainment area in the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District.

We need your help to ensure that the developer acts to mitigate the gentrification that these new residents will bring with them.  We have been in discussion with the developers.  We need more than the developer’s token offers. Now is the time to make the leather & LGBTQ community’s strength heard.

Save our nightlife! Save SOMA for the kinky and queer!

Please sign the letter of support at the link below.  Thank you.

See and sign the letter here.

The Town Hall for the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District has been scheduled for 

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!

This meeting is 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 meeting will include 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 entire community is invited and encouraged to attend.

Please mark your calendar, tell your friends and colleagues, and announce it at meetings.  RSVP on Facebook, and invite your friends!

The event is free. ASL interpretation or captioning will be provided if requested ten days in advance.

For more information, please write to info@SFLCD.org.

San Francisco’s Historic Preservation Commission’s resolution on racial and social equity is coming before the Planning Commission on July 15^th, at 12:30 pm.  They have asked for our support.  Please send comments by email and speak (remotely) at the hearing if you like.

The resolution acknowledges the most recent instance of violence inflicted on the Black community through the murder of George Floyd, and  calls for centering the Historic Preservation’s work program and resources on racial and social equity. You can read the resolution in its entirety here.  

If you feel led to share your experience, knowledge, and guidance, please participate in the hearing, or send written comments to the Commission as detailed below.

Hearing is next Wednesday, July 15^th beginning at 12:30 p.m.   You can listen to the broadcast live at https://sfgovtv.org/planning or Cable Channel 78, or watch it on replay at https://sfgovtv.org. 

The Commission strongly encourages interested parties to submit their comments in advance of the hearing, via email to commissions.secretary@sfgov.org.   There is also a public comment toll-free number, (888) 273-3658 / access code: 3107452 .

More information on and the contact information for the Historic Preservation Commissioners can be found at https://sfplanning.org/historic-preservation-commission.  For questions or comments, please contact CPC.equity@sfgov.org,  Shelley.Caltagirone@sfgov.org, Claudia.Flores@sfgov.org or call 415-558-6473.   For more information about the Planning Department’s Racial and Social Equity work, please visit their website at: https://sfplanning.org/project/racial-and-social-equity-initiative.