LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District

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 .

On Saturday, May 9, 2020, the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District celebrated its second anniversary, joining with others in the Bay Area’s queer, leather and kink communities for an online celebration called BALL Gag.  The event featured live and silent auctions of dozens of leather-themed items, emceed by Lenny Broberg, plus performances from Midori, Justin Hall, Danny Nyugen, Sadie Payne, Star D. Love, Shay Tiziano, and Eye Zen Presents.

The BALL Gag event also included three exciting contests,  for Best Beverage, Best Outfit, & Best Pastry, sponsored by the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District in celebration of its 2nd anniversary!

Contest 1:
Prepare a special beverage for yourself.  It can be hard or soft, hot or cold, served in a crystal goblet or a dog dish.  Make a short video showing you presenting the beverage, describing it, and sampling it.  

Contest 2:
Dress up for the event. Your outfit can be an amusing costume or just sexy gear.  Make a short video of you describing and modeling it.

Contest 3:
Prepare a birthday cake, cupcake or any other pastry or dessert.  Make a short video of you presenting your pastry, describing it, and sampling it.

Contest Results:

The coveted “LCD Award for Best Beverage” went to Patty,  IMsL 2014 and the beverage “Cherry Wood Smoked Chocolate Martini”.

• • • • In a shaker with some ice mix equal parts white creme de cacao and vanilla vodka.
      • On a surface that can handle fire (such as a marble slab), gather a small pile of cherry wood chips.
      • Using a kitchen torch or another butane source (such as a cigar lighter), set the cherry wood chips on fire then extinguish the flames by placing an overturned martini glass over them capturing the smoke.- 
      • Once filled with the smoke, flip the glass over and quickly pour the cocktail in the glass.
      • Ideally you place some flat over the top of the glass (like a plate) and trap the remaining smoke in with the liquid to better infuse the drink (I did not do this step in the video for the sake of time).
      • When it looks like the smoke has been absorbed into the drink, garnish with the chocolate of your choice and enjoy!

The winner of the coveted “LCD Award for Best Outfit” went to Purple Anon and her Diamond Rope Harness.

video coming soon, perhaps.

The much-lusted after “LCD Award for Best Pastry ” went to Bob Goldfarb for his concoction, the De-floured Chocolate Cake.

Defloured Chocolate Cake
(Modified from David Lebovitz, Ready for Dessert)
Makes one 9-inch (23-cm) cake; 10 to 12 servings

• • • • Cocoa powder, for preparing the pan
      • 10 ounces (280 g) 70% chocolate (e.g. Valrhona Guanaja), chopped
      • 3/4 cup (6 ounces/173 g) salted butter (e.g. Lurpak or Plugra), cut into pieces
      • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (e.g. Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla)
      • 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
      • 1/2 cup (100 g) plus 2 tablespoons (30 g) granulated sugar
      • 2 tablespoons (20 g) cocoa nibs (optional)
      • confectioners’ sugar, for dusting the cake (optional)
      • Mini Handcuffs, 2”x3” Leather Pride flag, Mini Leather jacket, Mini aluminum butt plug, and slivers of a LGBTQ Pride flag sticker for decoration!

1. 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C).  Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch (23-cm) spring-form pan, dust it with a bit of cocoa powder, and tap out any excess.
   2. Place the chocolate, butter and espresso in a large heatproof bowl.  Set over a small saucepan of simmering water and using a spatula, stir until the chocolate and butter has melted and the mixture is smooth.  Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the vanilla; set aside.
   3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks and the 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and creamy, about 1 minute.
   4. Place the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on low speed until they begin to hold their shape.  Add the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 g) granulated sugar and whisk on high speed until the whites hold soft peaks.
   5. Fold the beaten egg yolks into the melted chocolate mixture, then fold in half of the whipped egg whites.  Fold in the remaining whites, folding just until there are no visible streaks of egg whites. Don’t overfold.
   6. Pour the batter into the prepared spring-form pan, sprinkle with cocoa nibs (if using), and bake until the cake feels as though it’s just barely set in the center, about 25 – 30 minutes. (It shouldn’t feel too firm.)  Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
   7. Run a knife around the sides of the cake to help loosen it from the pan. Release the sides of the pan and dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar (if using).
   8. Slide the cake onto a cake plate.
   9. Place decorative items on top, serve.

Congratulations to you, and thanks to all the contestants who mixed, dressed or baked, and to everyone who watched, voted, and donated during BALL Gag.  And Happy Birthday to the LCD!

Healthy adults or medical professionals can help the City of San Francisco respond to the coronavirus outbreak in any of several important programs.  Details are here.  Thanks!

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!

Garrett Sohnly, a local artist and member of the LCD’s Arts and Culture Committee, has been compiling a slideshow of the murals and street art of our neighborhood.

You can view it here.

If you spot a mural in our District – or other example of Leather Culture in the general vicinity of South of Market – send us a picture, telling us where it is, and anything you know about the artwork or the artist(s) who created it.

And watch (after the current crisis abates) for ways you can help us in our efforts to support, promote, protect and restore these important creations.