LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District

Community participation is essential to the success of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District.

We therefore strongly encourage all interested folks to join the Cultural District’s various committees.  All our meetings are free and open to all. 

During the current emergency, ALL Cultural District Committee meetings are being held online using Zoom. Interested community members are urged to obtain the Zoom app for their phone or computer, although dial-in phone participation is also an option.  

For log-on information about online meetings, please refer to the “Timely Reminders” post (normally near the top of this Web site), OR to the Cultural District Calendar, OR to our Event List, OR to our Facebook Events page.

Here are the currently active Committees that could really use your involvement:

Arts and Culture Committee
Communications Committee
Diversity and Membership Committee
Economic Vitality Committee
Finance Committee
Governance and Legislation Committee
Land Use Committee
Other Groups
General Information about Committee Meetings and Membership

Arts and Culture Committee

This new committee advocates for creative activity in the Cultural District, organizes events, performances, public art, gallery shows, and walking tours, and explores opportunities to attract and support leather and LGBTQ artists in the Cultural District.

The Arts and Culture Committee normally meets on the fourth Thursday of each month, (e.g. February 25, 2021) from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.  Check our Calendar for logon information.   Agendas are posted on this Web site, and sent to sign-up Committee members, in advance of each meeting.

Please contact the committee chair, David Hyman, for more info!

Communications Committee

This committee handles the Cultural District’s social media and digital presence, public relations, branding, event promotion, and outreach to clubs, organizations, and individuals.

Their Committee normally meets on the second Thursday of each month, (e.g. February 11, 2021) from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.  Please contact the committee chair, Bob Brown, for more info!

Diversity & Membership Committee

This committee recruits individual members and works with other committees to ensure diversity of membership, programs and participants.

The Diversity and Membership Committee normally meets on the first Thursday of each month (e.g. February 4, 2021) from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.  An agenda will be available in advance of the meeting.  Please write to the committee chair for more info!

Economic Vitality Committee

This committee works to prevent displacement of existing leather and LGBTQ community groups and businesses as well as attracting new ones to the District. This also includes facilitating connections to existing city services and assistance to navigate those services.

No meetings are yet scheduled for this Committee.  If you are interested in serving, please write to info@SFLCD.org and asked to be kept informed.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee oversees budgeting and accounting for the Cultural District, and conducts audits when necessary.  Membership is currently restricted to Directors, but for more information, contact treasurer@sflcd.org.

Governance and Legislation Committee

The Governance and Legislation Committee advocates with city planners, departments and agencies for legislation and procedures benefiting the District’s constituents.  The committee also monitors bylaw compliance and maintains the District’s policy and procedures manual, proposing and drafting any changes.

No meetings are yet scheduled for this Committee.  Please contact the committee chair, Bob Brown, to sign up, or for more info!

Land Use Committee

This committee has been in existence for over a year now, tracking construction projects and developments in the District, and working with developers and city agencies to mitigate the effects of gentrification.

The Land Use Committee also works to preserve and develop culturally and historically significant buildings, businesses, organizations, traditions, arts, events, and aesthetics, to protect tenants from displacement, and to promote affordable housing in the District.

The next Land Use Committee normally meets on the second Tuesday of each month (e.g. February 9, 2021) from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.

An agenda is distributed advance of each meeting.  An outline of the functions and structure of the Land Use Committee can be viewed here. Please contact the committee chair, Lexx King, for more info!

Other Groups

In addition to the above committees, our mailing list includes additional “groups” called Artists and Save SOMA Action Network.

Please check the “Artists” group if you wish to be kept informed about opportunities and programs of potential interest:  murals, commissions, grant possibilities, etc.

Please check the “Save SOMA Action Network” to be advised of opportunities for concrete action to protect our local businesses, amenities, and institutions.  If possible, make sure that your profile allows us to contact you by text or phone, so that we can reach you at short notice.

General Information 

All our meetings are free and open to all. Unless otherwise noted, all in-person meeting locations are ADA compliant and wheelchair accessible.

For all Membership meetings, and most Committee meetings, ASL interpreters will be provided if requested at least ten days in advance. Please send requests to the Committee Chair, or President@sflcd.org.

For dates, time, and log-on information about online meetings, please refer to the “Timely Reminders” post (normally near the top of this Web site), OR to the Cultural District Calendar, OR to our Event List, OR to our Facebook Events page.

To receive emails announcing meetings, and other important information, please click here to join the mailing list. If you are already on our mailing list, you can click here to adjust which Committees you wish to be kept informed about.

Minutes of most meetings are distributed to Committee members, and are available to others upon request.

Please like and follow us using the links below, and contact us any time with questions, suggestions, or just to keep in touch.

Come participate, help out, and be a part of our historic Cultural District!

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.

 

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.

We have a Google Calendar of Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District events:

Folks with a sflcd.org account can view this calendar at any time with this link.

Committee chairs should have the ability to add and edit events.

If you use Google Calendar, try using one of these links:

Google Calendar

ical

For reference, the actual Calendar ID is:
sflcd.org_ej706qsj1okut4snim163icukc@group.calendar.google.com
You can use the above links to add our calendar to your own Google calendars.  (Contact outreach-chair@sflcd.org or help@sflcd.org for assistance.)

---

If you prefer a non-Google based calendar, our events are also listed here.  You can view them as a calendar or as a list of events.  Links in calendar items open Facebook pages about events.  This calendar also includes selected items from the calendars of San Francisco’s seven other Cultural Districts.

Enjoy!