The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District is once again offering free walking tours of our fascinating and historic neighborhood.

Attendees tour SOMA for 90 minutes, learning how SOMA (South of Market) began attracting leather bars in the ’60’s, about the raucous exploits of the ’70’s when motorcycles lined the streets outside popular bars, and about today’s bar and clubs.

The tour runs about 90 minutes, and there are no hills.

Visit the SOMA Tours page for additional dates and other details.

PLAY ON THE PLAZA! 

Saturday, July 13, Noon to 5pm
At Eagle Plaza
(12th Street, Folsom to Harrison)
Wear your Gear!

Join us for Play on the Plaza, and ignite some spark in your life!  Every second Saturday of the month we feature a different local bay area BDSM, Kink, Leather or LGBTQ group right on Eagle Plaza!

Vendors! Gear Swap! Entertainment!

Impact Play Area
Impact Play Host: Society of Janus
Spanking Benches and Crosses will be available!

Vendors: Artists and Makers with gear and art.
Charmed I’m Sure! 
Gooch Photography
Krystal Cade, CMT
Legacy Tarot
Miss Vera Darkside
Rhea Adri Art
Skin on Skins
Smut Shop
William Ulrich, Artist

Free Admission!  Donations welcome!
This is an adult (18+) event.

KINK / FETISH VENDOR MART
Vendor Info

Volunteers Needed!
Sign up!

See who else is coming by checking Plura (formerly known as Bloom)!

Consensual impact play is welcome
Alas, sex play is not

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District works to help residents, workers and visitors appreciate the history and importance of the Cultural District’s buildings and streets.

Leather Legacy Landmarks (aka the Leather History Cruise) is a project to install bronze plaques at key historic locations around SoMa, in cooperation with the SF Arts Commission, Public Works, and the SFMTA, with funding provided by local developers and the community.  You can read about it in a September 2020 Bay Area Reporter article, also available in a pdf version.

A Resolution authorizing the plaques was unanimously approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (as reported in a Bay Area Reporter article) and signed by the Mayor on April 16, 2021.

Additional design reviews and approvals are still required.  Your presence and comments (via Zoom, or by email in advance) will be much appreciated.  Please consider signing up for our SOMA Action Network so we can let you know when we need that help. 

The first plaques will be installed as part of the Department of Public Works’ upgrade to Folsom Street, now under way.

Meanwhile, we invite you to view this presentation about the plaque project.  

View Presentation (PDF file)

Thanks!

We are delighted to have completed the Cultural History, Housing, and Economic Sustainability Strategies (CHHESS) Report of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District.

The Report was presented at a Board of Supervisors Committee hearing  on June 13, 2024, and received a unanimous Committee endorsement.  It was then unanimously approved by the full Board of Supervisors.  The resolution adopting the CHHESS Report was signed by the Mayor on July 3, 2024.

At that Committee hearing, Bob Goldfarb, the Executive Director of the Cultural District, was presented with a Certificate of Honor by Supervisor Matt Dorsey, to recognize Bob’s “unwavering dedication and exceptional leadership” as a “steadfast champion for the city’s vibrant leather community”.

We invite you to read the report in full; however, the contents of the report were also presented at an open community forum on November 29, 2023.  You can view the presentation video, the presentation slideshow, or the presentation slideshow as a PDF.

The CHHESS Report is the result of years of research and community engagement, and the Board extends its thanks to everyone who took part in creating it, including the organizers and participants in the focus groups and surveys, the research and drafting of the Report’s recommendations, and the extensive work with City departments to make it a reality!