Out of Town

by Tim Brookover

FAIR ENOUGH

The Folsom Street extravaganza in San Francisco marks 20 years of leather and charity

Once his marriage ended in the late ’80s, my friend Bill (not his actual name, of course) packed up and fled Texas to return to his beloved California. He settled in San Francisco to become a playwright. One late September evening, Bill called to report, in an amazed tone, that on one of his first strolls around the city he wandered into a sprawling event called the Folsom Street Fair. There he spied men and women in leather, and some in barely anything at all. He gawked at people spanking and whipping other people—an area of keen interest for my nongay chum, I later learned. Bill was enchanted.

On September 28, the pansexual Folsom Street Fair will mark 20 years of impressing San Francisco residents and travelers. While no doubt the 300,000 or so folks who attend the annual “leather and alternative lifestyle” event are not all members of the GLBT clan, certainly most qualify as queer in the best sense. The fun takes place in the South of Market District on Folsom Street between 7th and 12th streets.

A part of Leather Pride Week in San Francisco, the fair raises funds for community organizations, which in 2003 include the Positive Resource Center, Project Open Hand, Black Coalition on AIDS, Bay Area Youth Positives, Stop AIDS Project, and the marvelous Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Last year, nine organizations shared the nearly $300,000 raised through gate donations and beverage sales.

You probably won’t run into Bill at the Folsom Street Fair (www.folsomstreetfair.com). He long ago settled into the life of a prosperous Northern California citizen with his second wife and their youngsters. But when Bill reads the reports in the Modesto Bee every fall, I expect he smiles.

Tim Brookover, editor of this magazine, interviewed the founders of the Houston Roughnecks for our August issue.

IF YOU GO

United Airlines, the official carrier of the Folsom Street Fair, offers a 10-percent discount on tickets purchased at least seven days in advance. Avis offers special discounts for fair visitors. Three hotels offer event rates: Crowne Plaza-Union Square, Holiday Inn-Civic Center, and Holiday Inn-Fisherman’s. Check www.folsomstreetfair.com for details.

Once you arrive in the city, the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Center (1800 Market St.) is a great source of information. Housed in an impressive new complex funded by a $1-million legacy from Falcon Studios founder Chuck Holmes, the center is located at 1800 Market Street (415/865-5555). The website is www.sfgaycenter.org.

SF Gate, the website affiliated with the San Francisco Chronicle, also provides up-to-date news on GLBT spaces, places, and events. Check out www.sfgate.com/eguide/gay.

If you have any comments about this article, please email them to letters@outsmartmagazine.com.