Are we there yet?: Folsom Street Fair

After living in this amazing city for eight years, I finally went to the Folsom Street Fair. Apparently my absence from the annual leather event was causing a few to question my homosexuality. Well, not really, but I sure got razzed quite a bit. Suffice it to say, the experience was tremendous and I'm looking forward to next year. Maybe by then I'll be ready to wear a bit more leather than that of my belt.

The massive daylong fair runs down Folsom Street covering many city blocks in San Francisco's SOMA district. It's the crowning finale to the events of Leather Pride Week and the largest event of its kind drawing some 400,000 attendees annually from around the globe.

Wearing some big, black motorcycle sunglasses, tight jeans, a wife-beater and sneakers, I met my friend Dave at 9th and Folsom in the middle of the madness and immediately grabbed a hotdog and a beer for $5. Winding through the crowds in the south of Market heat, it wasn't long before the shirts came off and we bounced along to the thump of a DJ while watching a leather-clad go-go boy dance in a cage suspended over the gyrating masses by a huge crane. At day's end, we stood listening to a red-wigged drag queen in a tight, black dress smothered with the word "fuck" cover Smells Like Teen Spirit. She rocked!

I'm still awash in the sounds, smells and images of the day and I think that it would be near impossible to describe and do justice to the festive spectacle that was the 22nd incarnation of this annual fete. To that end, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I have photos to share. The bad news is that I don't have them now. In all of my excitement I forgot my camera at home, which is why I could only include this one picture of my jeans, leather belt and entrance sticker to the fair. However, my friend Dave wasn't so absent-minded and snapped away all afternoon. As soon as I get my hot little hands on the files, I'll share the fun. In the meantime, I encourage you to check out the galleries at www.folsomstreetfair.com for some visuals from years past.

The mission of the organizing body, Folsom Street Events, is to create volunteer-driven leather events, providing the adult alternative lifestyle community safe venues for self-expression, emphasizing freedom, fun, frolic and fetish, and raising money to benefit San Francisco charities.

Last year over a quarter of a million dollars in proceeds were donated back to twelve beneficiary organizations. The twelve groups that will receive grants this year are: