Once seen as a moral scourge, Western SoMa’s BDSM scene is poised to become S.F.’s Leather Cultural District.
SF Weekly
by Peter Lawrence Kane
“Few people would doubt it does, yet much of this history has been lost. Dimly lit clubs with short lifespans that could be raided at any time didn’t typically maintain archivists on staff, and HIV/AIDS decimated two generations. Today, SoMa’s leather scene consists of fewer than half a dozen bars, and although they’re packed on weekends, the neighborhood faces a renewed threat of extinction in the face of displacement. To preserve this vital subculture, activists have chosen a novel strategy: partnering with City Hall to designate a portion of Western SoMa as the San Francisco Leather District. The degenerates are about to be officially sanctioned.”