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Steven Underhill
People donned leather attire at last year’s Folsom Street Fair.
Leatherfolk, kinksters to assemble at Folsom fair by John Ferrannini
City to buy Castro shopping center for new LGBTQ history museum
T
he Folsom Street Fair is returning to San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood Sunday, September 29. The fair, which caters to leather and kink communities the world over, is expecting 200,000 visitors, according to Folsom Street Executive Director Angel Adeyoha. “We’re very excited to see everyone and welcome our annual pilgrimage and our stages are going to be absolute fire this year,” Adeyoha, who is queer and nonbinary, told the Bay Area Reporter. The fair runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is bounded by Howard Street on the north, Harrison Street on the south, Eighth Street on the east and 13th Street on the west. The 41st annual fair started back in 1984 as Megahood. It was founded as a bulwark against gentrification in SOMA. The leather community was also particularly hard hit at that time, during the early days of the AIDS epidemic. (The Megahood moniker was revived briefly in 2021 when the fair took place in a modified, smaller form due to the COVID pandemic.) In the 1970s, Folsom Street had been christened the “Miracle Mile” for the long strip of leather bars, SM clubs, and bathhouses that had lined it. Today, only a few vestiges of that explosion of sexual freedom remain, though Robert Goldfarb, a gay man who is the executive director of the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District, told the B.A.R. he’d like visitors to know that the neighborhood is still a peak destination for leatherfolk and kinksters. “I think we would like them to know how vibrant the neighborhood is and how it is really a home to the leather community, which it has been since the 1960s,” he said. “I think a lot of people don’t realize we’ve been there that long. I think there’ve been a lot of changes and, with the pandemic, a lot of closures, and I think when they come to SOMA for the fair, they will see how many businesses and how thriving the leather community is here in San Francisco.” District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, a gay man, is joining the leather district in welcoming people to SOMA, which he represents on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. “I’m proud to support the Folsom Street Fair, a world-renowned event in the heart of my district that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the globe each year,” Dorsey stated. “This iconic celebration showcases the dynamic kink and leather communities, and encourages people to embrace new experiences and push beyond their boundaries. “At the same time, it fosters a powerful sense of inclusivity, uniting individuals from all walks of life, regardless of race, gender, and sexual orientation,” he added. “Beyond its cultural significance, the fair is a vital economic engine for San Francisco, driving revenue for local businesses, bars, and hotels. Folsom Street Fair is truly an essential part of our city’s identity and prosperity.” See page 13 >>
Vol. 54 • No. 39 • September 26-October 2, 2024
by Matthew S. Bajko
E
nding a two-decades-long search for a suitable site, city officials have landed on a massive two-story shopping center in San Francisco’s Castro district as the permanent home for a LGBTQ history museum and archival center. The Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the $11.6 million purchase of the property in the coming weeks. It will pave the way for the GLBT Historical Society to move into the vacant second floor of the Market & Noe Center at 2280 Market Street, likely sometime in 2025. The nonprofit currently rents a jewel box of a gallery space on 18th Street in the heart of the city’s LGBTQ neighborhood and leases space for its archives and offices in a downtown office building.
The second floor of the Market & Noe Center at 2280 Market Street will become the new home for an LGBTQ history museum.
See page 10 >>
Rick Gerharter
SF’s 2023 HIV cases fall below 150 by John Ferrannini
S
an Francisco’s 2023 HIV epidemiology annual report continued a trend of declining new diagnoses, with 133 reported for the year. The report comes as sexually transmitted bacterial infections gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis continue to decline year-to-date in 2024 from 2023 – though this year more San Francisco City Clinic patients have tested positive for HIV than in 2023, despite fewer tests being done. In related news, City Clinic, the longtime municipal public health center, granted the Bay Area Reporter a tour of its deteriorating space at 356 Seventh Street. The public health care facility is slated to relocate if the Proposition B infrastructure bond measure passes on the November 5 ballot.
HIV report
The HIV surveillance report released by the San Francisco Department of Public Health September 23 showed that in 2023 the city saw 133 new diagnoses of HIV – one more than preliminary 2023 numbers had shown in a semi-annual report released in August. That represents an ongoing decline, as 2022 saw 157 new cases and 2021 saw 166 new cases, according to the reports. “San Francisco has long been a national leader in HIV research, epidemiology, prevention, testing, and care. We are thrilled to see that HIV diagnoses in our city continue to go down,” Mayor London Breed stated in a news release. “Today’s report underscores just how important it is to have trusted, world-class public health facilities such as SFDPH’s San Francisco City Clinic and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, as well as incredible community partners, whose ongoing work in providing critical HIV services to our community have helped make these declines possible.” As the B.A.R. previously reported, 2023 HIV diagnoses in the Latino community had also declined to 40 – down 46% from the 2022 figure of 74 new diagnoses, a number that set off alarm bells in Latino and public health communities. The release stated that 95% of those newly diagnosed in San Francisco in 2023 were linked to care within one month. City health officials also report-
Rick Gerharter
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax announced that HIV diagnoses for 2023 have declined to under 150.
ed that 84% of people diagnosed in the first nine months of the year were virally suppressed within six months. “This report gives us many reasons to be encouraged and shows that our efforts are making a difference,” stated Dr. Grant Colfax, a gay man who is director of health. “Incredible advancements have been made in HIV prevention and care, and we must continue to make sure that communities across San Francisco have access to high-quality, culturally competent services so that this report is part of a sustained trend that marches us towards an HIV/AIDS free generation.” Dr. Susan Philip, the city’s health officer, stated that people need to be aware of the resources available to them. PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, refers to the use of antiviral drugs to prevent people exposed to HIV from becoming infected. The pill Truvada was first approved for PrEP use in 2012 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; since then the FDA has also approved the pill Descovy for some groups, and the drug Apretude as an injectable treatment. PrEP is a key component of Getting to Zero San Francisco, which aims to reduce new HIV transmis-
sions and HIV deaths by 90% by 2025, in addition to reducing stigma. Similarly, Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. is the federal government’s goal of reducing HIV infections by 90% by 2030. “To ultimately succeed in our fight against HIV, it is critical for people to know and understand the many services that are available to them, which cannot be done without continued planning and coordination with community, academic, and health system partners,” Philip stated. “The tools both inside and outside of traditional medical settings are there, and the more we connect with and inform our communities, the better chance we will have in tackling the challenges in front of us.” Rafael Mandelman, a gay man who represents District 8, including the Castro neighborhood, on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, heralded the report as “great news, especially in the steep decline in new diagnoses among Latinx people.” “Of course there is more work to do,” he added. “We will not be done until we truly get to zero, but this is real progress, and DPH, UCSF, and our nonprofit partners deserve real congratulations.” See page 12 >>