Folks in leather, chaps and thongs throng Folsom Street Gay Fair
Pastor Dale Morgan
Folks in leather, chaps and thongs throng Folsom Street Gay Fair*
Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, October 1, 2007
Thousands came bedecked in leather -- or in many cases, n... Ann Noble
of Los Angeles dresses like a pony for the Fols... Jeff Dee of Monterey
presses flesh with partiers identify... Andrea Storm, left, of San Jose,
Jeff Dee, middle, of Mon... More...
It's not usually polite to stare, but Phil "Tats" Payton doesn't mind
being ogled. When you're a 69-year-old man covered in more than 100
tattoos - including all over your bald head - and sporting a leather
vest, chaps and a nose ring a few inches in diameter, it comes with the
territory.
"I've gotten used to it," he said as he was stopped by strangers asking
to take his photograph. "It's my own fault - I can't blame anyone else."
Payton and others bedecked in leather - or in many cases, nothing at all
- were the stars of Sunday's 24th annual Folsom Street Fair. The San
Francisco rite is a celebration of leather culture and sexual fetishism,
and draws not only those who enjoy the lifestyle, but also those who
enjoy gawking at them.
"This is like Disneyland - you'll never see anything like this in the
world," said Jaeleen Bennis, who in her long skirt and tank top could
just as easily have been shopping at Bloomingdale's.
Folsom Street, once a gay hub with bathhouses and sex clubs, is now
filled with restaurants, condos and furniture stores. But on the last
Sunday of September, it shuts down between Seventh and 12th streets as
thousands of people pack the festival, which raises money for charity.
This year was no different, as couples led each other up and down the
street with dog collars and leashes, men in thong underwear played
Twister, women in stilettos and fishnet stockings spilled out of their
corsets, and shoppers browsed stalls selling products such as baseball
caps reading "Master" or "Slave" and a book entitled "Dungeon
Emergencies and Supplies."
"Very painful - very nice," said a woman as she fingered a "Stingy
little pocket paddle" that came in red or black.
In the next stall over, Rodger Rosenberg explained why it's much more
enjoyable to be tied up with rope made of 100 percent silk than rope
made of nylon or hemp. By noon, he already had sold silk ropes to people
from England, Ireland and Spain.
Tom Maiolo came all the way from Tampa, Fla., for his first Folsom
Street Fair. Wearing a leather vest and chaps with no pants, he said at
noon that he was already having a fabulous time.
"So far, so good," he said. "I love this, and I'm just getting started."
He said he recognized some stars of porn movies he had seen and said
they were like celebrities to him. Asked if they would ever hold an
event like this in Tampa, he said, "No. Hardly."
People paid money to be flogged in front of crowds of onlookers. One man
looked like he was crying, and red lash marks covered his back.
"Lovely start to a Sunday afternoon!" exclaimed a man with a microphone
trying to persuade people to get flogged.
Two women who said their screen names are Zoe Zane and Andrea Storm
dressed as dirty martinis in teeny silver dresses shaped like martini
glasses and bra cups decorated like green olives.
"It's totally fun," Storm said. "I don't get very far because I keep
getting photographed. I feel like I'm on the red carpet."
Not everybody was into the scene, though. Jason Reed stood in boots and
a thong and posed for pictures outside a stall run by SX Video, which
makes gay porn movies.
"I'm just here to work - it's not really my thing," said Reed, who works
in the company's marketing department. "They think I look good, so they
want me to walk around in a jockstrap."
He got a good view of all the passers-by - sometimes, too good a view.
"Some of them who walk around naked really shouldn't be," he said.
Inside the stall was a wall of dildos and leather hoods. Bob Findle, the
company's creative director, said it's fun to see people come from all
over the world for a true San Francisco event.
"This is what San Francisco's about - being crazy and expressing
yourself," he said. "Where else could you do this?"