Folsom Forever (2014) - full transcript

[Narrator] The Golden Gate
is more than a romantic name.

It is truly America's
gateway to the Pacific,

to Alaska, to Hawaii,
protected from wind and sea

by surrounding hills,
gleaming like snow in the sun.

The fauns have tempered
the climate of this land,

conditioned its development,

and perhaps even affected the character

and vigor of its people.

(funky music)

- Everything seems to
be falling into place,

we've got the toilets dropping now,



the dumpster vendor is here,

yeah we've got pretty much
headquarters all set up

and we're already working
on the fairgrounds,

we're probably a little ahead of schedule.

Folsom Street Events is
actually a freestanding

nonprofit organization based
in San Francisco, California.

We are a mostly volunteer-run organization

that produces worldwide
leather and fetish events.

We also take all of our net proceeds

and give them to charity
and the end of each year.

Everything is going really well,

we're pretty much on track.

We've closed all the major
inbound streets right now

and we've got A & R Booths setting up



most of the booth structures

and they're actually
getting quite a bit done.

I've seen probably every major leather

and fetish event in the world now

and there's nothing of this size

and nothing that nears the diversity

of Folsom Street Fair anywhere.

It just doesn't exist.

And then "MT" is where you drop the stage.

- Okay.

- All right, do you wanna keep that?

- Yes.
- Okay.

There's room to grow and
change things every year.

One of the things we wanna
make sure we don't do

is produce the same exact
fair, year after year.

When it hits 10:30, 10:45

and the first fairgoers start arriving,

that they feel like the
fair is really put together.

Yeah, we don't want them
to see a work in progress.

- There was this song
when I lived in France,

that was playing on the radio,

that was if you come to San Francisco,

make sure to put some
flowers in your hair.

("San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie)

And to me that was like the
call to the fun kind of life

and the fun kind of freedom
that I felt I didn't have,

even though I was part
of the Parisian culture,

I wanted something different.

So, I went after it.

- In the 60s I was just one
soldier in the army of us

who began to occupy Folsom Street.

But as a journalist,

I kept diaries and notes, and photographs

and Super 8 films to document

what was going on, because all
of us at that time realized

what was unfolding,

when it was beginning
and what was happening

when it was at its height.

Couldn't last forever.

- I kinda was known in San
Francisco as being Mr. Benefit

because I never charged for benefits

and I did thousands of them.

Isn't it great here?

It's so nice to see so many people turn up

for an airplane meeting.

(laughter)

This isn't about money...

Bullshit.

I love the idea of community service,

of helping the community and doing stuff.

- My major research has
been on gay South of Market,

in San Francisco.

And I've been doing this
work since about 1978,

when I came out to San
Francisco to do a dissertation

on the leather community,

the gay male leather
community in South of Market.

- I don't know if it's crazy

but I love a good circle jerk.

You know, and there's lots of guys

with just big, fat, pierced cocks,

just standing around in circles,

just yanking on it and
yanking on each other.

- I like to say that there
are two political camps

in San Francisco, left and lefter.

Sometimes people who are lefter,

will not be happy about
those of us who're,

they think aren't left enough,

but we're all extremely left.

- I didn't dive into leather,

it came to me slowly in
my process of acclimating

to stay in San Francisco as my new home.

- At a very young age I
decided that that aesthetic,

that gay male butch
leather kinky aesthetic,

was something I was attracted to.

It was never even a question.

So I've been active in
the leather community

since I was 18 years of age.

- I literally landed in San Francisco

on the weekend of Folsom
Street Fair in 1996.

I got to my new residence,

put my bags down, and my roommate said,

"Okay come on, we're taking
to you to a street fair."

And I thought okay fun, great,

what is this gonna be about?

I had no idea what I
was getting myself into.

The city has recognized

that there are hundreds
of thousands of people

that are descending on San Francisco

for this week and this weekend.

(funky music)

- We are from France, we
are here for three weeks.

- [Voiceover] Where do you guys come from?

- Australia.
- Australia.

- Switzerland.
- Switzerland.

- One of our friends said,

"You have to be there today,

"because it is a huge event."

So, we are here.

- Oh it's really famous all
over the world I think, yeah.

- [Voiceover] Do they
know what they're getting

themselves into?

- Not really, no.

- I've heard that it's a crazy fair

where people do whatever they want.

- I don't know, what did I tell you guys?

- Not much.

Not much.

- Mike invited me and I was
just like, why the hell not?

- I've heard some of it
like it's kinda violent,

but, interesting (laughs).

So it's good, I don't
know, it's interesting

being a voyeur sometimes.

- To avert his eyes (laughs).

At certain points.

- [Woman] Maybe.

- Because I've gotta play
host to 400,000 people now,

I've gotta look cute and be on

and make sure my eyebrows are okay.

(electronic music)

- This is Mark Leno,

I have the great privilege
of representing San Francisco

in the State Senate,

and I'm just here to say
welcome to Folsom Street Fair.

It's as beautiful and
imaginative, creative

and good for the city's
finances, as you can imagine.

(electronic music)

- My mom used to wear
leather all the time,

and I used to think that

that was just the hottest thing on her,

it was just so beautiful.

And little did I know that when I grew up

I was gonna be so into leather,

the smell of it, the feel of it,

the sexual energy that
I get from wearing it

and just the kinkiness
and the playfulness.

- So we have a circus coming,

I hope you will find it very sensual,

and so (mumbling) as we are.

- I am Zagasm, the ultimate
orgasm of divine connection

to the universe.

These are actually my synapses.

- Oh, hello.

- In our company, orange
is the color of laughter,

so friend Shickle is just sitting here,

to bring laughter and joy to everybody.

- San Francisco is really
where I've made my home,

I've traveled and lived all over the world

but San Francisco is where
when I put my feet down here,

I realized these are my people

and this is the place that I belong.

Well in 2007 my father passed away

and what I haven't talked
about is that shortly

before he passed away he had a sex change

and became a woman,

and then died of cancer.

And so he lived his
whole life in this body

that didn't belong to him.

Had this very brief period
of time in which he was

moving into becoming a woman,

and then this life was cut short.

And so, about two months later,

Folsom arrives and I'm in mourning,

and mourning the loss
of what I didn't have,

which is this relationship
with this person

that I never knew and I
go to Folsom Street Fair

and in a way it was sort
of this launchpad for me.

And looking back over the years of Folsom,

it's so ironic that I step
onto this platform of Folsom

with my own personal journey
that I'm going through

and it has become this
symbol for me of celebrating,

celebrating diversity and
taking the shame out of it.

(electronic music)

(laughter)

- It's a bummer too.

It's called dildo ring toss.

The point is to get
the rings on the dildo.

And if you get it

then you can win prizes like
lube, condoms, material, porn.

It's all about promoting safe sex

and healthy styles of life.

- Have you been naughty?

Very naughty?

You're at Folsom, explore.

Are you gonna go home and
have some vanilla ice cream,

and go, "Oh my God, I could've lived,

"but no, I really like beige."

(moaning)

- Is that good for you?

- Yeah (laughs).

- Oh (laughs)!

(electronic music)

- The stages are good
there's no question about it.

I think the whole fair is entertainment,

not just the stages.

- San Francisco music in
particular has been very important

to who we are and what we do,

and so tried since our beginnings to offer

some insight into the San
Francisco music scene.

And that has included
bands from Imperial Teen,

that have their roots
here, to The Limousines,

who are being featured this year.

- Demetri is a huge fan of
indie bands and contemp...

like interesting new musical acts,

so he's doing his best to bring in

really interesting people.

- When we were brainstorming
about the 25th anniversary

people were like bring in
Cher, bring in Madonna.

But those acts, even if
we could afford them,

wouldn't necessarily
speak to our core audience

because they're fairly mainstream acts.

("Very Busy People" by The Limousines)

♪ We are very busy people ♪

♪ We are very busy people ♪

♪ But we've always got
time for new friends ♪

- I hope you make some new
friends at Folsom Street Fair!

(cheering)

♪ So come on over and knock on our door ♪

♪ It's open, what ya waiting for ♪

♪ We might be sprawled out on the floor ♪

♪ But we still make lovely company ♪

- Fuck yeah, it should
be like this everywhere,

it's ridiculous so to start.
- Yeah.

- I think the reason that crime happens

and the reason people are unhappy

and kill themselves is
probably because they,

can't just be themselves.
- Yeah, there shouldn't be

a specific reason to do this,

it should just be like it all the time,

our self-expression is like part of life.

You don't need a certain, like,

holiday to prove that, but, like

it's great we have this.
- Maybe there should be

one day to give all the
boring people a break.

- Yeah (laughs).
- But every day

should be like this.

- (laughs) Exactly.

♪ Pull up a chair, I'll pour some tea ♪

♪ Shoot the shit about everything ♪

♪ 'Till you get sick of
politics, flip on the TV screen ♪

♪ We stare at the TV screen ♪

♪ That Donnie Darko DVD has
been repeating for a week ♪

♪ And we know every single word ♪

♪ I've got an iPod like a pirate ship ♪

♪ I'll sail the seas with
fifty thousand songs ♪

♪ I've never heard ♪

♪ And all the best of them go ♪

♪ Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la ♪

- Butt plugs are awesome
for me, I love 'em.

- My hand.

My hand is it.
- He's younger than me,

so he hasn't gotten it yet.

- I haven't delved into that
aspect of sexuality yet.

- But I think God put a button
up there for a good reason.

- (laughs) Yes.

- You gotta worship Him.

("Motorway" by Little Boots)

- Everyone, come on, I wanna
see some hands over here.

(cheering)

Beautiful!

♪ We won't look back, so don't look back ♪

♪ We won't look back, so don't look back ♪

♪ We won't look back, so don't look back ♪

♪ We won't look back, so don't look back ♪

♪ We won't look back, so don't look back ♪

♪ We won't look back, so don't look back ♪

♪ Meet me on the motorway ♪

♪ Together we could
make our great escape. ♪

I've always loved San Francisco,

I've always loved coming to California,

I feel like it's my second home,

and San Francisco especially,

we have such a good fanbase here.

Such great support from day one

that it's always really, really
good to come back and play.

But to play somewhere like this,

everyone is all dressed up,

and in such a positive mood,

and it's such an amazing
cause and spirit everywhere,

everyone is so lovely,

we've been treated like queens

and it has been fantastic,

I wish we could play every year.

♪ I'm gonna take you out tonight ♪

♪ I'm gonna make you feel all right ♪

♪ I don't have a lot of
money but we'll be fine ♪

♪ No I don't have a penny but
I'll show you a good time ♪

(applause and cheering)

(cheering and applause)

- [Voiceover] Give it up for Little Boots!

- Straight festivals often,

ethnic festivals for example

often are the ways in which the memory

of a previous population

stakes a claim to the memory
of its passing in a way

or what used to be.

- [Voiceover] The years
have brought many changes

to San Francisco.

In little more than a
century, it has grown

from a frontier town
into a mature metropolis.

- [Gayle] South of Market
actually was a viable neighborhood

it was a just working class
neighborhood and it was poor.

After World War II,

the industry and the working
class population start

to leave as industry and
the population suburbanizes,

so this is the kind of neighborhood

that is ideally positioned
for urban renewal.

That is, it's near central,

the central downtown,

central business district

and yet it's very cheap.

You had to call a neighborhood blighted.

Blight was the key word,

the key to the kingdom in
a way of urban renewal,

so, I think it's '52, the
redevelopment agency sends

in a team to do a report
of South of Market

and they decide that it's
really very blighted.

(sad music)

Early 60s the redevelopment
agency is given the power,

they come into South of Market.

(anticipating music)

Particularly the area around
what is now Moscone Center.

They buy up the land, they forcibly,

they forced people to sell the land,

they start evicting people,

they start demolishing these buildings,

they destroyed lots of the
low-cost housing in the city.

- [Voiceover] The business
vitality of San Francisco

in recent years has
brought radical changes

to the city's skyline.

The old houses stand in timid contrast,

as if wondering when they too,

must give way to progress.

- And it's at that moment
of neighborhood disruption

that is sort of the beginning
of the gay occupation.

(funky music)

The old taverns and
working class lunchrooms

and bars have pretty much closed

so there's all these places
that could be rented or bought,

and enterprising businessmen
start to open them

as leather bars.

- Among all the varieties
of gay people coming out

of the closet, no one expected

masculine identified gay men

to come marching out
of the closet as well.

People thought, they didn't exist.

- The homosexuals were
stereotypically considered

to be effeminate and sissies,

and there were gay men who were not.

Who were masculine in
their gender orientation

and many of them wanted other
masculine men as partners.

Leather became a way
that those kinds of men

could carve out some space in gay,

within the gay population.

- But you really had to
kinda choose your camp.

There were leather men,

there were drag queens,

there were, what we now

would call young twinks, club kids,

and that was kind of it.

There really were no other
buckets into what you

could place yourself,

however you felt comfortable.

A lot of the gay men who rode motorcycles

were attracted to them
for a variety of reasons,

they loved bikes, they
loved the semiotics,

they loved the things that bikers wore.

- From the beginning, leather
was very male identified,

the whole point was to
emulate masculine men.

Men from 1940s, veterans
riding motorcycles in the 40s,

and on through the 50s and
60s, it was always about

the masculine look.

- [Voiceover] It's the
disco group "Village People"

a long way from water and
their native New York City.

75 miles in the California,
Rattlesnake Country,

the middle of the Mojave Desert

and with them, a studio
full of high price backup,

cameras, reflectors,
makeup people, technicians

and who knows who else.

- [Glenn] Basically what we're shooting

is the fulfillment of the role
models that these guys play.

As you can see, the construction guy

has his piece of equipment,

the cowboy and the
Indian have their horses

and it's the ultimate
manifestation of their roles.

The appeal of the group is based
on the very simple premise,

that there's something
out there for everybody.

- You know I like fatigues

and all, and I decided to build on it.

- Like kids when you were growing up man,

everybody wanted to be a cowboy

or in the army, that's what
Village People is about.

- In my own personal
experience, the BDSM has always

kind of been there.

It wasn't,

even necessarily separated
out as a separate thing.

It was kind of part of the
sort of biker leather culture

that I came out in.

Nobody was shocked when
they saw fisting happening.

Nobody was shocked when somebody

was pissing on someone else,
it just wasn't surprising.

It kinda came with the territory.

- When the 1964 article in LIFE magazine

showed up in my parents' mailbox,

just a week before my 25th birthday,

with that article on the Tool Box

and the mural of the Tool
Box and about manly men

who inhabited the Tool Box.

- [Gayle] The Tool Box
opened at the corner

of Fourth and Harrison,
and on the ground floor

of what was, from what I can tell,

a working class tenement.

It was the gay leather
bar in South of Market

and it was there for a number of years

until it was torn down by
the redevelopment agency

in the early 1970s.

This was part of the redevelopment area

that includes Moscone
Center and all of that,

the sort of museum and arts
complexes, and hotel complexes

growing up around Moscone.

- But that LIFE magazine was pivotal

because it was like an
official announcement

sent out to America and to the
world to the disenfranchised

and wondering boys who knew they were gay

but they weren't quite the
same as the other gay boys,

that here was the place to go.

- There was not much of a social space

for lesbians who were
kinky until the 1970's.

Mostly lesbian who were
kinky still hung out

on the margins of gay male

and mostly heterosexual institutions.

When the local leather dykes
started to get organized

was right around the same
time that the feminist

anti-porn movement was coalescing.

(shouting)

The women who were
involved in leather and SM,

really kind of were aware
of the anti-porn movement

much earlier than other, than gay men

or straight SM people were.

And really I think were more

politically sophisticated
about the implications

of that for kinky people.

- When I wanted to go to the leather bar,

yes they wanted three pieces of ID.

But maybe because I'm fearless,

or I was crazy, I did
get three pieces of ID,

so I could get into the leather bar

and you then think, well
they don't want me there,

and then, I can behave, and I was dressed

right and I can behave.

So I had some really
lovely time in the bar

and even going to the back room.

- The clubs and the bars
and the baths on Folsom

became legendary places.

We knew instantly they were legendary.

We knew that we were inside something

so unique that it
probably had not happened

on the earth since maybe
the days of Ancient Rome.

We knew it was a bacchanal,
we knew it was exciting,

it was risky, it was dangerous,
but it was the most fun

any of us had ever had.

- I went down to South of
Market on a weekend night,

and I just thought this is amazing,

I had never seen anything like it.

All these guys in
leather, hundreds of them,

thousands of them,

I didn't count them.

On the streets, just hordes of people.

And it was clearly just this scene

that was really huge and viable.

"That's Disgusting"

is a breakthrough in
male video entertainment.

This tape shows you in living color

what 24 hot San Franciscan
men did with each other

and four billiard balls,
a bunch of bananas,

an eight foot cord,

three ceremonial samurai
swords and greased hands,

arms and cocks.

Now you can see for yourself
why San Franciscan men

love to shock the world.

- Well in 70s, which I
call the titanic 70s,

because we partied on.

You know it was a first class party,

just cruising on, not
knowing that ahead laid

the iceberg of HIV.

We were all innocent of that.

Leather sex did not kill anybody.

A virus killed people.

- [Gayle] The local
press tends to blame AIDS

for the closure, or the
attrition of South of Market.

And to assume that the
attrition of the neighborhood,

the retail and recreational
complex in the neighborhood

meant that the leather
community was harder hit

by AIDS than the other gay populations.

This is probably not true.

- Well of course,

like any village looking for the witch

who poisoned the well,

the vanilla gays looked
at the leather gays

and said, "Hmm, we see all
that sweaty, dirty, nasty

"sex going on down South of Market,

"that must be the cause of it."

The city fathers and
mothers paid attention

to that too and pretty soon there was

a movement afoot to close
the bars particularly,

the sex clubs, which
were open after night.

- Everybody wanted to declare a statement

that would make themselves safe.

- [Interviewer] Right.

- Oh, well I'm not going to
get it, because I don't, blank.

- [Interviewer] Right.

- You know, because
everybody was questioning

how, what caused it, so
there was a lot of that

kind of like, "But it's certainly,

"I'm, no problem with me."

- By '82, '83, '84, I mean it's really,

the epidemic is just ravaging
the local population.

It's ravaging the entire
local gay population

including the Castro and
the Polk, everywhere.

But neither the Castro nor the Polk

shows the kind of institutional attrition

that's really evident in South of Market,

where just places have closed like crazy.

- At least for the male gay community,

they were really scared and
they were scared of sex,

and they were scared of their sexuality.

- [Reporter] When the AIDS
crisis hit the Bay Area

a year ago, reaction
was strong and fearful.

Gay men stayed away from
the bars and bathhouses,

and there was pressure to close them.

Pressure to close the
bathhouses continues however,

although now, Health
Department officials say,

they are not the problem.

- A study which we had done,

the results of which we did not know

until just very recently,

indicates that 75% of those questioned

coming out of bathhouses
said they'd go somewhere else

if they were closed,

and do the same thing.

So it's not where you do
it, it's what you're doing.

- [Reporter] Officials
and gay leaders agree

that was is needed is a long range change

in the ways gay men have sex.

Education and change are
beginning with individuals

and community groups,

and also among the sex
clubs and bathhouses.

The owner of this club, an
inconspicuous looking place

on an alley in South
of Market, says he sees

an important role for gay sex clubs

in the fight against AIDS.

- [Hal] What I've been trying to do,

is to use the club as a
way of eroticizing forms

of sexual activity which
are, carry much less risk,

and sort of make it
fashionable to be concerned

about how one relates to someone else

to reduce the risk of disease.

- [Gayle] The closure of the bathhouses

was a political intervention that was said

to be a public health
measure, but it actually was

a political intervention.

If it had been argued on
the basis of public health,

it probably wouldn't have happened.

But what it did do, was it destroyed

a big piece of the gay
economy in the neighborhood

because all those bathhouses,

there were, half a dozen or
more in the neighborhood,

they were big institutions,

they had hundreds of
customers every night.

- But they had to destroy

the very pleasure palaces of the 70s,

in this horrible 80s uptight period.

It was kind of a puritan reaction
to the pleasure principle.

An overreaction, and it was destructive.

- And in a funny way, the
closure of the bathhouses

represented not just panic about AIDS

and homosexuality,

but also panic within
the gay community about

its own sex habits,

and also the success of a certain number

of influential figures.

I mean it represented gay power in a way,

because the gay community,

elements of the gay community
really supported closure.

- Well, two years ago I
was sitting in my store

one day and got bored and
decided to entertain myself

by putting on a street fair

and so I proposed the idea of
a street fair and produced it.

And it was somewhat successful.

(indigenous music)

(crowd muttering)

And I think that's what
a street fair should be,

for the neighborhood,

about the neighborhood

and by the neighborhood.

And someday we'll be there, thank you.

- The first Folsom Street Fair

actually wasn't a leather event at all,

it was actually a South
of Market neighborhood

street festival that was supposed to bring

a bigger spotlight to
gentrification issues.

- You have to remember,
the fair starts in '84.

So, this is the year that
the bathhouses are closed,

or much of the closure is happening,

the campaign is happening,
they're closed, '84, '85.

Leather and gay institutions
in the neighborhood

are closing like mad, '84, '85.

And that's when the fair starts.

- I'm Kathleen Connell.

(cheering)

- One of the co-producers

of the first annual Folsom Street Fair.

- Kathleen Connell and
Michael Valerio are,

they start the fair in part
because they're so aware

of this process of urban
renewal that's about

to chew up what they are working with.

Kathleen is working
with low-income seniors,

with food delivery services for them

and Michael is working for TODCO

with low-income senior housing.

- And that was a big part
of what they wanted to do,

was to do something to
show that we have a large

senior population that's living downtown,

you know, in not necessarily
the best situation.

- Both of them were really involved in,

not just in gay activism,

but in activism around housing
and low-income seniors,

particularly in Central City.

- Kathleen and Michael were,

they were just amazing together.

They were so symbolical and

they could make dreams happen.

You know, and they did mine.

I'll never forget it.

- Like Folsom Street has
really, really changed.

I know it has because it
said so in The Chronicle,

so it must be true.

(laughter)

See, for years and years there
was nothing on Folsom Street

but real hardcore gay S&M bars,

real tough S&M bars like
The Ambush, and the Ramrod

and the Bay Brick, real tough bars.

(laughter)

And see but now there's all
these heterosexual fern bars.

But you know, I just can't
get used to seeing yuppie S&M,

I really can't, you know.

Lottie, come here, lick my boots.

Oh God, you're domestic, eww.

It's just...

(laughter)

They were talking about

how there was gonna be a street fair,

the Folsom Street Fair,

and if you were interested, contact them.

So, I called them and I met
with Michael and Kathleen.

And I said, you know, I don't
just wanna perform for you,

I would like to be a part of
it, I'd like to help put it on

and so we all worked together,

we hit it off amazingly
and, you know, immediately.

- I have the program from
the first year, Megahood.

It's called Megahood because
what they're trying to show,

is that this was a mega hood.

It was a real neighborhood,

it wasn't just an empty
space waiting to be developed

with nothing happening,

there were actually already people here.

And they wanted to really
make that statement.

This is the program from the second year,

it's called "Attack of the Street Faire"

and they have this
monster, they've decided

Megahood is a monster,

it's crawling out of one
of the manholes here.

- I said, "Well, we need to
include the leather community",

so I said, "Let's call Mr. Marcus,

"the columnist for the Bay Area Reporter

"for the leather community,

"and have him get together
leather titleholders

"and put on a one hour
leather fashion show

"from all the leather shops,
all around of Folsom."

And so, we did that.

- It was very much a community event.

And it was always a charity
event, that raised money

for whatever charity,

I think it was for the neighborhood,

but then it became very much for all

the AIDS, for the AIDS Foundation

and it was a charity group
that were trying to help people

when people started really dying in mass.

- Now for the first couple
of years, it doesn't have

a strong identity, except as an expression

of the neighborhood.

As the gay and leather presence
starts to decline however,

it becomes more and more of a focus.

The population for whom this neighborhood

is very meaningful starts to
get more and more involved

in the fair and it becomes
more and more of a leather

and gay and kinky event.

- It was essentially from Seventh
to Eleventh but with gaps.

You know it was kind of
small event, it wasn't,

you know, you could actually
still walk the streets

and not be, at three
o'clock in the afternoon

you could still be mobile on those streets

and not be packed into this crowd

like a sardine can, moving
slowly down the street.

- After about the second
year there weren't no gaps.

And it was going up to Howard
and going down to Harrison.

(indistinct speech)

- I remember that it was
probably the most exciting

day of my summer.

- In the morning of Folsom Street Fair

you go nuts like what am I gonna wear?

I mean, how much can I wear,

or how little can I wear?

And it was exciting and
something to look forward to.

- It was certainly some lesbians

of certainly some heterosexuals.

But the vast majority of people
in attendance were gay men.

- There were a lot of
guys who were dressed up

and out for a sunny afternoon

and wearing their
harnesses or wearing less.

And there wasn't a lot
of nudity in those days,

the nudity movement was a later movement.

- There were people with kids in strollers

and there were guys in
their leather harnesses

and it was just kind of
a neighborhood event.

- Because we had such a small
footprint in the early 80s,

in general, getting together
large groups of people

and networking, you got to meet people

from all over the country,

all over the world,

that were like you and
it felt really good.

- Remember, most of the kinky scene,

the leather scene took
place behind closed doors

for a long, long, long time.

So when Folsom Street Fair essentially

brought that to the streets,
it was revolutionary.

That simply wasn't done before.

Nobody walked the streets that openly.

And that was one of its
great powers at the time,

was to give people this sense
of pride that I can be kinky,

I can be leather and
I can walk the streets

and be happy doing that,

with my friends and not
worry about ramifications,

not worry about the police,
not worry about being harassed.

- We had organized a little
team, where we're gonna walk,

spinning a flogger in the same rhythm

and the same pattern all together.

It was actually Marx,

the guy I talk about that
took me to The Catacomb,

was playing drum behind us.

So we'd be doing figure eight
and overhand and underhand.

There was room for us to
walk as a contingent swinging

our whips in the street.

Imagine this now, impossible.

I mean it takes you an
hour to go one block.

- I do wanna say though
that the leather community

in Folsom was instrumental in
the fight against AIDS here.

I mean it was the leather community

and leather women in particular
that became caregivers,

major fundraisers.

- The women's community really did come up

and participated in
fundraising and certainly

in caregiving in a way that we really,

almost didn't deserve in a sense,

because we really had not wanted them

in our lives quite so much.

- When you attended Folsom Street Fair,

you had no judgment,
you didn't judge people.

You didn't judge the guys
with Kaposi's on their face.

You didn't judge the
people that were walking

with canes or walking slowly or very thin.

- At some point there were
people with Kaposi's sarcoma

that were out in the daylight,

they were just like this is it,

this is what's going on, this is us.

There was a sense of courage

that was overwhelming.

- I mean the Castro
Street Fair for instance,

I think people looked around and said

"Wow, look at him, isn't that awful,

"that's so sad."

I don't think people did that at Folsom,

I think people just
said, "Hey, you're here,

"let's live, I mean, this
is an opportunity to live

"and experience life, for
however long or short it is,"

"do it man, just do it!"

- We realized that BDSM
and the kind of kinky sex

that we have that is non-insertive, often,

had the power to become
sort of the uber safer sex.

And it was essentially marketed that way.

Do BDSM and you're safe.

- While the Health
Department in San Francisco

by mid 80s was putting
out more literature,

the gay community was putting
out it's own literature

about having safe sex, or safer sex,

and Drummer was also,
tubthumping the same message.

So all three of those messages
coalesced by '86, '87.

- BDSM was put forward as
a really safe way to play

and still be erotic and still be sexual

without necessarily having insertive play.

And in that way, I think,
the leather community

kind of stepped forward

and made a name for itself
in kind of promoting

truly safer activities in an environment

that otherwise wasn't at the time.

- My response was fight back,

and you know that's a
very French response,

is to fight back, you
don't like something,

strike against it, fight back.

So go in the street, show how you feel.

(cheering and applause)

We walked as proud and as
in leather as we could,

Those of us who could
have afford to be public.

So I went down the street with my t-shirt

from The Outcasts, which
was a women SM group.

I actually had a placard

that says,

"SM is safe sex."

- We were placing front
and center, what we do,

as very safe, for the most part.

- The leather community
and the SM community,

who already had rules and
regulations about safe and sane

and consensual sex were able to teach that

to the community at large
because we were already doing it.

- I think the leather community was seen

a little differently then.

Because we were seen as the vanguards

of promoting safer activities.

And we did that overtly, intentionally.

I think some people
even did it in a sense,

in a way to almost market
the leather community

to the rest of the world as,

"See how responsible we are!"

Because we are, we're
incredibly responsible people.

But I don't think many people saw that.

- And just as Drummer
would have a section in it,

the Folsom Fair would have a
booth with AIDS information

being passed out.

So the conscious grew in several levels

and infused the whole leather society.

And that caused people to move just from

pleasure for pleasure's sake,

to move into smart pleasure
for smart pleasure's sake.

(relaxing music)

- I do wanna share with you
also about Folsom Street Events,

not just what we've helped to produce

but how we make our money
and how this relates

to your time volunteering.

As Jacob said, your ability to volunteer

helps us to not have to pay staff

and so we can take all of
the money that we have raised

from various mechanisms
including sponsorship,

the gate donations,

beverage sales, ticket
sales to our parties,

and all of those exhibitors
who line the streets.

We take all of that income
that those folks have paid

and we can then turn it
around and give it back

to the organizations that
you're volunteering for.

So last year that meant that
we were able to give away

over $330,000.

(cheering and applause)

There's about an hour
and a half long training

that we require all of our
volunteers to go through,

we give them a whole lot of information

and then we ask them to
take that information

and apply it on the day of the fair.

There are about three to 400,000 people

occupying the fair over 13 city blocks,

it's a pretty big undertaking.

It means actually that we're,

it's been estimated that
we're the third largest

single day outdoor event
in the state of California.

I mean just to be clear,

there are on the day of fair,

600 pairs of volunteers like you.

There are also the Sisters
of Perpetual Indulgence,

there's also all of the beverage partners

and those folks who are
volunteering in those.

So we have over 1,000
people on the day of fair

contributing to its success
in some way, shape or form.

Most of our volunteers
are assigned to security.

So they will, after this general part,

go to a specific security
training on how to use the radio,

how to work with the police department,

how to address certain
situations around lewd behavior,

all of those things get covered
in that security training.

- I'm Jim, and that's Allison.

I've been running security

for 10, 11, 12 years now at Folsom.

So who has never volunteered
before or gone to the fair?

Wow, a lot of new people,
good that's great.

Although it is an adult-oriented fair,

and there may be a lot
of people who are nude,

nude is cool, nude is not lewd,

if you see someone having sex however,

and I'm not going to define sex for you,

please tap them on the shoulder and say,

"I'm sorry, you can't
have sex on the street."

(laughter)

We should have a supply
of Blow Buddies cards

or other sex club cards that
you might be able to give out

or recommend, there are
lots of bars on this street,

they can go into a bar and
have sex if they want to.

I don't know why you want to, you know?

- No.

- But the point is that
we don't want people

having sex in the street.

(electronic music)

- I started out with sexy leather outfits

and I started getting
less and less and less

until I got down to
absolutely nothing at all.

- I think San Francisco is going through

a bit of a transition in
terms of how the community

has been viewing public nudity.

- I don't remember seeing
that many naked people before,

like many, many years ago,

(mumbling) was proud to
show off their leather.

- One year we went, where I was only MCing

like for two hours and Brian and I

were walking down the street

in Folsom and it was
all of the sudden like,

Wow!

You know?

(crowd chattering)

- Do I think nude is lewd?

No, I think nude is sexy.

Hey, that's how we came
in this world, nude,

we're all going out of the world nude,

so we should have some fun in between.

- You know, if it's a
beautiful day and you feel good

about your body and you
wanna be nude, why not?

- Any donations for the SWOP?

We're asking for five to 10 dollars

for Sex Worker Outreach Project.

(electronic music)

- [Demetri] There are a
lot of San Francisco events

that seem to attract a
fair number of nudists.

And ours is just one of them.

- [Scott] Well, it suffices

to say that that is, that
public nudity is not an issue

that I anticipated working
on when I ran for office

and certainly not one that
I ever wanted to work on.

- Our supervisor Scott Wiener is opposing

the nudity on the basis
that he thinks it's sexual.

- Unfortunately as the guy who was elected

to represent the Castro,
among other neighborhoods,

I was caught in middle of
it, and no matter what I did,

I was gonna have people who were happy

and people who were unhappy.

We've always had the random naked person

wandering through,
whether it was the Castro

or another neighborhood,
and frankly no one cared.

Where the community has had problems is,

the folks who tend to visit the plaza

week after week after
week in what seem to be

fairly significant and growing numbers.

- My name's Trey and I'm
a local in San Francisco,

I live in Twin Peaks,

and I'm just supporting
my local nudes out here,

the straights, the gays,
the everything in between.

And so we're in the
nude, in San Francisco,

in the Castro, we're
gonna walk to City Hall

and have a blast.

Join us.

- It went from an
occasional random occurrence

to a seven day a week, every
afternoon kind of occurrence.

- Nudity is fine and permitted
as long as one is not lewd,

that is walking around with an erection

or being pretty (mumbling),

or screwing out in the
street or something.

- [Voiceover] You can't film here in front

of the theater without a permit.

Well, I don't care what it is,

we're trying to run a business here.

- [Voiceover] How about
that space right there?

- Bye bye.

- [Voiceover] Because
this is the gay community.

- [Voiceover] Well you know
what, we are very tolerant.

- What do you, you're tolerant
expressions of nudity?

- [Voiceover] I'm tolerant of kids

not being exposed to cocks in their face.

- What they want to restrict is the nudity

in regulars streets at regular
time and how, you know,

some people are complaining about this,

that or the other thing.

- It's so San Francisco to
be free and to have that

freedom of expression.

And I always get nervous
when they take away rights

from people because I feel
like there's a laundry list,

and there's something at the top

that's gonna be easy to tick tack but then

what's next, you know, can
you not be in drag in public?

Can you not wear a feather boa?

But you know like...

- The argument that I've heard
from some of the opponents

that this legislation somehow attacks

the spirit of San Francisco,

really boils down to an argument

that the spirit of San
Fransisco is about being able

to show your genitals in
the middle of neighborhoods,

on public sidewalks,

public transportation and
I just don't buy that.

I think that it is very
melodramatic and exaggerated.

- But they have said though,

that they're gonna make
an exception for the fair.

- They said that except for festivals,

and they didn't say Folsom but they said

street fairs and festivals,

specifically thinking about
Folsom and The Royale of course,

that this rule will not be enforced there.

That people could be
as nude as they wanted

during those events.

- At the request of
Folsom Street Festival,

or Folsom Street Fair,

I completely removed buttocks,

so you can still show
your butt if you want to,

it doesn't include women's breasts.

In the leather community if, you know,

they can go to the fair and be naked,

if they're walking around in their chaps,

that's fine, because buttocks are included

in the legislation,

so we tried to take a
very measured approach.

- The aspect of the fair
that relates to human rights

is a really interesting one for us

because we've never really seen ourselves

as a political organization necessarily,

but a lot of the things that we have done

and produced have been politicized for us,

and so a perfect a example
of that is actually

the production of the leather Last Supper

poster that we did.

- Outrage in San Francisco

over an advertisement for a street fair

celebrating sexual diversity.

Conservative Christians feel
the ad mocks the Last Supper

with images of scantily clad men and women

in place of Christ and his disciples.

Organizers for the fair had this to say,

"We hope that people
will enjoy the artistry

"for what it is, nothing
more, nothing less."

- This is the most holy,
one of the most holy events

in Christianity, and to mock
it this way is insulting.

By portraying Christ and
his disciples as homosexual

sadomasochists, as if
that's not offensive enough,

they then take the bread
and wine representing

Christ's body and blood

and replace with sadomasochist sex toys.

I mean it doesn't get any more offensive

and disgusting than that.

- I mean, da Vinci was
arguably a homosexual himself,

and so we were looking
at it really as a way of

taking a very well known piece of art

and making it our own, making
it a statement about us.

And so what was interesting
to me is that the religious

right picked up on it and all of the

sudden it became us making
a statement about them.

- We're asking Nancy Pelosi,
Senators Feinstein and Boxer

and Governor Schwarzenegger
to publicly condemn this.

- [Voiceover] Well, I think they should.

- Ironically it was actually
probably the biggest fair

that year because of all of that hype,

we ended up on CNN and Nancy
Pelosi had to make a statement

about Folsom Street Fair,

which was fairly embarrassing
because she's a busy woman,

she doesn't have time to make statements

about a fair in San Francisco.

- [Rick] We have given the gay community

everything they have asked for,

and now we basically have
suspended the laws of the land,

so that they can go out in
the middle of the street,

in public, and do what they're doing

at the Folsom Street Fair.

I have friends that are gay

and they wouldn't be in the
same ZIP code with this crap.

- In some ways, it's still
our most loved poster

by the community, but not
because it pissed off anybody

but because it embraced
the side of ourselves

that they had never seen before.

- Some people have asked me,

"Well does this surprise
you, this is San Francisco,

"where they tolerate anything."

First of all let me say,

there should be a limit to tolerance.

- This pleasure principle that we have

is something that they
deny in their puritanism.

And that comes out of our
expression of civil rights.

Because civilly, we have rights to things

that religiously people say we do not.

And because it's the kind
of an ultimate civil fair,

it withstands all this
moral majority bullshit.

- [Rick] San Francisco
may be lost, I don't know.

And at this point I really don't care.

(electronic music)

- Welcome to the world
famous Folsom Street Fair

ladies and gentlemen,

donations are being
accepted for major charities

throughout the area.

Welcome, welcome to the
world, this time on Earth.

Pull your cocks out boys
pull your cocks out.

It's like peanut butter and jelly baby.

You know when you come to the fair,

you're gonna walk up the gates

and you're gonna see the
nuns there with buckets

and you're gonna give us your money,

because that's what we do.

- Donations!

- So when people come up
and they see that there's

a suggested donation,

quite often, people are
tempted to ignore that

and walk through.

But when you see a Sister
with a bucket, suggesting.

People have, you know,
we've worked really hard

for a reputation so that people trust us,

I mean The Sisters are 33 years old,

and we have made our public records

very available to people,

they know what we do with our money

and they know they can trust us.

- [Voiceover] Another gate over here.

- [Voiceover] Hi, yeah,

we can take your
donations right over here.

- We'll take your money, your pants.

- Hi, hello.

- [Voiceover] Hi, thank you very much,

any change for the man?

(crowd chattering)

- [Voiceover] Thank you very much.

- [Voiceover] That's
all I have in my wallet.

- [Voiceover] Okay, fabulous.

(crowd chattering)

- So we're working here in the treasury,

and treasury is our
central accounting location

and we bring in here all of the
gate donations that come in.

(crowd chattering)

As our gate volunteers

and the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence that we work with,

work our gates and ask all
of our people coming in,

our guests coming in, for donations,

then all of that moneys
comes back into the treasury

that we can count that, sort
it out and make a proper

accounting for it.

It takes a fair amount of
money to put on this fair,

but at the same time we do
everything that we can to bring

as much of it back down to the community.

- Saturday before Folsom
is by far the busiest day

of the year, it's like Christmas
in the Castro (laughs).

We cater to the leather
community, mostly year-round.

So before Folsom Street
Fair the whole week is busy,

but Saturday before, crazy busy.

It's been a line all day long.

- Folsom weekend is
very much Christmas time

for our retail business,
it's our high holy day,

we see thousands and thousands of people

come through the store and
it's a really big deal.

It takes a long time to plan for.

- There's tens of thousands of people that

come to San Francisco
for Folsom Street Fair

and so the restaurants,

the stores, the buses,
the taxis, the hotels,

everybody benefits from
the Folsom Street Fair,

it's pretty cool.

- As I was driving around,
seeing lines outside

at The Eagle and seeing
lines outside The Powerhouse

and people I know are
packing the restaurants.

I think the overall impact
of the event on the community

is huge down here in this zone especially.

- Well, I'm Jeff and I own
BrainWash, a cafe and laundromat,

here in San Fransisco on Folsom Street.

People come from all over to attend,

they usually spend more
than just the Sunday here,

so we start seeing business pick up

around Wednesday or Thursday
and people stay through

Monday and then they leave,

so it's about a five day
bump in our business.

So, it's definitely good
for the neighborhood.

- The city can be non intentionally

but unintentionally hostile

in terms of the fee set of charge

and some of the pure crack
hoops you have to jump through.

And at Folsom just like
other large street festival

has had to deal with
some of those challenges

and one of my goals is to
try to improve that process

and not just pass on all
costs to the festival

for police or whatever cause I can end up

killing the festival making
it economically unsustainable.

- I think overall, Folsom Street Fair

has had a very positive
impact on the community

and there are many reasons why, I think.

It's just not the money that we raise

and then donate to the community,

but I think there's the
greater economic impact,

I believe there was a study done in 2004

from an independent audit group
called The Mariposa Group,

and they estimated that
San Francisco Leather Week

generated approximately
$35,400,000 in revenue.

And that's revenue not just for the city,

but you know, all the airfares, hotels,

restaurants, the places where
people go to shop and eat.

And now it's that time

where we start to give out your checks.

(cheering)

So if you have any complaints,
let's talk tomorrow.

No, I'm just kidding.

(laughter)

The next group I know is
here, Golden Gate Wrestlers.

(cheering and applause)

- We're a 501(c)(3), a nonprofit,

we've been one for almost 20
years and we basically run

a wrestling program in the
city for kids and adults,

out of the rec center.

But we are a nonprofit
and we have to raise money

in order to survive, because
we can't charge the kids,

we can't charge our members.

Folsom offers us the
opportunity to raise the money

with the beer booth so that
we can offer the scholarships

and the uniforms to the kids,

and to let them know that we coach.

- We provide benefits counseling
and employment services

to low-income, HIV-positive
and mental health clients.

- We serve meals to people who are sick.

It's such a basic need
and we can't do what we do

without the help of Folsom Street Events.

Two dollars provides a
meal to one of our clients,

and so when we get a grant
from Folsom Street Events

we can provide meals to
thousands and thousands

of our clients as a result of that.

- Well over the years we watched
government contracts shrink

and yet the need for
our services increase.

So every year we're
looking for the support

and the kindness and the generosity

of organizations like
Folsom Street Events,

to help us provide the services to so many

who may not receive it otherwise.

(crowd chattering)

- As a 501, we can't do
anything with that money

but give it back to the kids.

They go to summer camp,

they go to the John Smith Summer Camp

in Oklahoma for wrestling.

We get them uniforms.

These are kids from the ghetto,
who had never had anything.

And now they're like the
number two team in the city.

- So for the 200 clients
we see on a daily basis

and the well over 2000
that we see over the year,

we just wanna say thank you to the board

and the staff of Folsom Street Events

for their generosity and their kindness

and they do it with fun involved
as well, and we love that.

- [Gayle] Certainly it's an
international tourist event

for kinky people of all persuasions,

all genders and orientations.

And we'll have to see where it goes,

I can't imagine what the future is.

But it will be interesting to watch.

- We now have the trademarks
in 47 of the 50 US States,

Canada, the EU and Australia.

Folsom Europe has now been around

for about, I think eight or nine years

and it's always been in Berlin.

(electronic music)

Their street festival though is

entirely different than ours.

Folsom Europe, when you
go to their street fair,

it's on a quaint little
neighborhood kind of side street.

- [Voiceover] Hey now, come on,

come on, pick it up darling.

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

- [Demetri] Everyone is
in head-to-toe leather,

rubber, uniforms,
everyone is fully dressed.

In San Francisco, there's a lot of nudity.

Theirs is predominantly male,

I think I saw maybe five women
all day at their street fair.

Whereas Folsom Street Fair
here is probably 25% women.

- It's been eyeopening,
educational, lots and lots to see

and I feel, I'll definitely come back.

- Very free place, everybody
here looks different,

nobody bothers, you
can wear what you want.

- The freedom to do and wear what you want

and to have your own opinions
and not be suppressed.

We need something like
this in Ireland as well.

- We need something like
this in England, (laughs),

- Definitely.

- What it puts out there,

is that these things really do exist

everyone is okay with
it, it's not a bad thing,

and I think it teaches
people to accept it more.

You know, it kind of shows the world

that you can top from
the bottom, so to speak.

- It's an institution
that I hope will continue

and will continue doing
the good work it's doing.

- [Scott] This day, you
can do whatever it is

that defines who you are and it's okay.

That's one of the things that Folsom means

I think in San Francisco
and around the world

and it's always been that
way and it's gonna continue

to be that way.

- Could it happen somewhere
else, I don't think so.

Do other people do it now?

They sure do.

- It's in our DNA, it's
in our personalities

to do these things, to act this out.

You really can't, once you
come out of the kink closet

you really can't go back in, again.

- Diversity and accepting
diversity doesn't work

if you only accept stuff
that you can accept.

Then what are you accepting?
- [Voiceover] Right.

- You're just saying, "Well,
I'm comfortable with this,

"so I'm comfortable with it."

- We're supporting human rights,

we're supporting what it is to be free.

And we joined together as a force

and what that would be if
the different countries

and the different cities can do that.

Standing up not just for ourselves,

but standing up for everyone.

Because if we're denying human rights

and equality for anyone
within our community

then in a way we're denying
it for ourselves as well,

we are so much bigger
than just one person.

- Everything that we've done in our past,

everything we've done to
get to where we are now,

I wanna make sure that
people from my generation

are passing it along
to the next generation

and saying, "Hey, whatever is your kink,

"just make sure to respect each other

"and to know your history
and to know how you got here,

"and pass that along to the
people in front of you."

- Nowhere else on the
planet do we have the chance

to really come together and
express our sexual liberation

in such an open and diverse way.

But at the end of the day these are adults

engaging in consensual behavior.

And that's really what it's all about.

It's about making sure that
folks have the resources

and education that they need,

but also, making their
own decisions as adults

at the end of the day.

- All right love.

- [Voiceover] Happy Folsom!

- Happy Folsom!
- Give us a kiss!

- Okay.

- [Voiceover] We're British.

- We're British.

He pretends he's British,

I'm actually British.

- [Voiceover] So what do you
think of Folsom Street Fair?

- I think it's a little bit sorted.

But I like it.

- In the best way (laughs).

- Yeah, that'd be my boobs.

("Folsom Street Fair Song" by
MC Mo'Pussy & Mike Greenburg)