Up Your Alley, the deviant younger sibling of the Folsom Street Fair, will dominate four city blocks in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood on Sunday for a day of debauchery in the sun. Subs, doms, bears, leather daddies, exhibitionists and spectators—you name it, they’ll be there. In anticipation of things to come, we’ve prepared this slideshow of last year’s event.
If whips and harnesses aren’t your thing, there’s still plenty going on this weekend, from Mattachine in SF to Divers/Cite in Montreal and, oh yeah, Vancouver Pride! Hell, you could even head overseas to the Barcelona Circuit Festival if you’re really feeling antsy.
Photos by KirrilyRobert, 415LAD, nathanking
Mike
OMG!!! Pic #3, it’s Perez Hilton!!!!
christopher di spirito
Picture no. 11 – What the hell is he wearing?
Mr. Enemabag Jones
What exactly is the purpose of this absurdity?
Xtincta
The only pic worth my time was #8, more of them and less of the uglies…..
Oscar Raymundo
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: day drinking!
Fitz
Xtincta– never move here. You would hate it. I, on the other hand, love the diversity in the men.
But Up Your Alley has already gotten a little too big. Once the meat-on-a-stick venders and the petition signing crowd show up, the party is over.
Worse
It gets worse (or better depending on POV) than this: dudes in full on sex in the street, pissing on other dudes while onlooker, including suburban house moms take pictures. If you want the real pictures, google the term or check it out on the many flickr sets. It’s kinda like pig fest bath house in the street.
missanthope
For a bunch of queers, you guys sure do like to judge.
inoits2
Disgusting! The depths of depravity.
Paco
I think I’d like 14s mask better if it were on a Dom and it were more wolf like
JKB
I’ve enjoyed myself there the few times I went.
divandra kidron
why not a nice cheese festival, or handicrafts? oh dear, i do hope neither of those suggestions are deviant sub-genres of which i’m blithely unaware (sooo out of touch with the demi-monde).
Ganondorf
Just out of curiosity, why does there appear to be a positive relationship between kink (this kind, bdsm leather) older age, and physical unattractiveness? Now exceptions don’t a rule make, and we’ve got abundant photographic evidence above to confirm my suspicion. Who let the dogs out? No, not the one with the dog mask in the lead-in photo to this “controversial” story. I’m sure, however, that the mask is an improvement given the rest of the photos, of which those in them appear to have gone through a forest of ugly branches. Yikes!
JR
The guy on the left in pic #12 … WOOF !!!
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@Ganondorf:
The more you try to appear articulate in your comments, with the hope that you’ll appear intelligent to readers, the more you come off like an imbecile.
Post your pics basement troll.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@Ganondorf:
People who ridicule the looks of others, tend to be fairly unattractive themselves. So again–post your pics troll.
As far as your anti-gay slurs, I’m certain one day you’ll annoy the wrong “fag”, and he’ll be more than happy to teach you some humility.
Ganondorf
@Mr. Enemabag Jones:
Or, they’re totally hot, unlike you. My anti-gay slurs (I thought it wasn’t antigay you’re gay? I’m reclaiming the word!) and your threats of physical violence? Are you going to teach me some humility, silly fag? King kong ain’t got shit on me! You think you can do that to me?! You motherfuckers will be playing basketball in Pelican Bay when I get finished with you! SHU program, nigga, 23 hour lockdown! I’m the man up in this piece!
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@Ganondorf:
Yeah, keep telling us how ugly you are, troll. I’m sure the reflection in your screen thinks you totally hot.
There isn’t any evidence that you’re gay. Just a troll who happened on Queerty, and started throwing around anti-gay slurs.
One day, while away from the safety of your only friend, venturing outside of mommy’s basement, you’ll say something stupid, and someone with little patience for mouthy children will deal with you in a timely fashion.
Ganondorf
@Mr. Enemabag Jones:
There’s a ton of evidence here that you’re gay, and not just some troll who happened on queerty, and started throwing around violent threats to compensate for tinymeat. I mean who but gay man would know what an enema bag is? That’s just ridonkulous. LOL! You’re insane.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@Ganondorf:
Where I have I made threats against anyone? Are you always so paranoid?
I simply pointed out that mouthy kids like you tend to get your heads broken. Unless you’re admitting that you’re just a big mouth online, and a coward in the real world. If that’s the case, then I’ve been right about you all along.
As for my screen name, I can appreciate that you don’t get the joke, because it’s not the name of some imaginary warrior from a child’s game.
That said, I find it sad that Lawrence King is dead, and you’re alive and well. I’m fairly certain that 14 year old boy did more with his life, than you could do with 10 lifetimes.
Ganondorf
Back to the matter of the extreme unattractiveness of the vast majority of kink peoples. I’ve also noticed that they tend to be older. And there’s nothing sadder than a fifty year old man walking around in public while wearing a harness. Awwwwwwww. Maybe, for the older part, it just takes more to turn the old’s motor over. They’ve become desensitized to normal, healthy expressions of sexuality (just kidding, of course!), and need whips, chains and all these elaborate accessories, storybook plots and glass table scat to get them off. Anyway, it’s gross to me, and I need to think about hot normal guys to cleanse my mind of this scary awfulness of unattractive.
sam
@Ganondorf: If you’re really interested in an answer, most men do not discover an attraction to these kinds of acts and lifestyles until they are older, and have learned more about themselves, hence why there is a disproportionate amount of older to younger.
Further, older people usually have more money in order to spend it on what is an admittedly expensive fetish/lifestyle. Younger guys like I have more issues in getting to such events as these.
Ganondorf
@sam:
That is a great answer. Thank you.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@Ganondorf:
and I need to think about hot normal guys to cleanse my mind of this scary awfulness of unattractive
And there it is. This sad troll only has his fantasies to keep himself satisfied. While the great majority of healthy men have partners, boyfriends, husbands, and even one night stands, this pathetic little basement dweller has nothing but what he imagines sex with another human being would be like.
And considering how violent his writings are, and how he consistently uses anti-gay slurs, I think it’s safer for all men that he remains off the street. Because if he is this angry in his writing, I can’t begin to imagine what Dahmer-esque horrors he would visit on real, living breathing men.
Fitz
As to why it’s mostly older men there:
I think that there are a fair # of young people at these. Money is an issue.
And.. let’s be honest.. if you are into this stuff, and you
are young, there is an intimidation factor. 22 year olds worry about
what other people think of their fetish life MUCH more than 62 year olds.
It’s kind of funny, but I notice that young guys are WAY more intimidated at
being identified with this stuff, or with their bodies (especially dick size).
Personally– this doesn’t do much for me. I don’t need to degrade or be degraded.
I don’t think there is anything sexy about slavery, and find the whole
fetishizing of it politically offensive. I don’t want you to piss on me.
I don’t think that I am a dog trapped in a man’s body.
That all being said– I just don’t trip.. it’s someone else’s party, not mine.
B
No. 7 · Worse “It gets worse (or better depending on POV) than this: dudes in full on sex in the street, pissing on other dudes while onlooker, including suburban house moms take pictures.”
Not exactly currently, but true in the past. They are cracking down on the more outrageous behavior, mainly because a bunch of Christian assholes started showing up, photographing the most bizarre behavior (probably 1/1000 or less), and passing that off as typical of the event.
Most people there are “tourists”, who may dress up to fit the occasion, but are not really into it (and sometimes not even interested since they are there only to be with some friends who wanted to go).
In years past, you could easily tell the “out” gay guys from the straight tourists and more closeted gays: the “out” ones would simply ignore some guy getting a blow job on the street while the others would stare: obviously not true in every case but a good rule of thumb.
B
No. 25 · Fitz wrote, “As to why it’s mostly older men there: I think that there are a fair # of young people at these. Money is an issue. And.. let’s be honest.. if you are into this stuff, and you are young, there is an intimidation factor. 22 year olds worry about what other people think of their fetish life MUCH more than 62 year olds.”
I don’t think the pictures are representative – they emphasize people who are into “leather,” not the larger number of tourists. It was not very expensive – 5 to 10 dollars for admission, which gave you a dollar off on a beer if you decided to buy one.
I went there last year to meet some friends who were going. We walked around a bit to look at the booths and then went somewhere else, finally getting dinner. We stayed a little over an hour. It probably would have been shorter, but inevitably someone would wander off or get lost, and it took a while to get everyone together in one spot so we could leave as a group. Took a bunch of pictures – mostly of friends standing together. If it wasn’t to hang out with people I knew, I probably would not have bothered.
As to the bondage, the general consensus among our group was, “better them than us.”
It’s not a case of being judgmental as simply having different tastes. I avoided this event and the Folsom Street Fair for years until someone told me it was OK to go as a tourist – didn’t want to go there if having people not into this sort of thing would annoy those who were into it.
inoits2
@B: Christian assholes huh. I aint xstain and I say no one has a right to give someone a blowjob on the street. Or piss on them for display purposes. We aren’t frickin animals. From those pictures I see someone being tied to a cross and people doing the whole slave/master thing. Why the hell does this need to be in the street? This is my idea of hell…complete decadence to the point of being vile. Practice your kinky shit but do it somewhere no one can see it. Doesn’t anyone have a sense of decency anymore?
Fitz
Well– the play gear is far more expensive than the $5 suggested donation.
But yeah.,. this stuff is a major turn off to me, and anyone else who
hasn’t internalized self esteem problems. So– like i said, I just avoid it.
The last time I went to one of these parades of sadness I saw someone
getting bound and having his breath restricted, to the point
that he went into a seizure. The “dom” then walked away leaving
this kid on the ground convulsing. My partner helped the
kid until the cops came. That “dom”‘s picture is seared in my head and
if I ever see him.. well…I don’t take lightly to seeing people hurt.
All this crap will mostly just slowly go away if we can manage to
raise a generation or two of gay kids who don’t hate themselves.
inoits2
@Fitz: Oh my god! Your point proves it’s a sick crowd.
Fitz
@inoits2- I know. But I don’t really blame the guys into it. I blame the world that
they grew up in. Once these patterns are installed, it’s pretty much done.
No one goes from raunchy to loving without major effort.
If you want to fight it, work hard to make the world as loving and safe a place as
possible so that future generations of gay kids don’t grow up thinking
that they need to be shackled to be connected.
inoits2
@Fitz: I agree with you, I suppose maybe self-esteem has alot to do with it. Maybe if you were bullied it makes you want to bully or be bullied in a sexual context. I am sure its different for everyone, maybe some people just think it’s hot. But I do suspect it is from being abused in some way. Otherwise why would you want to role play either. What you saw is actually what I imagine can happen when the role play crosses the line into reality, someone gets hurt.
B
No. 28 · inoits2 ·wrote, “@B: Christian assholes huh. I aint xstain and I say no one has a right to give someone a blowjob on the street.”
They are assholes for passing off the behavior of a few people as being representative of everyone else, which is simply dishonest.
Even at past Dore Alley events, it was probably under 1 person out of a thousand who engaged in sexual activity in “public” (with “public” in quotes because the street was closed off and you had to pay a few dollars to get in – it’s not like a family out for a walk with young children would run across it by accident). In any case, due to the filming and negative publicity, the “powers that be” seemed to have clamped down on it. Previously the police ignored it, probably the result of a cost/benefit analysis – if you are carting people off to the hoosegow, you need more officers at the event, which means less in other parts of the city.
Daez
@inoits2: I was wondering when you would show up and make this comment.
Daez
@Ganondorf: Its because those that engage in kink tend to be less judgmental than your average club queen.
Daez
@inoits2: Apparently, in your opinion, the only one with any decency is you. How about judging others…doesn’t that offend your sense of decency?
inoits2
@Daez: Not at all! We have to judge things don’t we? If everything is good then nothing is bad.
Daez
@inoits2: No, actually, we have no fucking right to judge others behavior UNLESS it hurts someone or something else. We aren’t talking about pedophilia and bestiality here. These are actions between two consenting adults, and that means you don’t get to sit on your thrown in judgment Miss Thing.
As to Fitz comment about what he witnessed. I’m willing to guarantee that is a minority part of this community. Although, I’ve heard of some really sick shit that has happened in this community, I still don’t judge the members of it.
inoits2
@Daez: Honey you need to get some backbone and call it like it is. To say that “oh there is some sick shit in this community but the members aren’t to be judged” is pretty lame. My judgement is the fact that it’s outdoors. For them to close the street for fear of bad publicity is stupid. They want to be on the street for all to see the debauchery but then they don’t want the wrong people seeing is pure bullshit. If it isn’t a bad thing then do it out in the open. Let others comment, take picks and judge whether it’s cool or not.
Fitz
inotis2: Most academic writing on it focuses less on bullying than on abandonment. In a nutshell, if real intimacy feels too shaky and unsafe to you, then this faux intimacy actually feels safer (is the thinking). I think that there are a lot of dead-hearts out there who really crave to feel SOMETHING.. and intimacy is beyond them. At least the kind of intimacy that I am speaking of. The positive in all this is that people DO want to feel connection. The challenge for us is to teach kids that being emotionally intimate is safe and rewarding.
There isn’t anything good to be gained by beating up (ha ha.. I didn’t even mean that as a joke) on people who need this. They are working with the cards that they were dealt. We just need to push them to be medically safe, respectful of laws, and to focus on creating a more loving world for the kids.
Fitz
Sorry to go on and on… but I also want to bring in one more point, in defense of them: in the early 80’s, it was the drag queens and the BDSM community who cooked meals, walked dogs, and paid people’s rent when AIDS hit. These aren’t unloving people.
Daez
@inoits2: So, you would not want them to show the least bit of respect. You’ve never had out doors sex? You expect it all to be inside closed doors with blinds over the windows? You expect them to be truly ashamed and to hide it even deeper? The events you are bitching about happened on a closed off street with a very small crowd.
I have a back bone. I just don’t have the power to be a never ending douche that is always completely judgmental of everything and everyone. We have enough of those people.
Daez
@Fitz: Don’t confuse inoits2 with tales of history. You might upset his delicate sensibilities which allow him to judge everyone but himself as flawed and unworthy.
I would argue that there is very little research done on this group, and what is done has done by sociologists that already had a preconceived bias when they did the research.
In my experience, these people are more into it because its different and often fun. Its a release for them. They enjoy the release of the tension that gets built up. MANY of the people that engage in these actions are in long standing committed relationship (sometimes with the partner they are engaging in these acts with and often times with someone else).
inoits2
@Fitz: While I agree with you on all your comments I am not saying that they aren’t caring people. I am an unashamedly an old-fashioned guy that recognizes when too much is too much. Everyone has a right to do as they please without hurting others. I just question whether it needs to be a large celebration in the street and what the point is. Is it BDSM pride? Proud of what? Is it to show bystanders that its actually a normal healthy thing to beat and be beaten? Is it that it’s much more of a turn-on out in the open as in exhibitionism? Is it a call to be treated equally by being able to wear a harness to work? I don’t get it. Fun?
Irish-boy
hahaha that’s so crazy! and strange like ye think the people getting tied up and fucked would be embarrassed with a big pile of people circled around watching
inoits2
@Daez: LOL…committed relationships…often times with someone else. Contradiction there. As far having outdoor sex…no way…I don’t want to be murdered, arrested, robbed or put on a sex offenders list.
Daez
@inoits2: I feel sorry for you because you are proudly and admittedly an “an old-fashioned guy that recognizes when too much is too much.” Its really just a bull shit line that means you feel the need to judge anyone that you believe has done worse than you because you could simply never be as bad as them. Its the same thing homophobic bigots do.
Yes, you can have a committed relationship and still have a little fun on the side. You should try it some time (both the committed relationship and the little fun) because maybe it would help to relax your sphincter and enjoy your life.
inoits2
@Daez: You have absolutely no sense of right or wrong or what it means to be a responsible member of society, none.
Fitz
Doing it semi publicly is important to them for a # of reasons: being in the closet about anything sucks. There is a normalization and validation that comes from being in the crowd, and there is a (believe it or not) strong sense of community around it.
The lighter side of it is fun and harmless. Who hasn’t held their partner’s head a little roughly? Who hasn’t had their tit nibbled on until it feels raw? I don’t like the extreme edges of it, from a medical perspective. I don’t like breath play, I don’t like people drinking piss or eating poo. It makes me sad to think that someone needs to lock up their junk to feel connected to a partner. And no matter how liberated you think you are, you still have to live within the rules of physiology and microbiology. (which means that some tired shmuck has to deal with your sorry ass when you have a life threatening self-induced electrolyte emergency, an infected PA, or haven’t been breathing for a while).
And I don’t think that you are really going to get what you want.. BUT…. to be the broken record that I am.. (because repetition = learning)… View these guys as injured brothers and sisters, not criminals. Avoid the scenes that make you uncomfortable, and strive to make the world better.
And Daez and inoits2: you two need to stop fighting. Your positions aren’t really that far apart, and debate is good for us. It should be safe to discuss this stuff.
Daez
@inoits2: Look dude, you have ABSOLUTELY no right to judge anyone. PERIOD! Now you are judging me. I understand that your self esteem is SO low that you need to bully others to make yourself feel better. However, that is not acceptable.
You hold yourself on a pedestal, and anyone below you is unworthy of being called a human being, but you are the one that gets to make all the decisions of what is morally ethical.
You say I have no sense of right or wrong because I don’t agree with what you feel is right. You really need to get over yourself, who the fuck are you, Rick Santorum?
inoits2
@Fitz: I agree. What you are saying is that we should love them and try to understand. And that perhaps homophobia and abuse may have caused them to turn intimacy into something that may or may not be a healthy expression of it.
inoits2
@Daez:
Casey Anthony = I judge Bad
Lady Gaga = I judge Good
Anders Behring-Breivik = I judge Bad
Hillary Clinton = I judge Good
See it’s not so hard.
inoits2
@Daez:
Fisting = I judge Dangerous
Holding hands = I judge Sweet
Choking you sub = I judge Psychopathic
Daez = I judge probably nice but lacking morals
See it’s not so hard.
Daez
@inoits2: I never said you can not judge criminals for their actions. I said, you can not judge people UNLESS they are hurting other people. To judge people for deeds that do not hurt others just makes you look very fundamentalist.
Schlukitz
@inoits2:
Your argument is precisely the same as a straight person who objects to seeing two males walking down a public street holding hands or kissing each other upon meeting or parting.
Their attitude too is “Stay in the closet and do that ‘shit’ in the privacy of your own home, not in front of our kids.”
And, it should be added, that these are the same people who don’t want you to be able to marry the person of your choice or be entitled to they same rights that they are, based simply on their sexual orientation and the expression of that orientation.
It’s judgement when the straights do it…and it’s judgement when you do it!
inoits2
@Schlukitz: Wrong! No one is talking about public displays of affection or marriage. We are talking about a street fair where people display the most disgusting and violent practices imaginable. Don’t even kid yourself that they are the same. These people should keep that nasty shit in the closet…yes. Why is it that gay people seem to think that because some straights don’t approve of our love or lovemaking that we aren’t qualified to judge things. It’s like because we are judged we can’t dare disapprove of anything.
Daez
@inoits2: Because you HAVE NO RIGHT to judge behavior that happens between TWO CONSENTING ADULTS. The irony that you fail to understand that is exactly what straight people do to us is lost on you isn’t it?
@Schlukitz: Don’t try to use logic or reason with inoits2. That would require him to get off his soap box long enough to have a rational conversation.
inoits2
@Daez: Okay thanks for convincing me….when done properly in the street in front of crowds, pissing on people, shitting on people, whipping people, shocking people, etc, etc, is absolutely okay because it’s between consenting adults. I have no right to judge these actions when done in public. Public displays of debauchery teach us an important lesson in how great, healthy and happy we can be as gays. And also how the world should just get over it and accept everyone of our disgusting fetishes. I honestly can’t understand why Fitz would be shocked by what he saw given that it is just one lil incident. I mean surely they don’t represent what can happen when choking someone is done with the utmost care.
Daez
@inoits2: You are so sad. Seriously? You don’t think that anything should be displayed in public (although I would hardly call a street fair catering to this activity your standard park)? There are people out there that think that our holding hands and kissing shouldn’t be done in public. They use the EXACT same reasoning that you do, and the fact that you can not see is maddening.
inoits2
@Daez: Quit mixing issues. I never said ANYTHING shouldn’t be displayed. Honestly I despise PDAs of hets and homos. I cringe when I see hets do it and I cringe when homos do it. It creates an uncomfortable atmosphere in which we are asked to participate as voyeurs. Get a room already.
Schlukitz
@inoits2:
You are such a hypocrite.
When straight people show tits, cunt, cock balls and ass and Lord knows what else in the streets of New Orleans (Mardi Gras) and in Key West (Fantasy Fest) and other such public displays around the country, that’s fine, according to your double-standard.
But when gay people do it, you start clutching your pearls.
Gimme a break. And spare me from “old’fashioned” people like you. I’m 74, going on 75…and it would take a lot of effort for me to get as uptight and “concerned” as you appear to be.
Daez
@inoits2: They are the exact same issue. Dude, like I said before, I seriously feel sorry for you. You are one messed up person. Seriously, someone raised you to be so backwards that if you weren’t gay you’d be Rick Santorum or Fred Phelps.
inoits2
@Schlukitz: OMG I never said I approved of straights doing the same thing. Never! I feel exactly the same about them.
Schlukitz
@inoits2:
I suspected as much.
Better that the words should come from your mouth then mine! You’ve just made it readily apparent that you are as uptight about sex as the religious right is.
Case closed.
inoits2
@Schlukitz: See …i am not hung up about sex at all…again I DON’T LIKE PUBIC SEX LIKE WE ARE STUPID ANIMALS. But it doesn’t matter what i think. Think as you please.
Tony
I believe in equal rights..not special rights. If straight people aren’t allowed to have sex, fist (gross), and piss on each other on a public street, then I don’t expect gays to be able to. Keep it inside.
Daez
@inoits2: @Tony: http://folsomstreetfair.org/alley/
To be clear, this is what we are talking about here. To be fair, it is quite obvious when you come to this event that you will see exactly what you two are complaining about. Its not a child’s party at the zoo.
If it makes you feel any better, this is a huge fund raiser for not for profit organizations, and since there are tickets sold I’m willing to bet no children are permitted to enter.
You two act like this happened on a school day on the playground at the elementary school.
Schlukitz
@inoits2:
I have always made it a habit to think as I please.
I just don’t try to impose my thinking or “morality” on others.
Schlukitz
@Tony:
I am always amused by gay people who believe (wrongly) that straight people lead such perfect, proper and exemplary lives and that it is only the “gehys” who indulge in sexual debauchery, fisting and pissing on each other…to name but a few of the sexual scenes people get into…and enjoy.
Obviously, you have never done an Internet search to see how the “the half” lives.
It’s called Google. Look into it.
missanthrope
I think that some of the people commenting here mistakenly think they’re posting to World Net Daily or Free Republic.
inoits2
@missanthrope: Ya know what. There are plenty of blogs you can to where you can hear what you expect to hear.
Tony
@Schlukitz:
“am always amused by gay people who believe (wrongly) that straight people lead such perfect, proper and exemplary lives and that it is only the “gehys” who indulge in sexual debauchery, fisting and pissing on each other…to name but a few of the sexual scenes people get into…and enjoy”
Really? That’s such an incredible stretch from what I said it’s unbelievable…and stupid.
missanthrope
@inoits2:
Not going anywhere bb.
Fitz
We seem to be all over the map here. For me, it’s useful to
understand these comments and questions as
1) are these guys hot or gross
2) Does this belong in a street fair
3) Why is there a BDSM subculture
4) does stuff go too far sometimes
5) are we allowed to talk about it.
#1 and #5 are easy for me. I love guys– all sorts of em.
Though I am monagomish, I appreciate the spectrum pretty fully.
And #5– that’s a no-brainer for me.
#2 is a red-herring. Though this is a public space, it’s a
leased public space. Kiddies aren’t going to run into
human urinals on the way to camp.
It makes your process and logic look weak when you can’t allow someone else to speak. so enough with the insults and shut-downs already.
Gol2012
How come the government and state allow for this? This crap is open, any child or teen can enter there… It should be made at least in a private indoor place, or a far away open space, NEVER on the street where good people live.
This is exactly why everybody says “gays” can’t be role models.
B
No. 75 · Gol2012 wrote, “How come the government and state allow for this? This crap is open, any child or teen can enter there… It should be made at least in a private indoor place, or a far away open space, NEVER on the street where good people live.
This is exactly why everybody says “gays” can’t be role models.”
First, there are gates where they charge admission, or at least ask for a donation, and I presume parents with children tagging along would be warned. Second, it is not so much a “gay” event as a ‘leather’ event. Third, nudity, as opposed to lewd behavior in public, is not illegal in San Francisco. Forth, according to http://folsomstreetfair.org/alley/
——————————
Folsom Street Events encourages all fairgoers to express behavior that is safe and within the law. We encourage everyone to take personal responsibility for providing a positive communal environment for the adult alternative lifestyle community. Lewd acts will be disrupted by our security volunteers who reinforce this message for anyone found on the fairgrounds to be in violation of our policy.
At the suggestion of SFPD, we have implemented a more aggressive graduated policy for violators of the lewdness policy.
Step 1: Verbal warning
Inform the fairgoer that the behavior is not allowed and that they will face ejection from the fair on the next occurance.
Step 2: Reminder
Fairgoer will be reminded of the first warning and given a personal escort off the fair grounds with notification to gate volunteers not to allow re-entry. Warn the fairgoer that on the next violation of this policy we will escalate to SFPD.
Step 3: Turn over to SFPD
SFPD will be called to assist and requested to cite the fairgoer who has violated the lewdness policy.
Lewd behavior in second and third story windows on the fairgrounds will be referred directly to SFPD for intervention.
——————————————-
mark
Just want to jump into the mess here and say that it is unfortunate that posters are using such a bitchy tone. Why can’t the disagreement be respectful instead of “It’s called Google. Look into it.”
We all know what Google is. Don’t be a bitch.
It’s clear from a lot of the posts that people aren’t even reading what others are saying, and are jumping to a rage by the very suggestion that there are alternate opinions.
I thank Fitz for his comments, he offers a good analysis and adds a lot to this article (post? yeah, post).
As someone who has experimented with this stuff, I can see why people would think it’s a bit dark, and I can see why people do it and find it fun. It’s surprising how posters like Daez, inoits, and Schlukitz can take hardline positions about whether we need to collectively love or hate this behaviour. The world would be a better place if we just let people have their opinions and judgements on an issue like this (i.e. something really not important), instead of trying to intimidate them into agreeing with us.
Fitz
@mark– thanks, man.
You know, this is some charged stuff. It’s hard to talk about– all & all, I think we did a fairly good job! As far as the hard-line “ya gotta agree with me” people..
we have no way of knowing each others’ history; this kind of stuff can be very triggering.
So last comment from me: (for locals): if you are going, have fun, be safe and be respectful of our neighbors. If you aren’t going, go find some fun somewhere else, and don’t even think about it.
Ganondorf
@Daez:
Actually, he does have EVERY right to judge people with his opinions. He has EVERY RIGHT to his opinions, just as you have EVERY RIGHT to yours. What you may be saying is that he SHOULDN’T judge people; and generalized, that one shouldn’t judge others for their behavior. I suspect, however, that if you and yours had the power, you’d turn your “SHOULDN’T” judge others into “CAN’T!” with legal punishments to silence dissent. You see this fascist strain in the extreme left as well as extreme right, btw, but I also suspect that you’re apolitical given the general lack of substance and coherence of your opinions. However, YOUR STANDARD mysteriously doesn’t apply to you, for in your judgment of his behavior and him (he’s arguably not harming anyone other than your sensibilities and feewings, which is obviously NO consequence in a free society) you apparently exempt yourself from the criterion you’re bashing him over the head with in an attempt to silence his free expression. I hope the exposure of your blatant hypocrisy will, in the future, inform your decisions to post “as an adult”.
x
the guy in #7 is adorable 🙂
Alex
#14 that’s some creepy shit.
Alex
@Gol2012: Straight people have a BDSM scene all their own, and frankly, I see BDSM stuff in straight porn much more often than in gay porn. I get what you’re saying though.
Halls
You all wouldn’t understand what’s going on here unless you were from San Francisco. This and Folsom Street Fair are a lot fun even if you aren’t a bear.
Plus, like all street fairs in SF, increases awareness and the proceeds go to important causes. If any of you bothered to look at their website, you would know this.
Dillon
@Halls: Maybe that’s true, but I don’t see a single person in these pictures who ISN’T a bear.
jason
This is a fetish festival and has nothing to do with gay rights.
jason
Schlukitz,
This event in San Francisco is sleazy regardless of who’s doing it. It’s enough to turn reasonable people off the gay scene.
As for “straights”, they are just as perverted. Interestingly, when they hold these types of events, only the women are allowed to be bisexual. The men must be strictly straight. Therefore, your use of the word “straight” applies only to men, not women.
It could be argued that straights are not only perverted, they also have a bisexual double standard: female-female good, man-man bad. It reflects the fact that, in the heterosexual sexual culture, women act like whores to please men.
In heterosexual sexual cultures, women act like bisexual whore-cunts to please sleazy straight guys .
Henry
@jason: I’d like to hear more about these whore-cunts. Do they have anything to do with bitch-whore-cunts?
stop already
Why does everything have to be for some damn “cause?” They are out having fun with other adults. Dont like it? Dont look at pictures or attend. They are adults and having a good time. Not everyone wants to be like you and your mutual masturbation, missionary position only life. The same way you look down on these people, the right wing Christians are looking at us and our “fudge packing.” Even though this is not my scene, I have fun going to the one that took place here in NYC.
jason
They are not just “adults having fun”. They are exhibitionists engaging in sleazy behavior in a public street under the gay banner. They don’t have a right to do it under the gay banner for starters.
TomMc
@B: — 76 “Step 3: Turn over to SFPD”
For, er… punishment?
Schlukitz
@TomMc:
Almost seems redundant, eh? ;P
Schlukitz
@jason:
“They are exhibitionists engaging in sleazy behavior”
You say it like it is a bad thing. ;P
khan
good i like sex 0093775467704
khan
0093775467704 this is my number
B
No. 90 · TomMc wrote, “@B: — 76 “Step 3: Turn over to SFPD” For, er… punishment?”
You’ll have to ask the people running the Folsom events about that since I merely quoted their web site, but the usual procedure is to get permission from a court before any punishment is started. I thought the interesting part was their statement that “Lewd behavior in second and third story windows on the fairgrounds will be referred directly to SFPD for intervention” – some people posting comments seemed to be complaining about bothering the neighbors, and in this part of town, the only people with access to second and third story windows *are* (some of) the neighbors!
While I only heard it third hand, in the past they did have some problems with some people holding private parties in their apartments and engaging in lewd acts by the windows, causing a dispersal of fluids (highly viscous ones included) heading in the general direction of the people standing in the street below. That’s the sort of thing they wanted to crack down on.
CHEEKIEY
@Mike: You are so right. It does look exactly like him. Good eye Mike
whynot?
“can do it under gay flag
Why cant they? They can do it under gay flag as much as they can do it under the star and stripes or the rainbow. They are very much as gay (sleeping with men) as you me and and Tom Cruise. So what can be done under the gay flag, since being gay is about expression right after putting my pole in your hole?
mike
@missanthope: Amen!
jason
whynot?
Being sleazy is not a gay rights cause. However, the permissive set will have you believe that it is.
If they wish to engage in hedonism that may ultimately destroy them, it’s their right. But it’s also my right to call them out on it.
I am fed up to the back teeth with the perverts who have over-run the gay scene. They can take a hike as far as I’m concerned. Leave the gay scene to those who truly care for gay rights and who are prepared to be activists rather than spend their days and nights at fisting events.
Namen
Pictures #1,7,8, and 9, were ok to nice and don’t scare the horses – more like those. The other photos were a bit much.
Schlukitz
@jason:
Like Tony perkins of the Family Research Council, Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, Maggie Gallagher of the national Organization for Marriage and many other virulenty homophobic organizations, you spend far too much time obsessing over what gays do.
Not a healthy head space to be in. Perhaps you should try getting a life.
Just sayin’….
Akula
for everyone who is all freaked out about this, try going to Southern Decadance or Carnival you will see just as many str8 folks doing the same thing or much much more, so don’t get your panties in a bunch. Believe it or not different strokes for different folks. Live and let live because when we start judging others it gives them the ammo to judge us. Also if you want to see some really weird shit str8 people do just check out any porn from Europe, they sell it at the news stands right next to the car magazines, financial news, and craft magazines on any street corner throughout the union
jack e. jett
twister…brilliant.
kalifani6
@christopher di spirito:
I think that’s Marcus Bachmann. 😉
kalifani6
*gasp*
Isn’t that Marcus Bachmann hogtied on the ground?
Oh Dear (John From England)
@Akula:
Exactly,
I just walked from university and saw a straight couple having sex in the bushes. It was all out for anyone who walked that way, though they though they were hidden because of a tree.
Schlukitz
@Oh Dear (John From England):
I would like to have a nickel for each and every time I have seen a straight couple (or a menage a trois) having sex in the bushes in Central Park, Riverside Park or Astoria Park in New York City. And I have absolutely no doubt that it also happens in all of the numerous parks across America.
I get so sick of the sanctimoneous heteros who are quick to point fingers at others for doing the very same thing that they are guilty of. Do Catholic priests screaming “sinner” and “pedophile” at out and open gays ring any bells?
Hypocrites are the same the world over. The are always the first (and the loudest) to protest (and draw attention away) from the very behavior they themselves are totally immersed in.
Guilt does that to people.
jason
Straights don’t do it under the straight rights banner. Gays, however, like to put a gay rights banner above their fetishes and overall hedonistic behavior.
In any case, why should gay people aspire to the perversions of straights. Breeder males are pathetic, ugly creatures. They are hypocrites of the first order. They claim that homosexuality is weird while at the same time ogling lesbian acts in adult magazines and movies.
Breeder males are low-brow trash. They are confused scum. They have no moral bearing except the direction in which their dick points them.
Schlukitz
@jason:
“Straights don’t do it under the straight rights banner. Gays, however, like to put a gay rights banner above their fetishes and overall hedonistic behavior.”
Thank you for stating the obvious.
Gays, for the most part, are not ashamed of their sexuality and see no reason to hide it.
Many heteros, on the other hand, feel the need to do it behind the altar, in the confessional, in the bushes, in the baths and in the back rooms of gay bars and clubs in the hope that their particular perversions will not be discovered.
Do the names Haggard, Craig and Reekers (all professed heteros…and homo haters), to name but a few, ring any bells for you?
Ganondorf
The age divide is at work here, too. You see older gays talking about many of the human toilets who participate in these things as freedom fuckers/fighters for gay liberation. Their fetishes and overt public displays take on a pathetic virtue in their blinkered estimation. Anyone who desires a semblance of normalcy and invisibility where they can be judged as individuals rather than traits is classed a self-loathing heteronormative traitor. Being urinated on in public while wearing a leash is “activism” to a lot of older people who also regularly frequented bathhouses when they were younger and had a different approach to things when homosexuality was criminalized (and also died at plague rates due to AIDS). It’s not fringe, pathetic, and broken to them. Anyone who is opposed to these extreme and sad expressions of sexuality is automatically a prude, and a tool of the “establishment” to the older set and younger crazies, uncomfortable with the growing acceptance by the mainstream of gays and lesbians and incipient civil equality. They’ll increasingly look for more “shocking” ways to get attention and be “relevant”.
And of course straight people do it, too. But this isn’t about gay vs. straight. But this stuff in fringe to the mainstream–at most a joke of no consequence. There’s a lot more distance between these displays of mental illness and the life you want to live if you’re straight than if you’re gay. If you wish to participate in “mainstream” gay “community”, unfortunately you’re stuck sitting next to the bum on the subway who’s soiled himself and is loudly rambling. We lack the privilege of distance from such undesirable subgroups and unhealthy expressions. Social and civil acceptance and equality will correct for this, and predictably people who’ve predicated their lives on a sex act/fetish will resist this trend. They just have too much invested in that sad and worthless identity.
Guillermo3
These may have been good events for the participants,but if the many photos accurately represent them: They sure are FUGLY.
Rob Moore
@inoits2: I suppose it might be, but damn it makes me horny to see these pictures. It reminds me of some of the most enjoyable times I had. Maybe a visit to San Francisco is in order next year.
Rob Moore
@stop already: Now there is nothing wrong with the missionary position. It is actually my favourite.
Akula
wow a lot of armchair Psychologists on this tread trying to run everyone’s lives for them. Folsom and the other gatherings like them are seen by a handful of people, whereas the show on HBO “Real Sex” can be seen by anyone with HBO; and honey 95% of that shit is all str8 people and its all shit as fucked up as anything we gays do. I’m sorry some people find it gross disgusting etc etc but you know what its not you having it done to you and if they want to do it in a public forum that’s on them, sorry you think it hurts us I don’t. Careful about the finger pointing and name calling because that always comes back and bites you on the ass.
Guillermo3
@inoits2: @Henry: Terminology,Henry,terminology!!!! It’s crucial to make the fine distinctions between CUNTS,Whore Cunts,Whore cunt BITCHESS,& Bitch Cunt Whores
GayGOP
Just my $0.02, but I have no issue with fetish play. I think it would be wise, however, if this were somewhat less public. Or, at least, certain aspects of it. Perhaps put the demonstration inside, but let most of the mingling be done outside.
Guillermo3
@inoits2: @GayGOP: Thanks both of you, inoits2 and GayGOP [I’m complementing a Republican_Is there no God?],for speaking up for common sense & decorum & decency:Whatever one believes about the rights of consenting adults’ behavior in private,politicizing the right to it’s public display harms all of us/diminishes the stature of truly CRUCIAL RIGHTS STRUGGLES. Thanks Again!
Nico
@inoits2:
I absolutely agree with you. To each his own – but there is a time and/or place for everything. I don’t frown upon these people for indulging in sex/fetish… but, there is no need to do so in public. Such indecency does nothing positive for the gay community. Rather, it adds fuel to the fire that is stoked by those against us.
Lefty
They look like they’re enjoying themselves, to me.
It’s all consensual.
Can’t see any problem, to be honest.
It’s always a bit worrying when some gay people start arguing that we shouldn’t be ourselves for fear of offending judgmental straight people – or giving ourselves a bad name amongst same.
That mind-set – more than anything – seems like a step backwards, to me.
Then bandying around words like “normal”, etc.
It’s a constant surprise to me whenever I hear gay people spouting right-wing crap and even more so when they’re apparently unaware that what they’re spouting is right-wing crap (“OMG I’m agreeing with a Republican!”. Yeah, surprise!).
I don’t give a fuck what straight people think of “us”, to be quite frank.
Schlukitz
@Lefty:
“They look like they’re enjoying themselves, to me.”
And that is precisely what bothers the gay concern trolls, the religious right and a good many straights. The fact that we are enjoying ourselves…and that just drives some people crazy, especially when they attempt to unatural lives of sexual limitation and deprivation because some whackadoodle priest or what have you, told them that Jebus and God do not approve of sex. If they are not getting any poon-tang, they certainly don’t want anyone else getting any either.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the famed sex researcher was right on the money when she once said, “People who are enjoying a healthy and happy sex life, could care less what other people are doing in bed.”
“It’s always a bit worrying when some gay people start arguing that we shouldn’t be ourselves for fear of offending judgmental straight people – or giving ourselves a bad name amongst same.”
You’re absolutely right. That mindset is definitely a step backward. It is an acknowledgement of the guilt that has been drummed into our heads by those who do not approve of us and are very verbal, and in some cases, very physical about it as well and we are playing right into their hands when we cow-tow to to the very people who will still hate us for who and what we are, no matter what we say or do.
Everyone wants to be liked and loved. It is a human need. However, when one needs to lie to themselves or worse yet, take a dump on themselves, in the idiotic belief that if they do so, they will be liked or loved by the bigots and haters, that is where I, like you, part company with the concern trolls…and all of the rest of the bigots and haters. I do not need their approval to like myself, love myself and live my life in a manner that makes me happy so long as I am not hurting anyone else by doing so.
Life is just to damned short to waste it trying to garner the approval of folks who would sooner see us imprisoned, exiled…or dead, let alone enjoying life. Our lives belong to us, to live as we feel fit, not them. No one is telling them to stop being straight or to give up herero sex.
Where do they get off telling us that this is what we must do?
Guillermo3
@Fitz: BRAVO,Fitz!BRAVISSIMO!!Self esteem is THE issue.
Schlukitz
@Guillermo3:
And whose version of “self esteem” might that be, Guillermo3?
The concern trolls? The Fundamentalists? The Religions Right? The bigots? The haters and the homophobic heterosexuals?
Sorry. That is not self-esteem.
That is guilt, indoctrination and self-hatred. No LGBT person with a true sense of self-esteem would ever allow themselves to be brow-beaten in submission or made to grovel and kiss the boots of the oppressors in order to gain their approval or acceptance.
Just sayin….
Guillermo3
@sam: Actually,@sam: Sorry,sam,but I believe that should be”younger guys like me.”Congratulations on your youth ,though.
Guillermo3
@Ganondorf: @Ganondorf: Ganondorf,It’s questionable whether you’re “the man in this piece”.IT’S CLEARLY EVIDENT THAT YOU’RE ONE OF IT’S BIGGEST ASSHOLES.
Guillermo3
@Schlukitz: Schlukitz?Are you sure [based on your moronic response to my “self-esteem”] that it shouldn’t be Schlitz?I think you must have gotten sand in yours.”MY”version of self-esteem is simple enough that anyone (amazingly,perhaps even you) can comprehend it:Self-esteem means self acceptance,a sense of self-worth,the opposite of guilt.It seems that too many gay men [both closeted and out]are full of self-hatred.Too often,this leads to cartoonish behavior:idolizing “men/women” such as Stanwyck,Garland,Madonna,and Gaga,speaking with lisps and/or affected effeminate pseudo-Southern accents,sashaying,or,the opposite_Affecting macho/butch gear,poses,and behavior.Obviously,anyone,of whatever sexual orientation has and must have the right to indulge in any/all of these behaviors.BUT:SELF-ACCEPTING?GUILT-FREE?SELF-ESTEEMING?_I think not.Accepting ourselves for who & what & how we are:That,Schlitz,is the version of self-esteem to which I aspire._”Just sayin'”.
Guillermo3
@Lefty:Lefty(BTW,I am too,both politically and self-pleasuringly):It’s a bit unclear as to whom your rant was directed,but if I[or my comments to inoit2 &Gay GOP]was included:CORRECTION,PLEASE:I wrote,in brackets:”I’m complimenting a Republican.Is there no God?”____NOT OMG I’M AGREEING WITH A REPUBLICAN,as you erroneously have it.In this case,I was agreeing with & thanking both writers for their stand for decorum and against swinish public behavior which works against the struggle for equal rights.I imagine you vehemently disagree,so I invite you to PUBLICLY EAT SHIT[preferably some generated by an ebola & HIV infected right-wing Republican fundamentalist].I imagine you would enjoy it,despite the act’s cannibalistic overtones.
Bon Appetit!!
that guy
@Mike: no its not. haha!
Guillermo3
@Guillermo3: I’M GLAD TO SEE MY COMMENT TO LEFTY(#126 )REGISTERED_We just had a major thunderstorm here in Philly that whacked the web for quite a while .Hope you’re enjoying your feces,Lefty__I wouldn’t let the cannibalism conundrum bother you.
ageofwargame
Amazing .. Great .. funny .. i like .. haha