Taking a walk on the wild side (Warning: Graphic narrative)

It is the last Sunday in September and that means it is Folsom Street Fair … the biggest gay event in San Francisco, especially for those into leather, fur (not of animal origin but on chubby human) and bondage/discipline.

It seems to have evolved and there were many women and heterosexual couples dressed up (or down) to match the atmosphere … lots of people in leather and some in skin … yes, stark naked.

The leather and skin stretches five blocks on Folsom Street.  The centre of the street is home to many booths selling all sorts of adult paraphernalia including bondage gear and porn.  The side streets serve as eating and dancing zones.

Against that backdrop, you have the food stalls staffed by elderly immigrant Mexicans and Asians who must find this a culture shock if it was their first time. Then there was a old little hunched Chinese lady who scouring the street looking for discarded drink bottles to re-sell.  She must have gotten used to the sight of the naked men and women.

Many things happening on the streets were an eye-opener for me and I’m sure it would be too for many:

• Charity whipping.  You submit yourself to whipping and the public make donations … I guess it is a variation to shaving your head for charity.
• Nude wrestling.
• A man in a wheelchair with rope around his privates, being towed by presumably his dominatrix (dressed in Snow White kind of outfit).
• Well-endowed people who oblige with the photos (and gropes) without seeming to get sick of it!
• Full-on sex which wasn’t legal but things like that can happen in the intense crowd without being noticed by the cops.

Carefully selected and censored photos below.

I shuttled to the airport after my interesting day, for my standby flight back home to Auckland.