Folsom Street is a street in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

which begins perpendicular to Alemany Boulevard in San Francisco's

Bernal Heights Bernal Heights ( ) is a residential neighborhood in southeastern San Francisco, California. The prominent Bernal Heights hill overlooks the San Francisco skyline and features a microwave transmission tower. The nearby Sutro Tower can be seen from ...

district and ends perpendicular to the Embarcadero on the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water f ...

. For its southern half, Folsom Street runs north–south, but it turns northeasterly at 13th street. It runs through San Francisco's

district,

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

, SoMa District, Yerba Buena District, and South Beach district. When the Stud, along with Febe's, opened up on Folsom Street in 1966, other gay

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

bars and establishments catering to this subculture followed, creating a foundation for the growing gay leather community. Since 1984, the street is home to the Folsom Street Fair, an annual

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

and

leather subculture Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that pa ...

street fair held in September in the

South of Market South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, situated just south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill. SoMa is home to many of the city's museum ...

portion of Folsom Street, which, from approximately 1975–84, was the center of San Francisco's gay and lesbian

community. In 2008 and 2012, Folsom Street Events received the Large Nonprofit Organization of the Year award as part of the

Pantheon of Leather Awards Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...

, although in 2012 it tied with Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend. Then in 2015 Folsom Street Events received the Nonprofit Organization of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.🖉 The San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley consists of four works of art along Ringold Alley honoring leather culture; it opened in 2017. One of the works of art is metal bootprints along the curb which honor 28 people (including Alan Selby, founder of the store Mr. S Leather and known as the "Mayor of Folsom Street") who were an important part of the leather communities of San Francisco.

References

Streets in San Francisco South of Market, San Francisco LGBT culture in San Francisco Sexuality in San Francisco {{California-road-stub