San Francisco Bay Guardian

It was almost Pride Week, I've had two leather luminaries hanging out at kink coffeeshop Wicked Grounds – it just seemed like an opportune time to start waxing philosophical about the possibility of a kink renaissance in San Francisco. 

“There just seems to be this general coming-out,” said Leland Carina, who as a member of the SF girls of Leather has done her part to increase the inclusiveness and malleability of her kink community. She likened this expansion to the capital-R Renaissance, which happened after the threat of bubonic plague had been mitigated. Likewise, she said, the kink community in San Francisco is finally hitting a point where the fear of AIDS no longer rules people's sexual encounters. 

Race Bannon, Carina's co-leather marshall in this Sunday's Pride parade, hadn't thought of it that way – but Carina's theory resonated with him. “We've figured out how to deal with [AIDS], and we've moved past it. I call what's happening a kinky renaissance.”

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I have to apologize for not frothing up the waters with my own account of everyone's favorite (and only) worker-owned strip club the Lusty Lady being in peril of having to shut its doors. I was gallivanting about on a world tour -- find my list of illegal places in Berlin to trespass on here -- and re-emerged on this side of the bridge to hysterical accounts that the classic, unionized titty joint was going under.

It's no secret that the Guardian has a tawdry, longstanding affair with the Lusty -- so I made a quick call to long-time Lusty Lorelei. Upshot: the club is kind-of safe for the moment, but it's ready to grind it out for your singles. Read more »

“People at sex clubs are looking to hook up. It’s usually my safe sex practices that get me turned down more and not the fact that I’m transgender” 

I thought it would be cute to conduct today’s interview in a bathhouse sauna. Instead I found myself sipping a soy milk latte in one of the Mission’s many hip coffee shops -- not as intimate of an option, but probably better for my note taking. For once, I was on time, and I patiently awaited San Francisco sex educator Niko Kowell.Read more »

“I’ve been enveloped and swimming in love the last few years”

It’s early Saturday morning, and I’m quickly putting fresh sheets on my bed. The door bell rings before I can finish, and I run down the stairs to a incredibly punctual, smiling, and shirtless Travis Sigley, the cuddle therapy practitioner.

Sigley is a San Francisco-based, specializing in private appointments, group sessions, and workshops on non-sexual intimacy. I invited Sigley over to have a conversation about his line of work -- and to find out why this beautiful man is always shirtless. He greets me at my door with a big hug. His handsome face and sun-kissed body make it easy to imagine spending an hour in my bed wrapped in his loving arms.

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