Sister Dana sez, “Happy LEATHER MONTH…”

By Sister Dana Van Iquity–

Sister Dana sez, “Happy LEATHER MONTH in San Francisco! It’s leather weather forever in SF—but for certain, it is this month in this city!”

While celebrating “Leather Month,” be sure to visit Strut/Magnet at 470 Castro Street and their ongoing September leatheriffic photo art by Kegan Marling. Marling is a very clever documentarian and arts programmer from the San Francisco Bay Area. Their work focuses on queer community and play—gaymers, kinksters, drag artists, dancers, wrestlers, and faeries. Their work has appeared in venues & publications including the de Young Museum, Frameline Film Festival, CounterPulse, San Francisco Chronicle, SF Weekly, National Queer Arts Festival, Mascular, Drummer Magazine, and
is part of the permanent collection at San Francisco General Hospital. This exhibit, “HOLD ME IN THE EMBERS OF OUR LOVE,” features a very different kind of “family portrait” of various hot leather-folx together. Go to the second floor of Strut/Magnet during their visiting hours all September to check out this gorgeous full-color photography by Marling!

While planning your Leather Month activities, be ready to put in your calendars that LEATHERWALK 2025 is happening on September 21. LeatherWalk was founded in 1992 and has been a cherished community tradition ever since. I haven’t missed one since its founding. Way back then, it began in the streets of Castro and Market with lively entertainment, and it ended after a bunch of bar hops along the way finally at the Eagle saloon. Come walk this year as an individual or form a fundraising team. This is always a time when we get to come together to celebrate San Francisco’s leather community and the vibrancy, diversity, and pride that define us. This year, that visibility and representation feel especially vital, as so much continues to be at stake for our communities. Join the LEATHER AND LGBTQ CULTURAL DISTRICT (which is both a producer and beneficiary of this annual fundraiser) beginning at 10:30 am at SF City Hall as we step out for our community. There will be a couple of rousing speakers at 10:45 am, when we’ll make some noise and step off at 11 am for a fun and powerful walk through SOMA— stopping for entertainment and refreshments at beloved leather, kink, and queer venues along the way. After many a gay bar visit, the march will end in a grand finale at Eagle Plaza with much pomp and circumstance and the raising of the Leather Flag. Register for free to walk or donate at https://sfleatherdistrict.com/ .

PROJECT OPEN HAND marked 40 years of meals with love on September 12 with the HAND TO HAND GALA at the stunning San Francisco Design Galleria. In 2000, they expanded their reach to provide meals not only to people with HIV/AIDS, but also to neighbors who are battling breast cancer, heart disease, and many other illnesses. Today, Project Open Hand prepares 2,500 nutritious meals daily and provides 200 bags of healthy groceries every day to help sustain clients as they battle serious illnesses, isolation, or the health challenges of aging. They serve San Francisco and Oakland, engaging more than 125 volunteers daily to nourish our community. https://www.openhand/

The 37th annual GAPA RUNWAY PAGEANT, Runway 2025: Myths & Legends, took over San Francisco on September 13 at Herbst Theater. For the 10th consecutive year, Nguyen Pham served as emcee of this uproarious and inclusive celebration of the queer AAPI community. We joined the QTAPI folx in cheering on Mx., Ms., and Mr. GAPA contestants as they demonstrated their talents, showed off their evening wear, and answered Q&A questions in competition to become GAPA Royalty. The reigning GAPA Royalty, Miss GAPA 2024 Ari Ola and Miss GAPA 2024 Kalypso, stepped down to welcome the next generation of titleholders.

Originating in 1988 as an underground house party for LGBTQ Asian & Pacific Islanders, Runway was a chance for the community to gather in safety, solidarity, and celebration to crown new GAPA Royalty as representatives of GAPA and the QTAPI community. The event has grown to become widely recognized as one of the longest continuously running QTAPI pageants, drawing celebrity judges from all over the world. As generations of contestants have battled it out through rounds of fashion, talent, and Q&As, Runway has always stayed true to its roots. https://www.gapa.org/runway

Another Immigration Judge was fired in San Francisco on September 3. Shira M. Levine, a member of the State Bar of California, had been appointed an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in October 2021. She was terminated—being the sixth San Francisco Immigration Judge axed since Trump took office in January. This means Trump has now fired nearly 30% of the judges in SF’s Immigration Court. Most had a track record of agreeing to asylum in a vast majority of their cases that came before them—potentially putting them at odds with the current administration. Sister Dana sez, “Trump obviously does not believe in asylum—even though he as president should really be put into an INSANE asylum!

Health and Human Services Secretary, dishonorable Robert Kennedy Jr., appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on September 4—lying, as usual. And this was just a few days before Florida had declared all mandated vaccines as illegal. At the combative Committee hearing, ranking committee member Senator Ron Wyden opened with the dire warning that the U.S. is in the midst of a healthcare calamity. Several Republican senators agreed. If we recall late August headlines, our fears for our health are supported: August 28 “White House Fires Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Who Says RFK Jr. Is ‘Weaponizing Public Health,’” and “Senior CDC Officials Resign After Susan Monar Ouster, Cite Concerns Over Scientific Independence”; not to forget August 27’s “RFK Jr. Limits Who is Eligible for Covid Shots.” It must be noted that RFK Jr. earlier this year fired 17 members of the Vaccine Advisory Panel—replacing them with overtly anti-vax phonies. Sister Dana sez, “Let’s give healthcare a shot in the arm—and immediately FIRE this dangerous, incompetent, conspiracy theorist RFK Jr.!”  

Trump’s (in)Justice Department is talking about banning transgender Americans from owning guns. This is because anti-DEI bigots feel that some people who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria are “mentally defective,” and should have one of their basic rights to bear arms be taken away. This is widely viewed as unconstitutional and also purports to solve a problem that does not exist. A recent UCLA study has found that trans people are over four times more likely than cis-genders to be victims of crime. CBS News reports that U.S. murders of trans people nearly doubled over the past four years. Ironically, even the National Rifle Association (NRA) has come out against the Trump team planning to ban trans people from owning firearms. Sister Dana sez, “No, there is certainly NOT an epidemic of shootings BY trans people. But there IS an epidemic of assault gun violence by cis-gender white men!”

The Radicchio Salad zine, along with the Radicchio Salad blog, is the brainchild of Ori Tom Ravid and Chris Hendrix. So Fabulosa Books at 489 Castro Street on September 4 held a festive launch party and issue #5 zine signing celebration. Fabulosa’s guest artists Ravid and Hendrix edited the zine, along with artist, writer, and filmmaker Henry Roark, whose fancy collages appear in the summer zine issue. The Radicchio Salad zine features original food writing and art from contributors worldwide, interviews with Industry folk who are super-hot, and recipes from chefs—both professional and not. Every zine is based around a specific theme, and the editors were so excited to debut their first physical copy of their latest issue “Gay Summer” in San Francisco. “Not only is summer in SF just getting started, but it’s gay summer here all year ’round,” the editors cleverly commented.

WRITERS WITH DRINKS will occur on September 19, 7–9 pm at Strut/Magnet, 470 Castro Street. Hosted by author Charlie Jane Anders, this program will feature a half dozen more writers. https://www.sfaf.org/

The OAKLAND PRIDE PARADE was held on September 7, with the parade proudly going down Broadway from 22nd Street to the festival, which was at Frank H. Ogawa/Grant Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall.

Did this shock anyone else that on September 4, Department of Defense Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth boldly and brutally stated, “At your direction, Mr. President, the War Department is going to fight decisively—not end this conflict. It’s gonna fight to win, not not to lose. We’re gonna go on offense—not just on defense—maximum legality, not tepid legality—but violent effect, not politically correct.” What horrendous message does that send to our allies and to our enemies?

Sister Dana sez, “As we hold in remembrance of the dreadful 2001 9/11 SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK against America, we must also be aware of THIS September’s attack against democracy by Dictator Donald and his September 5 executive order to rebrand the DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE into the Department of WAR—without the usually required Congressional approval! Shocking and utterly unacceptable!”

Sister Dana sez, Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun
Published on September 11, 2025