Top Dogs:
Leather, Dore, Kink!
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Affectionate men at last year’s Up Your Alley Street fair. Photo: RichStadtmiller
Affectionate men at last year’s Up Your Alley Street fair. Photo: RichStadtmiller
by Scott Brogan
Get out your slings and hoods. It’s Dore Alley month! Or rather, Up Your Alley, as it’s now called. Coming each year on the last Sunday of July, Up Your Alley is (or was) San Francisco’s answer to the size and perceived commercialization of the Folsom Street Fair.
Folsom Street Fair began in 1984, and Dore Alley followed in 1985. At that time it was called Ringold Alley Fair because it was originally located at the famous Ringold Alley. Ringold Alley was a popular cruise alley for men looking for anonymous sex after hitting the many leather bars of what used to be termed The Miracle Mile, the multi block stretch of Folsom Street that formerly included many leather bars and bathhouses.
The original organizers created Ringold Alley Fair to help celebrate the local South of Market leather community, and to make a less touristy and more a local fair than the larger Folsom Street Fair. It moved up to the intersection of Dore Alley and Folsom in 1987. By the way, the Miracle Mile is making a comeback with the Hole in the Wall, The Powerhouse, and Chaps all in a row, and right around the corner we have The Eagle and The Lone Star. There’s something for everyone.
Up Your Alley is the first of several events that begin with Pride in June and end with the Castro Street Fair in October. Dore has become much larger than originally intended, and for many out there it’s seen as just as commercialized as the Folsom Street Fair. Both are now run by the organization Folsom Street Events.
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Strip Twister at last year’s Up Your Alley Street Fair. Photo: RichStadtmiller
Strip Twister at last year’s Up Your Alley Street Fair. Photo: RichStadtmiller
Regardless of size opinions (and who out there isn’t a size queen anyway?), both events raise tons of money for the many charities they support. Whether you think it’s commercialized or not, you shouldn’t let that deter you from going. It’s loads of fun – the key word here being “loads,” if you know what I mean. It’s also the best kinky time you’ll have outside of going to a private dungeon party.
You’ll see lots of hot men and women out and about, with little to nothing on – or completely covered in, say, rubber or neoprene. And don’t worry, it’s not just leather. You’ll see all kinds of kinks and fetishes. So if you don’t have any leather, don’t worry. You’ll still fit it. That’s the beauty of this street fair: Everyone is welcome, no judgments. You’ll no doubt have a great time.
My only complaint is that now that it’s become part of an organization, they have to monitor any friskiness that goes on, to ensure no one breaks any laws (those are real policemen walking around, not just people with a cop fetish). Where’s the fun in that? No worries. It’s just more of a challenge. But trust me, it can still be done. You just have to be a bit more creative, and I’m very creative!
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A pair of pups at last year’s Up Your Alley Street fair. Photo: RichStadtmiller
A pair of pups at last year’s Up Your Alley Street fair. Photo: RichStadtmiller
Woof!
Some folks you’ll see at Up You Alley will be pups, aka puppies. No, not pups from the SPCA. I’m talking about humans who identify as pups. We used to see mostly Master/slave or Daddy/boy couples/families out and about, but in recent years the pup phenomenon has blossomed. The difference from the other Dom/sub combinations is that the pup community is more socially based. Whereas most Master/slave and Daddy/boy dynamics are usually couples, the pup community will typically run in groups, or packs, with one or more masters in charge. Obviously, there is a hierarchy within the packs. You’ll have an Alpha, for sure, which may or may not be the Master. In the absence of an Alpha pup, the Master becomes both Master and Alpha. But even with an Alpha, the Master still rules.
You’ll see these pups running around the fair with tails, leather “paws” and various other sorts of “doggie drag” (Oh, I’m going to catch it for that remark!). I think you know what I mean. Don’t laugh at them for being a bit different. It’s merely a fun variation on the Dom/sub relationship. What’s wrong with that? If you don’t approve, don’t let on. They might hike their legs on you!
For more information about Up Your Alley and the many associated events, go to www.folsomstreetevents.org.
Related posts:
- Soma Do: Leather/Kink. May I, Sir?
- A-Dore-able
- Bay of Pigs @ Factory 525
- Good boy!
- Chaps II: Leather report from SoMa
