“I am both.” says Race Bannon. The leather activist, author, sex educator, and kink afficianado is Christopher Beale’s guest this week Out In The Bay, “queer and kinky.”
The timing of Bannon’s appearance is no accident as — at this moment — many thousands are streaming into San Francisco from around the world for Folsom Street Fair 2022. This kinky San Francisco tradition dates back to 1984, and brings kinksters of all sorts to the streets of SoMa on Sunday.
“Typically you wouldn't just go to some sidewalk anywhere and start spanking someone,” says Bannon. “Well, that may happen at Folsom Street Fair, and you're gonna be watching it.” There are numerous parties and events surrounding the festival as well as the event itself, but there is also a shadow over this year’s festivities…MPox.
“The basics are taken care of in terms of safety,” Bannon says, adding that the Folsom Street Events team is great at their job, “I have to say I'm very impressed with how the community responded to MPox,” Bannon adds with pride, “they deserve a lot of credit for responding so quickly, and so robustly. But each individual person makes their own safety decisions.”
We dig into Bannon’s background as a writer, including his 7 years writing for the Bay Area Reporter, how he discovered kink, his podcast and more on this week’s Out In The Bay - Queer Radio from San Francisco.
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