Catacombs (sex club)

Gay and lesbian fisting club in San Francisco, California

Catacombs

Catacombs patch (Leather Archives & Museum collection)

General information
Type| Sex Club
Location| SoMa, San Francisco, California
Opened| 1975
Relocated| 1982
Closed| 1984
Owner| Steve McEachern
Known for| Fisting

The Catacombs was a gay and lesbian S/M leather fisting club which operated from 1975 to 1981 in the Mission District/Liberty Hill Historic District and from 1982 to 1984 in the South of Market area of San Francisco. It was the most famous fisting club in the world.[1] The founder and owner was Steve McEachern. The location was semi-secret and admission was by referral only. It was originally a gay men's club, but Cynthia Slater persuaded the management to open up to lesbians.[2] Among the patrons was Patrick Califia, known then as Pat Califia.[3] The Catacombs has been exhaustively described by sexual anthropologist Gayle Rubin,[4] who calls it "exemplary" in its attempts to deal with the AIDS crisis which would eventually lead to its closure.[5] Patrick Moore devotes a chapter to it in his Beyond Shame: Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality.[6] Sex educator Carol Queen called it "the place to be seen and to play at during the 1980s."[7]

The San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley, opened in 2017, honors leather culture and community members including McEachern.[8][9]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Gayle Rubin, "The Catacombs: A Triumph of the Butthole", in Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice, Alyson Press, 1992, ISBN 1555831877, pp. 119-141; reprinted in Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader, Duke University Press, 2011, ISBN 0822349868, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), retrieved September 30, 2014.
2. ^ Call, Lewis. 2013. BDSM in American science fiction and fantasy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p.5
3. ^ Pat Califia (who later changed names to Patrick), "The Necessity of Excess Archived 2014-10-06 at the Wayback Machine", POZ, October 1998,retrieved September 30, 2014.
4. ^ "The Catacombs: A Temple of the Butthole", in Mark Thompson, ed., Leatherfolk — Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice, Boston, Alyson Publications, 1991, ISBN 1555831877, pp. 119-141, reprinted in Deviations. A Gayle Rubin Reader, Duke University Press, 2011, ISBN 0822349868, pp. 224-240, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), retrieved September 30, 2014.
5. ^ "Elegy for the Valley of Kings: AIDS and the Leather Community in San Francisco, 1981-1996, in In Changing Times: Gay Men and Lesbians Encounter HIV/AIDS, ed. John H. Gagnon, Peter M. Nardi, and Martin P. Levine, University of Chicago Press, 1997, ISBN 0226278573, p. 116.
6. ^ Beacon Press, 2004, ISBN 0807079561, pp. 27-33.
7. ^ "An Interview with Carol, Queen of Sex," Spread, vol. 1, no. 1, spring 2005, pp. 35-38, quote on p. 36.
8. ^ Paull, Laura (June 21, 2018). "Honoring gay leather culture with art installation in SoMa alleyway". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
9. ^ "Ringold Alley's Leather Memoir". Public Art and Architecture from Around the World. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2018.

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South of Market, San Francisco

Buildings|

* 21st Amendment Brewery
* 33 Tehama
* 101 Second Street
* 123 Mission Street
* 140 New Montgomery
* 181 Fremont
* 199 Fremont Street
* 222 Second Street
* 340 Fremont Street
* 350 Mission Street
* 399 Fremont Street
* 535 Mission Street
* 555 Mission Street
* The Avery
* Baker and Hamilton Building
* BridgeView
* Foundry Square
* Four Seasons Private Residences
* Hall of Justice
* Hugo Hotel
* The Infinity
* James Lick Baths
* Jasper
* JPMorgan Chase Building
* LUMINA
* Metreon
* Millennium Tower
* MIRA
* Moscone Center
* NEMA
* Oceanwide Center
* One Rincon Hill
* Palace Hotel Residential Tower
* Palace Hotel
* The Paramount
* Park Tower at Transbay
* Providian Financial Building
* Salesforce Tower
* Salesforce West
* San Francisco Mint
* St. Regis Museum Tower

Businesses|

| Active|

* Bootie
* DNA Lounge
* The EndUp
* San Francisco Eagle
* San Francisco Marriott Marquis
* The Stud
* W San Francisco

|

Defunct|

* Blow Buddies
* Caldron
* Catacombs
* Clementina's Baybrick
* Trannyshack
* Trocadero Transfer

Culture|

* Cartoon Art Museum
* Catharine Clark Gallery
* Center for Asian American Media
* Children's Creativity Museum
* Contemporary Jewish Museum
* Art Hoppe
* Hosfelt Gallery
* Lamplighters Music Theatre
* Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District
* Museum of the African Diaspora
* San Francisco Museum of Art
* San Francisco Railway Museum
* Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Diplomatic missions|

* Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco

Education|

* California Institute of Integral Studies
* Golden Gate University

Geography|

* Barbary Coast
* Folsom Street
* Oracle Park
* San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley
* South Park
* Yerba Buena Gardens

Public art|

* Aurora
* Statue of Mahatma Gandhi
* Shaking Man

Religion|

* St Patrick's Catholic Church

Transportation|

* 49-Mile Scenic Drive
* 2nd and King station
* 4th and Brannan station
* Central Subway
* The Portal (planned)
* Yerba Buena/Moscone station
* Salesforce Transit Center
* San Francisco 4th and King Street station
* San Francisco Transbay Terminal (former)

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Portals:

* California
* LGBTQ
* Human sexuality

37°45′25″N 122°25′28″W﻿ / ﻿37.7568523°N 122.4244217°W﻿ / 37.7568523; -122.4244217

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