We’ve all seen the John Waters quote: “If you go home with somebody, and they don’t have books, don’t fuck ’em!” Baltimore’s favorite trashy son, however, neglects to specify how to express your affection for their bok collection, and for good reason. The literary world supports a plethora of sexual proclivities — all are welcome to find their sensual muses within the extraordinary range of love found in books.
This week, two events connected to the Center for Sex and Culture’s amazing erotic library are going down, the perfect places for exploring your own lust for printed matter. One is tonight!
Que(e)ry
Back in 2010, Que(e)ry was formed in the metropolis of New York City to provide opportunities for queer librarians to hang out together, and also support LGBT collections of literature. Hooray, because the inevitable has happened and a West Coast contingent has sprung up in San Francisco. Tonight, the group hosts its first party at El Rio, featuring transcendent yammerings from Rhiannon Argo, Kat Marie Yoas, Cheena Marie Lo, Elizabeth Weisbrot, and Andrew Demcak. And, dancing. Actual library workers will be DJing (yay Steve Fabus and DJ Laydown from Hard French and Dial Up, joined by not-library-worker, still cool DJ Sissyslap.) Plus, raffle — the proceeds of which will go towards the Center for Sex and Culture’s Zineography project, which is the local attempt at creating a big old room full of printed matter on sexy things. We like.
Thu/11, 8pm-2am, $5-7 sliding scale. El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF. www.elriosf.com, Facebook event
Bookish Beasts
Speaking of the Center for Sex and Culture! Stalking made easy regarding that book worm cutie you met at Que(e)ry, because they will most certainly be at this zine, art, and book fest, perusing perhaps the Batman and Robin erotica by visual artist Diego Gomez or the poems of self-identified “romantic queer desi scholar activist artist” Alok Vaid-Menon (for exciting glimpses into the artists who will be at the fest, check out this rad Tumblr.) “These are zine and comics creators that are often over looked because their work is outside the mainstream,” says Bookish Beasts organizer Jon Macy. “We have amazing artists really exploring the limits of gender, sexuality, and identity. Truly transgressive work that makes me proud to be a San Franciscan.” Yayyy.
Sun/14, noon-6pm, free. Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission, SF. www.sexandculture.org
“Bathhouse Men” Eros birthday celebration
A few things that you may not know about Eros, the 21-year old sex club with the unassuming, rainbow-flagged façade that stands across the street from the Castro Safeway strip mall. One: it is hosting an art show on Thu/11 open to all to attend (perfect for female-identified folks interested in checking out the space, or at least the front room). Check out my post on a trip to chat with the club’s owner Ken Rowe, and general manager/drawer of the art that will be displayed Loren Bruton.
Thu/11, 7-10pm, free. Eros, 2051 Market, SF. www.erossf.com
“Plane Queer: Labor, Sexuality, and AIDS in the History of Male Flight Attendants”
History buff Phil Tiemeyer just penned a book on the in-flight mores of the flight attendant business, where being gay could cut both ways. He’ll share his findings at this presentation with Bill Wright, a 1950s-’80s Pan Am flight attendant.
Thu/11, 7-9pm, free. GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th St., SF. www.glbthistory.org
Godless Pervert Story Hour and sexy atheist meet-up
Why do local wirters Greta Christina, Chris Hall, and David Fitzgerald feel the need to make atheism sexy? “The whole point is that sex gets a lot better if it’s to please yourself and your partner, not whatever spirit or deity you think is looking over your shoulder,” says Christina. So, there. The trio are hosting an event of readings and performance geared around godless sex, at which you make just win door prizes from the only slightly unsettling Oakland sex company Divine Interventions including “a dildo in the shape of a crucifix called the Jackhammer Jesus; a vibrating silicone bible, and the descriptively-named Baby Jesus Butt Plug,” according to the event’s press release. Should the reading awaken you to a whole new sexy world, you’re invited to next week’s hang-out, hosted by Christina, Hall, and Fitzgerald, at SoMa’s Wicked Grounds kink cafe.
Reading: Sat/13, 7pm, $10-20 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission, SF. www.sexandculture.org. Meet-up: Tue/16, 7pm, free. Wicked Grounds, 289 Eighth St., SF. www.wickedgrounds.com
Feelmore Fresh Erotic Film Night
How can you resist the charms of a movie “based on the surprising truth of how Mortimer Granville came up with the world’s first electro-mechanical vibrator in the name of medical science”? Impossible. Check out this screening, part of a series that — recent AVN winner for Best Retail Boutique! — Oakland adult store Feelmore510 puts together.
Fri/12, 10pm, $10. The New Parkway Theater, 474 24th St., SF. www.brownpapertickets.com
Brooke Candy
“Next time they call you a slut/Brooke Candy tells you not to give a fuck” Listen, say what you will about the cornrowed, armored formerly-from-San Francisco Tumblr icon Brooke Candy’s music, but her look is certified freak-original, and more importantly, she spends her whiplashingly hype songs reclaiming the word slut. We’re listening…
With Sasha Go Hard and Sick Sad World. Sat/14, 10pm-3am, $10-15. 1192 Folsom, SF. www.feightsf.com, Facebook event