Peter LaBarbera, apparently not satisfied with the leather kinks going on in Chicago, decided to take a field trip to San Francisco to conduct additional "research" into the fetishes he likes to cover. He and Allyson Smith got an eyeful at the Folsom Street Fair, and they filed an educational report for his "Christian" readership that included these candid descriptions.
"Novitiate" Sister of Perpetual Indulgence "Sister Bambi Dextrous" wears a "Bottom for Jesus" shirt at the perverse "Folsom Street Fair" in San Francisco Sunday. Referring to the dominant and submissive positions in homosexual sodomy, he said he usually "tops" but that he “bottoms for Him” (Jesus). As they do every year, the Christianity-mocking "Sisters" welcomed Folsom Street Fair attendees at the various entrances to the Folsom Street Fair and were a major financial beneficiary of it.Now being the boring lesbian nerd that I am, I have to rely on The Peter to teach me about this sexual underbelly, since I lack the deep experience and expertise he has in this realm.…These two reporters for Americans For Truth videotaped and photographed open sex acts on city streets – including orgies involving men fondling and sometimes fellating one another, as crowds looked on and took photos at this celebration of "kink" that reportedly drews over 200,000 visitors. The relatively small number of police present took a “hands off” approach toward the sadistic "fair" — and did not stop the public sex and nudity.
While he goes on and on about the all the deviant homosex he sees occurring on the city streets, he does manage a casual toss-off about "'master-slave' couples, both heterosexual and homosexual" being present at the fair. For a minute there I was almost convinced by The Peter that only gay folks participate in this sort of thing.
Hat tip, Phil.
38 Responses to “The Peter does research at Folsom Street Fair”
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I wonder if he took part in the nudity and public sex just to prove that the police had a hands-off approach?
Why do those Jeebus-freaks insist on reporting such unchristian events? And in so detailed a fashion?*orgies of men fondling and sometimes fellating eacch other*drool,drool,drool;-)
Wait a minute. This guy is a HABITUAL reporter? Nope, this isn’t reporting- this smacks of enjoying the show JUST a wee bit. (and it sounds like fun, but not likely to occur up here any time soon)
Actually, it’s always difficult to tell how many police officers are present at the Folsom Street Fair, since cop-outfits are favored by a significant number of attendees
(btw, other people have “type-the-numbers-in-this-image” spam filters that aren’t so friggin’ difficult! Any chance of switching to one that’s a little easier to manage?)
I am not convinced that there was public sex. I gotta consider the messenger, here. I’m sure he has only the most lily-white and unbiased motives in covering this event, and that he won’t make it seem worse than it really is.
Public sex! Don’t those liberals know that they could only do it in the closet the way the republicans do?
Anyone else reminded of that scene from Metalocalypse?
“I think I should take part in the research too…. at the pornography awards.”
A full photo report to follow, according to his article…I think they enjoy taking pictures of this sort of thing entirely too much. Does he get paid to fly around the country to
search for wank materialferret out sin?And you know, if they really want to stamp out public sex acts, they should start policing the back row of movie theaters, where the high school couples sit.
I’m reminded of the classic Monty Python sketch:
(paraphrase) “Into photography, yes, could be taken on vacation…wink wink nudge nudge…”
“What’s it like?”
I think Fundie hyperbole and breathless hysteria over such events may actually increase attendance. After all, who DOESN’T want to go see the spectacle of the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, the way they describe it?
I think the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence ought to send them a lovely thank-you note sealed with a big, wet smooch.
Side note–is anyone else habitually amused by the pearl-clutching use of the verb “mock” by fundies? Like they’re spitting out the worst insult they can think of, and it turns out to be something that less high-strung people don’t find particularly horrible.
A: You’re a vicious, hateful excuse of a human being whose only pleasure seems to be in indulging in self-righteous angerwanks!
B: Oh, yeah? Well, you’re a mocker!
Where do the rest of us find a bunch of conservative Christians willing to pay our way to the Folsom Street Fair?
I say we pay our own “researcher” to go tail these people and take 100 obnoxious photographs - you know, to keep tabs on the state of The Peter’s peter.
The worst part about The Peter’s closeted-homo-obsessed reportage is how effective it is.
My father-in-law explained to me that he’s got no objection to nice gay people leading nice middle-class lives, but what he objects to is Those Ones Who Have to Prance Around and Shove It in Our Faces. The fact that pride parades, IML events, and the Folsom Street Fair are once-a-year events, and maybe the one time that some people can cut loose in public without fear of being bashed—that’s irrelevant.
It’s just that the fundies flog those images so relentlessly that Mr. and Mrs. Middle-American think they’re representative of everyday gay life. It would be like taking scenes from an S&M orgy at a married couples’ swingers club and presenting them as This Is What Ordinary Heterosexuality Is All About. It’s so narrowly representative, but it’s touted as being the dictionary definition of “gay.”
Actually, my wife & I just returned from this years festivities and can honestly say that a good time was had by all. As far as I can tell, there were many police in the area and all event goers were well behaved (as far as I was concerned anyway, we know Pete’s opinion). There were a lot more people than last year and the weather was beautiful. See you all next year!
Y’know, I don’t go into Peter LaBarbera’s neighborhood to get scandalized by the frilly bonnets on their goddamned lawn geese, so I’m not sure why he feels the need to come into my neighborhood and bitch about the local decor.
Totally off-topic, but I thought this site’s codejockeys might like to see this. I love reading the posts here (especially Pam and Amanda) and there’s another chance to do some very good stuff while also continuing to divert spambots, so I thought you might like to know about it.
http://recaptcha.net/learnmore.html
Thanks, fundies, for reminding me how much I’d like to attend!
Reading his description does awfully sound like he wrote up this denunciation using only one hand, though.
Ahem. People whose religion involves ritual canibalism, the regular celebration of the execution by torture of its historical leader, and loving description of the deaths by torture of multiple figures who are considered role models have no right to complain about other people displaying s/m tendencies. At least the Folsom Street people keep it safe, sane, and consentual. And then there’s the history of the “Church militant” and the Inquisition and their love for torturing and burning to death anyone who disagreed with them in the slightest (and, of course, the Protestants got in on the slaughter once they got a little power too…but the Catholics have the best name recognition). Yep, probably time for some nice Atheist queers to go to a Christian service and document the anti-family, not suitable for under 18 y/o stuff that goes on there.
The poor dear should never be allowed to visit Japan. He’d faint over with shock at some of the things that get hoisted around at some of the folk festivals.
Actually, this might be an interesting thing for the Folsom street guys to do next year. A perfect replica of one of those very traditional giant phalluses, hauled around on ropes, in “appreciation of a very old and traditional Japanese custom.”
I live in Oakland, and one of the local news stations did a piece on the leather-daddy-themed Folsom Street Fair poster. It was amusing to see the all the person-on-the-street interviewees laugh the poster off as good fun. They even showed Speaker Pelosi refuse to condemn the poster, instead defending free speech. I love the Bay Area.
Hey Pete, do you sell your videos? Some sordid, outdoor goings on sound just up my ally! Who do I make the check out to? Does it arrive wrapped in brown paper?
Ooh, do you need an ‘assistant’ for next time? I’ve always wanted to be in the movies!
If you don’t like to see people celebrating kinky sex in public, maybe you should consider not going to see people celebrating kinky sex in public
Toronto’s Pride Day tends to have a fair number of officers, but that is a measurement not of how much trouble it is (it is always very undemanding duty for the cops - very very few drunks or disturbances, well behaved parades, etc.), but rather how much fun it is. Pride Day is notable for the large number of whiteshirts (ie: command level officers: inspectors and up) who are out there not because of any need for their Leadership!! skills but simply because it is one of the best parties in town.As for Peter LaBarbera, I am tempted at first speculate as to when his congregants are going to wise up as to the fact that they are subsidizing his gay porn voyeurism. (The guy reeeeeeeeeeeeeeks of Haggard.) However, it won’t happen. They are making too much money selling this to shocked (and quietly titillated) evangelicals anywhere. Let’s face it: there’s a lot of money to be made in bringing to evangelicals things that will shock and outrage them, given how much of their personal existence is tied up in being shocked and outraged by people who have the temerity to live differently than they do.
Especially considering that at least some of these events (IML does for sure, anyone know how Folsom works?) require that you show ID that you are of adult age, sign a release that you may see a wide variety of naughty things (the IML ones reads like a shopping list of kink), and usually, pay at least a nominal fee to get in.
I am all for making sure that the unsuspecting don’t get X-rated action in their faces in public, but not when you have to go out of your way to express that you consent before you get near it.
Also gotta love that he doesn’t get that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are making fun of the Catholic Church, particularly the hierarchy, not Christianity. This is like people complaining that mocking the Easter Bunny is mocking Jeebus.
HA HA HA HA HA!!!
I clicked the link to read Pete’s “full” story, and surprise, surprise! It was blocked by my corporate keepers!
Guess Pete’s reporting is a little to risque!
Having just returned from a vacation in San Fran, I have a theory as to why the wingnuts hate the city so much. It’s not so much the homosexuality, but the tolerance and diversity.
Unless you go to a gay bar or the Castro district, you won’t find any more homosexuals there than you would anywhere else. But homosexuals in San Fran don’t feel the same hesitation to hold hands or to talk about their “partners”, so it seems like there are more.
But the diversity isn’t limited to sexuality. There’s also a relatively huge number of nonwhite and nonchristian residents, and in many districts whites are a minority. And the various ethnic groups also retain much of their cultural identity, making San Fran the least “white bread” major city west of the Appalachians.
I think that this is what the wingnuts really fear: a society in which it’s considered quite normal to be who you are, rather than trying to conform to the cultural norms pushed by the Walmart shoppers.
Here’s the thing, though: despite its alleged depravity, San Francisco continues to be a beautiful, prosperous, cosmopolitan city. Maybe there’s something to this tolerance and multiculturalism after all.
Referring to the dominant and submissive positions in homosexual sodomy, he said he usually “tops” but that he “bottoms for Him” (Jesus).
awesome
“Novitiate” Sister of Perpetual Indulgence “Sister Bambi Dextrous” wears a “Bottom for Jesus” shirt
Everyone knows that nuns are the Brides of Christ . . .
You know, since I’m not all that interested in gay sex or most of BDSM, i’m really glad I have deeply fixated people like Peter LaBarbara to go out there and tell me all about it.
DINGDINGDINGDING!grendelkhan @ 11: The “mocker” thing, like so much else, is an example of speaking in context-free Bible quotations. Job and Proverbs refer to “mockers,” and Acts and Peter refer to “scoffers.”
It’s really very creepy when you realize how much of what the fundamentalists say is strung-together Bible quotes. It’s a kind of code, one where every word or phrase is loaded with a whole complex of connotations. The word “scoffers” implies the whole package of End Times, for example.
I just cannot get over the long, lingering, detailed descriptions of sexual activity that these “reports” always contain. It’s as Indy says. I’m just not personally very interested in BDSM, so I don’t devote much mental energy to thinking about other people engaging in it. I’m glad people like Peter derive so much joy from recording and talking about every kinky, dirty detail. Which of course they abhor. And don’t derive any secret excitement from at all.
Exactly, Caroline–if you know the context, one word brings to mind the entire scripture verse and concept, just like any other form of jargon. But to anyone else, it just sounds totally random. Yep, definitely creepy.
IIRC, the “mockers” thing refers to people being particularly lustful in the end-of-days–ah, yes, Jude 1:17 or thereabouts. In the King James, “worldly-minded” comes out as “sensual”, so one supposes that’s where they get the connection to sex from.
If public m/m leather sex really bothers you that much, you’re perfectly free to go “Ew!” and then just try to pretend it doesn’t exist. It’s not like it’s being piped into your home on basic cable like the news or even religious programming.
My father-in-law explained to me that he’s got no objection to nice gay people leading nice middle-class lives, but what he objects to is Those Ones Who Have to Prance Around and Shove It in Our Faces.
“Oh, you mean like straights do with Mardi Gras and Spring Break?”
gordo got it in one. If you actually go to SF to see gay sex in public, you’re going to be pretty disappointed unless you hit Folsom or find the right bar at the right time. What you will see are same-sex couples holding hands, walking with their arms around one another, kissing goodbye, and generally behaving just like street couples–and nobody cares. *That’s* what drives the fundies up the wall.
It’s not like it’s being piped into your home on basic cable like the news or even religious programming.
I, for one, think we should complain to our cable providers about this shameful absence.
Chan (#5) - Welll… I’m sure Petey has a fine imagination, but he didn’t actually make anything up in this case. It’s not like you’re gonna see all of those attractions every 20 feet (especially cause it’s so freaking crowded) and it doesn’t really have the kind of crazy party energy that Petey is trying to suggest (BDSMers are a lot more careful about physical & social boundaries than the Mardi Gras crowd) but… well. Come on down some time, it’s not that expensive.
If only someone would write an article about what sick, bent, perverted people Christians are and how they should therefore be denied anything resembling equal rights with us “normal” folk, citing that spanking-your-wife-for-Jesus website as evidence.
And then when Christians protest, they could adopt an innocently bewildered expression and reply: “What do you mean, all Christians aren’t like that?“
the open-air bare bottom spankings, fellatio, and anal play was absolutely fascinating this year. It wasn’t uncommon to see total strangers just walk up to each other and start wanking! Gotta love San Fran. The only complaint I had was too many kids.