Celebrate! Samois and The Gay Day Parade
Having formed the same month as the 1978 Gay Day parade[1], it was a full year before Samois was able to march together in the 1979 Gay Day Parade, which occurred under the spectre of the White Night riots.
A taste of the 1979 Gay Day Parade:l
After helping to quash an attempt to regulate parade dress and ban leather, Samois not only marched in the parade, but also sponsored an information booth, where they sold their newly minted booklet, What Color is Your Handkerchief.[2]
Original Artwork by Katie Diamond[3]
In 1980, the group marched again, this time with a contigent of 21, including one child. However, that year, they did not sponsor a booth as part of The Women’s Outreach Committee’s boycott which had been organized to highlight the economic challenges of the parade.[4]
Again in 1981, the group marched but did not sponsor an information booth, and there is no historical record as to whether or not the group was still in existence by and if so if they participated in the 1982 parade.[5]
In This Article:
The Leather Menace: Samois Organizes Lesbian Sado-Masochists, Bay Area, CA, 1978-1982
Workshops, Hanky Codes and Coming to Power, oh my!: Samois’ Educational Practices
Celebrate! Samois and The Gay Day Parade (Current Page)
Socio-Sexual
The Leather Menace: Samois’ Conflicts
Beyond the Bay, Beyond Samois …
About Us
Key-words: Samois, lesbian, feminism, lesbian-feminism, SM, sado-masochism, BDSM, kink, Gay Day parade, Gay Pride, White Night Riots, Dan White, What Color is Your Handkerchief, Women’s Outreach Committee
- Pat Califia, “A Personal View of the History of the Lesbian S/M Community and Movement in San Francisco,” in Samois, Coming to Power (Boston: Alyson Publications, 1987), 250.
- Califia in Coming to Power, 261-4; Samois, “Samois Newsletter,” April-July, 1979, Samois Archive, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco, CA.
- Samois Vest, Leathers Collection, Leather Archives and Museum, Chicago, IL.
- Samois, “Samois Newsletter,” April-July, 1980, Samois Archive, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco, CA.
- Samois, “Samois Newsletter,” June 1981, p. 1, Samois Archive, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco, CA.
- ↑ Pat Califia, “A Personal View of the History of the Lesbian S/M Community and Movement in San Francisco,” in Samois, Coming to Power (Boston: Alyson Publications, 1987), 260.
- ↑ Califia in Coming to Power, 261-4; Samois, “Samois Newsletter,” April-July, 1979, Samois Archive, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco, CA.
- ↑ Samois Vest, Leathers Collection, Leather Archives and Museum, Chicago, IL.
- ↑ Samois, “Samois Newsletter,” April-July, 1980, Samois Archive, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco, CA.
- ↑ Samois, “Samois Newsletter,” June 1981, p. 1, Samois Archive, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco, CA.
