Phil and August have been involved in the Bay Area leather community for 20 years. We were Officers of SOJ as well as regular attendees of private and public leather events. In 1993, we started Fandango, which was an open play party following Lady Thorns “SM Community Exchange” held three times a year. There were a couple of years San Francisco’s community leather spaces had closed, We had the desire to bring Fandango back to San Francisco and keep it there, which meant finding a permanent location to host in. One day, a friend of our’s mentioned to us a building someone she knew had moved out of and might be interested in letting us use for Fandango.

The location: 245 8th Street.

During that time, Phil came up with an interesting idea “Why not open a permanent leather community education and lifestyle space in SF.” I must admit, I wasn’t exactly too thrilled about the whole concept and kind of dragged my feet on it, but then eventually gave in, suggesting that we give it more of an “at-home” feel. I’m so pleased that I did, what a unique experience this has turned out to be!

Peter Acworth, owned the building and had just moved into another space on 5th and Mission St. was willing to lease the 8th Street location to us and helped us get started. Originally The SF Citadel was a 3-person business partnership, one of the business partners eventually left.

A handful of volunteers donated countless hours and valuable trade skills to help get things together, and various community organizations even donated personal equipment from their home spaces to us until we were able to build our own. SM Odyssey loaned us their stored equipment for the first three months of our operation. We can’t thank them enough. Daddy Harry, a licensed contractor dove in head first with his skills and his energy. Others jumped in to make sure we would be ready for our opening night Fandango party.

On December 14, 2003 the SF Citadel officially opened its doors. Things took off very quickly, the concept was a success and we had lots of support from the many different groups within our community; coming out every weekend to socialize, educate, learn and to just feel good with having a place to call their own, a place where they could be who they wanted to be without judgment and in feeling safe doing so.

However, Phil and I soon had a major dilemma on our hands, the building was being sold, we needed to find a new location quickly, we had only 6 MONTHS to do this. Talk about being under pressure! Exactly 2 weeks before the lease was up we were blessed with finding our present location at 1277 Mission Street. It was a very emotional time, because there were and still are lots of fond memories of the original space where it all began. But with volunteer parties of 20-30 persons working tirelessly, the transition from a vacant building to a fully functioning Leather community home went rather smoothly as we moved into our new space and once again opened the doors to our membership.

Today’s SF Citadel plays a major role in the SF Bay Area leather community; we are now world-renowned for our informative workshops featuring many prominent educators. Phil and I have always tried to operate a vibrant multiuse space that serves nearly every community and culture in the Bay Area. The main purpose of SF Citadel is to offer education on a vast array of issues that focus on culture, sexuality and interpersonal relationships. For nearly 10 years we have provided a safe, welcoming and supportive space to the Bay Area leather community. We provide space for everything from educational seminars to 12 Step meetings, to fundraisers and social gatherings, for the community. SF Citadel provides both a classroom atmosphere as well as sofas and chairs utilized for casual meetings and conversations, as well as a multipurpose space for meetings, workshops and small gatherings for education and discussion.

We are so very proud of our community and in what we do. Our outstanding volunteers go above and beyond the call of duty to help keep things running day after day we can’t possibly thank them enough. New faces are around almost weekly, a sign that our community is ever changing and forever growing.

Thank you for all of your support!

Phil Derby and August Knight
Owners SF Citadel