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Hold the phone! The infamous Power Exchange, after closing their Otis Street location and getting chased off of Gough Street with pitchforks, has moved into the Crash Club space at 34 Mason without so much as a klieg light, and apparently the Tenderloin neighborhood folks are planning an all-out assault, according to C.W. Nevius in the Chron. At least for the SRO residents and former alcoholics in the 'hood who have found God, there is no place for a sex club in the Tenderloin. Nevius appears to identify with the righteousness of these folks and takes pleasure in the committee-hearing fight that's brewing, just as he did when the Gough Street people triumphed. But we have to wonder whether city officials are really going to take the code violation murmuring seriously, or if someone is going to acknowledge that the Power Exchange has a right to exist somewhere.
The club's move was sudden enough that Yelp hasn't even noticed yet, and Crash still has this website up from 2007. We can't wait to see the seedy sloppiness scandalizing the tourists in those outer-Union Square hotels.
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Small suburban towns usually have one or two busybody neighbors who lord over their homeowners associations and do their darndest to make sure everybody else acts, looks, and thinks exactly like they themselves do. They take delight when folk who are different from themselves are driven out of town, fined, or forced to conform. They're usually sad petty people who are trying desperately to reassure themselves that everything is okay with their lives.
People like C.W. Nevivus and Rob Anderson are just San Francisco's over-sized versions of these provincial characters.
Edit that comment! I just found out that Nevius lives in Walnut Creek. So he's exactly the kind of suburban busybody I described. He just happens to write for the Chron instead of something like "the Pleasant Hills Estate Community Newsletter."
At least Rob Anderson has the decency to live in the city...
San Francisco is entirely populated with people like this. All 760,000 of us are obnoxious busybodies. Sadly.
With so much available space around Union Square, I wonder why they didn't open up there. The old Virgin Megastore or Disney spots would be good for a few laughs. It is just sex, folks. The club should not be put in areas that would put their patrons, especially women and tourists, at risk or being mugged or harmed in any way.
Oh, San Francisco. What a fortress of intolerance you have become!
What's next, 3.2 beer?
I laughed.
And then I shuddered.
i can't wait till they shut down market street, i'll be walking from bay to bondage!
the people leading this charge can't even be called NIMBYs cause it's not their backyard :(
Ya know what I think is funny about the PE being run out of Gough Street? The primary complainer mentioned being embarrassed in front of her guests....Honey, I looked at the map, you should be embarrassed for living in that neighborhood.
no doubt this effort is being instigated by the bible thumper that rallied against a strip club opening up near that same area by setting up a tent in front of city hall and went on a hunger strike. He was totally and unforgivingly ignored by all.
Actually, while the "bible thumper" may be part of it, a lot of TL people are pissed. To see why, check this out:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2154492
They are opening again?
Maybe this time this 'Drag Queen' will show up.
It's not like I haven't been asked a few times to go.
Just when I got up the 'guts' to....
Well you can figure out the rest....
To Faber,
I'm in favor of the Power Exchange. Mike's a friend and has run a great business for over 20 years. My film is to show how much better the street is when he's open. I guess I'm a YIMBY ('Yes in my back yard).
h.
The Power Exchange (PE) is where myself and many many of my transgender sisters (from part time crossdressers thru postop transexuals), friends and admirers can be ourselves, socialize, meet people who like us and SAFELEY play. In PE, we dont have to worry about being called "faggots", beaten up, murdered or forced into unsafe sex. the PE is all we got and we love it. In this so called “sanctuary city”, the Power Exchange club is our sanctuary.
Years ago there was another place trans women hung out in the tenderloin, the Compton Cafeteria They were persecuted, harrassed and even arrested for impersonating a woman. our sisters fought back!
Do the current trans haters think they are going to close the PE and force us back into dark lonely closets without a fight?
think again!
Whenever I have been near the entrance of the Power Exchange club on Mason St, I always saw a PE security person outside at the entrance. Often, I saw more then one. The PE security people outside have a view of that whole block of Mason St.
I wish they were on my San Francisco block, as I think it would really cut down on the car breakins/smashed windows on my block. In addition to the PE security, the good police presence in the area, makes that block much safer then my SF nighborhood block at night.
Disclaimer - I'm not a patron, nor do I live in the neighborhood. But I wonder how much trouble the patrons of this place really cause. There is no alcohol served, which is often the source of problems. Not sure how strict they are about alcohol/drugs being smuggled in and used, but if the patrons don't create noise and chaos in the neighborhood, what is the problem?
hank God The Power Exchange is back!!!! This is the safe space for those who embrace an alternative view of sexuality. It is not a place where junkies inject their veins with drugs, or a space for mumbling offensive homeless people reeking of their own odor. The Power Exchange, like its sister club in Las Vegas, is a well organized and beautifully run facility which embraces the human experience. Comparatively, it is an upscale business. How ironic residents of the Tenderloin are attempting to deride this establishment, yet remain silent in regards to the dangerous and irresponsible activities of their own neighbors. I for one welcome the bridge and tunnel crowd with open arms, as well as the San Francisco Community, visitors from other states, and indeed the world to enjoy themselves in one of the most iconic, yet responsible, clubs in the world. Welcome home Power Exchange. God, I've missed you!
I never liked the power exchange. The place was always full of transvestite hookers and alot of sorry assed dudes. I went there a few times back when they were on Otis and thought maybe it would be a nice place go hang around sometimes, but I never got a good feel about it. The people that worked there were never friendly and they charged mega bucks for bullshit. I hope they never open up again in San Francisco. It probably just made the owner richer for a very sorry assed place that wasn't worth getting in even for free.
There are certain foods that we dont like,so we dont eat them and let others eat it.
If you dont like the club,dont go there,but let the rest of us choose to go if we want to.
You will never know its there if you dont go so why should it bother you? How about nude beaches? Do you like or go to those? I dont care to go but I also dont care that others choose to go and it doesnt bother me knowing that they exist.Why dont you ever hear of people bitching about any of the gay clubs? Would that be discrimatory because the patrons of those clubs are gay? The people complaining really dont know what they are complaining about except they hear the words "sex club".Give it a rest,there is nothing that can be seen by the human eye UNLESS you PAY to get in and see it all from behind the closed doors!The security for the club will be GREAT for the neighborhood during business hours anyway!