SFPD, Stay Out of My Queer Parties

Some in the kink community reported less fun and more policing at this year’s Up Your Alley fair than in years past. The street fair informally known as Dore (pronounced Dory), after the alley at its epicenter, celebrated its 41st year last weekend. Dore has grown into a world-class kink event that earned it the affectionate title of “Folsom’s little brother.” Like Folsom, Dore epitomizes San Francisco’s free queer spirit, increasingly precious as rising rent and right-trending politics bleed the city dry. It’s why such festivals are so critical, and precisely why increased police presence is not a good sign.  

Crowd control exists for plenty of reasons: suppressing fire hazards, preventing deadly crushes, stopping harmful crimes, keeping people safe. I won’t debate any of them. My angle is a cultural one, an issue of queer expression, sexual liberation, and a continuing legacy of police violence. I doubt you need a refresher on Stonewall or the trans-led revolt against NYPD and their raids. It’s no secret that cops and faggots don’t get along. I can speak at length from personal experience. When police patrol our events, even under the guise of public safety, tensions invariably rise. 

The public arrest of trans individuals at this year’s Pride weekend generated scrutiny against the SFPD. On Friday, June 26, a clash between SFPD and participants at the Trans March resulted in the arrest of five people. Reports of vandalism and an assault involving a person getting sprayed with paint drew aggressive police response. The Tenderloin, christened the Transgender District not yet a decade ago, swarmed with police. Their weapons drawn, SFPD quickly thwarted a plot to terrorize vulnerable concrete walls with anti-state graffiti. Those cops sure are heroes 🙄 

“We were appalled by the behavior of SFPD at the end of the march,” reported one spokesperson from Rainbow Families Action. Rainbow Families is an allied coalition of relatives and parents of trans kids. “All hell broke loose around us. A large pack of police officers came charging past us, weapons drawn and with a terrifying enough urgency that one officer fell…We were terrified. Our kids were terrified.”

As if SFPD’s response to some spraypaint weren’t overkill, the following day saw further clashes between cops and queerfolk. 

The night of Saturday, June 27 was the heart of Pride weekend. In the Castro as well as South of Market, San Francisco’s dueling gay districts, the parties were in full swing. Stud Alley isn’t a true alley like Dore, but the moniker of a trans-centered party located not far away. For six years, Stud Alley has happened South of Market on Kissling Street, and for six years, SFPD knew about it. Its unofficial status meant no-one ever applied for a permit. But it’s possible Stud Alley is beginning to catch on, like Dore Alley and Folsom Street Fair before it. 2025 saw the biggest Stud Alley yet, with hundreds reportedly in attendance. Still, SFPD did not interfere—there simply was no need.

As the night progressed, attendance at Stud Alley swelled, though not without the previous day’s conflict in mind. Participants allegedly constructed barricades along the party’s entrances which kept police out, said SFPD spokesperson Robert Rueca. Nonetheless, police arrived on scene at around 11 PM and ordered the crowd to disperse. Most revelers left, but the nucleus of the party reappeared on Washburn Street. The cops pursued and declared a second unlawful assembly. It ended in 20 total arrests with most accused of resisting. Our Budding Iron Lady District Attorney Brooke Jenkins charged 18 partygoers with “unlawful assembly, failure to disperse and resisting and obstructing an officer.” 

The civil violations at Pride this year are barely worth calling crimes. But technicality is all some people need. And that’s why cops at queer events are dangerous. SFPD, a famously xenophobic institution, are much less likely to protect and serve and far more likely to victimize us. The cops don’t have to kill us (they do anyways; see Howard Effland, Harvey Milk); their jails do it for them. 

Stud Alley revelers were enjoying one rare, special moment of community when SFPD raided the unsanctioned block party. Nobody raided Dore Alley and to my knowledge, nobody got arrested. Cops did shut down some sexual activity inside the permitted-yet-still-public event space. Public sex is illegal and could earn offenders a Class C felony. The enthusiastic fairgoers got off lightly, so to speak. Arguably, that they faced no repercussions did not come down to laws or the nature of the fair, but luck. A dirtier cop might’ve treated them like they treated trans people last month. Putting queer people in jail over some butt sex, graffiti, or a party isn’t just evil. It’s how police perpetuate violence against our community and get us killed.

SFPD proceeded to wear a smile at Sunday’s Pride parade the night after throwing twenty queer people in jail. Brooke Jenkins is making sure eighteen of them face charges in court. Next year, my friends and I could be facing trumped up charges that poison our careers, or worse. Events like Dore, Pride, and Folsom could effectively be policed out of existence, neutered by a surveillance state. For the sake of San Francisco and the safety of my friends, I want fewer cops at my block parties.