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Number 11 on my list of my favorite sorts of Flickr photos are those where people strip down for a good cause. Hell, the Big Gay Frat House practically built our reputation on getting boys to strip down -- and our open bar and lack of restrictions on full frontal nudity helped our events compete in the realm of nightlife entertainment.
We won't cover our own events just yet -- that's higher in this countdown, natch. But we are proud of how we helped contribute to the "risque for a cause" culture, starting with our very first fundraiser where we convinced the SF Fog rugby team to strip down completely naked in a choreographed Full Monty routine back at our very first fundraiser, the Balls Out Ball (pictured above).
When folks strip down to their skivvies or completely naked, either to raise money for a cause or just to raise awareness, that's something we have to support and encourage. This particular entry is about my favorites done by other people, starting with my absolute favorite...
BikeR Fundraiser at the Powerhouse
In May of 2007, my friend Jon and his friend Jon (confusing?) held a fundraiser at the Powerhouse called BikeR to help raise funds to participate in the AIDS Lifecycle Ride, an annual bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise funds for AIDS support. Each rider pledges to raise thousands of dollars in addition to then riding 500 miles by bike. Many get friends to pledge small amounts, but often riders also throw their own mini-fundraisers to make up the difference.
As is typical at these sorts of events, the boys got merchandise donated (mostly porn) which were then raffled off to guests who could buy a ticket for $1, six for $5, or the whole length of their inseam for $10. The event was emceed by one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Sister Gladys Pantzeroff.
But there was something else special coming up, an idea that I had hoped to use at one of our events and was delighted someone else decided to do. Sister Gladys got the boys to get up on stage and announced that they had each pledged to remove an article of clothing for every $20 that the crowd collectively donated. You could throw in anything -- $1, $10, $20, or more. (I think I ended up spending $40 but some of that may have also gone to raffle tickets.) First their shirts came off. Then their shoes and socks. Shirtless and barefoot in a bar. Then their pants came off. My friend Jon was down to cute orange briefs, while his friend Jon was down to tight, tight leather shorts. My friend stopped at this point, but his friend continued and actually auctioned off his leather shorts. Now he was stripped completely naked in the bar as Sister Gladys gallantly used her own hand to cover his modesty. (Stupid ABC regulations.) He stood that way a bit before donning a jockstrap to then complete drawing winning raffle tickets.
I had hoped they'd stay undressed for the rest of the night, but they put their clothes back on once the raffle was completed.
You can check out more photos on Flickr, or enjoy the slideshow below:
Looking Good, Feeling Fab
And speaking of donating the shirt off your back....
When AIDS first struck in the early 80s, our lesbian sisters stepped in to help provide care and fundraising support even though lesbians are probably the least likely group at risk of HIV infection. Now a lot of LGBT fundraisers also include causes that are specific to women -- like breast cancer.
One such event, at one time held annually by Sister Roma (There's No Place Like Rome) of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, perhaps the most photographed nun on the planet, was Looking Good, Feeling Fab. The event was a marathon of feathers, glitter, and flesh, often taking 10 hours to hold the entire event.
In between performances by drag queens, Sister Roma would also get cute boys (often porn stars) to get up on stage and quite literally auction off all of their clothes. I attended the third one at The Edge and the fourth one at Harvey's. And I came away with my share of loot -- a button down shirt from one porn star, a t-shirt from another, Derrek Hanson's swimsuit (which I took off of his body while the rest of the audience just saw the concealing towel), and even one boy's cockrings (which I also was obliged to remove). Anything for the cause, right?
Here's a slideshow of some of my favorite images. You can find more on Flickr.
Manwash at the Powerhouse
Speaking of Pete Ross (pictured above)...
Several years ago, the Powerhouse hosted a short-lived series of fundraisers for the Stop AIDS Project called Manwash. It was a brilliant idea, in my opinion, because it was a raffle that depending not on getting items donated but rather in getting cute guys to donate their bodies.
At the first one, held in June of 2006, porn star Pete Ross and a few staffers at the Stop AIDS Project sold raffle tickets to members of the audience. A few items were raffled off (probably porn, if I recall). But then one lucky winner got to go onstage with Pete and "dirty" him up with washable body paint. And then the grand prize winner got to take him to a bathtub with a shower to "clean him up."
I was the grand prize winner -- using money that my cab driver had given me to use in the raffle! The cabbie was a gay old-timer nostalgic for the old Miracle Mile days of Folsom Street's heyday.
I blogged extensively at the time about that night and also posted a lot of photos.
The next month I went again. And I once again won the grand prize. You can check out the photos on Flickr or enjoy the slideshows below.
World Naked Bike Ride
Sometimes when people strip down for a good cause, it's to raise awareness rather than money.
Such is the case with the World Naked Bike Ride, an annual global event in which participants strip as bare as they dare (including completely naked in many cities like San Francisco) and ride their bicycles through the city to help raise awareness of global dependence on oil and petroleum products.
The WNBR gets a nice range of participants. Male and female (mostly male). Gay and straight. Young and old. Cute and not-my-type. But whatever, they've got guts. They're willing to go outdoors in broad daylight, strip completely naked, and spend hours riding their bikes with their all-togethers flapping in the breeze, all to raise awareness of a global crisis.
Though I had heard of the event before, this year was the first time I heard about San Francisco's participation in time to be able to go down and report on it. I blogged about it at the time, of course, but you can check out even more photos on Flickr.
You can also check out the global and San Francisco websites to learn more about the cause, and find out how to participate in the next one.
And check out my photos on Flickr, with some of the best in a slideshow below.
Tighty Whitey Car Wash
Remember the fundraisers as a kid, where you raised money for the band or your athletic team by selling candy bars, or doing a bake sale, or holding a car wash?
In the Castro, car washes are now all grown up and are certainly not just for kids anymore.
I'm talking about the Tighty Whitey Car Wash, an annual fundraiser held by the men of the Bare Chest Calendar as a fundraiser for the AIDS Emergency Fund. Cute guys strip down to their white cotton briefs and hold a car wash in the parking lot behind Walgreens in the Castro. Oh, and you know what happens to white briefs when they get wet, don't you?
The two that I've photographed took place on September 12, 2008 and September 13, 2009. Which means the next one should be coming up in a few weeks, right?
Here's a slideshow of some of the best:
Bad Boys by the Bay
Porn star Will Clark has held a series of "Bad Boy" fundraisers across the country -- Bad Boys on the Hudson in New York, the Bad Boys Pool Party in Palm Springs, and twice held Bad Boys by the Bay in San Francisco, which was a benefit for Magnet. Magnet is a men's clinic in the Castro that provides STD testing and counseling.
I went to both San Francisco events in 2004 and 2005, but was too far from the stage at the first to take photos. Thus I have no proof that Michael Brandon ejaculated on stage. (Actually, I think he hit the porn star who dove beneath him rather than the actual stage.) Yup. Even the BGFH has never done an event quite like that.
The events included drag performances, some with scantily-clad backup dancers, as well as porn stars doing all sorts of nudey activities. And yup, I was able to take photos at this one.
Sadly, Will needed a bit of a break and reigned in some of his activities. Although he continues to do events in New York City, I'm not aware of him doing anything recent in San Francisco. But in the meantime, there are photos from this second event on Flickr and a slideshow of a few of the best photos below:
What's next?
Of course, there are so many more examples, including risque fashion shows that I've already written about and the BGFH events coming up soon.
Sadly, most of these events are no more. BikeR was just a one-time only event. Manwash only lasted a few months. Sister Roma did at least four Looking Good, Feeling Fab events, but I'm not aware of any others in recent years. Bad Boys by the Bay only occurred twice. The Tighty Whitey Car Wash might be coming up again in a few weeks, but I haven't heard for sure. The World Naked Bike Ride is the only one I'm absolutely confident will continue.
So what's next? The BGFH has done a lot of fundraisers where boys got near-naked (and completely nude) for charity, but we can't host in our house anymore.
So ... who's taking up the mantle? Who's trying to get cute boys naked for a good cause? Be sure to let us know and we'll promote the hell out of it!
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