CarnalNation

Wicked Grounds, a new coffee house on Eighth St. near Folsom, brings together two of San Francisco's favorite vices: caffeine and kink. Last night, after months of anticipation by the community, Wicked Grounds officially welcomed the kink community through its doors with a festive grand opening. Future planned events include bootblacking every Tuesday and kinky chair massages on Thursday evenings.

Technically, of course, the café has been open for a week, and has had a full roster of events in preparation for the Folsom Street Fair coming this weekend. Last Monday they had a "Meet the Writers" event with some of the most prominent members of San Francisco's sexual literati like Carol Queen, Midori, and Greta Christina sitting at tables full of their works and casually chatting with fans. Tuesday night was a similar event called "Meet the Artists," at which Ani Niow showed off a steampunk vibrator, Suzanne Forbes (a CarnalNation favorite, who can also be found behind the counter) displayed her pervy sketches, and James Courtney brought his comics-related pinup art.

But despite all that activity, last night was when it became official. Sister Mable Syrup of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence greeted people at the door and then sanctified the space by paddling Rose and Ryan, the owners and proprietors of Wicked Grounds. Like a good nun, Sister Mable made the two declare their shamefulness by calling out "I'm wicked!" with every stroke. The crowd repeated the call with even more enthusiasm than the two owners.

Wicked Grounds was built—literally—with the help of people in the community coming forth and lending a hand. Queer and kinky communities have always grown because the people in them have traditionally had a fierce devotion to coming together for one of their own, and that's the bedrock on which Wicked Grounds was built. For months, Rose and Ryan have been sending out Tweets asking people to come to the space and help paint, scrape, nail, sweep, and lift. And people came. Walk into Wicked Grounds, and a lot of what you see is the result of kinksters voluntarily giving their time and sweat.  Even before they opened (or, for that matter, before there was even a floor covering the pipes behind the counter), Wicked Grounds had become a gathering place for the community, so you can understand why so many people were so eager to celebrate its opening. We ourselves are very excited about Rose and Ryan's new venture, and hope that it goes far. The sex-positive community has precious few places where people can just meet and hang out without alcohol or playing the meat market.