Bay Area Reporter - December 15, 2005
Zak Szymanski, z.szymanski@ebar.com

The change in leadership reflects the departure of Darryl Flick, who was with the organization for four years, served as director for the past year, and has moved onto other opportunities. Selecting Moshoyannis as the new director, said Copper, signifies the organization's commitment to the future.

"We're extremely excited. I think he's going to be able to bring energy, enthusiasm, and a new dynamic to looking at events. There's certainly the possibility of bringing in new events to the Folsom fold to take community giving to the next step," said Copper.

For over 20 years, Folsom Street Events (formerly South of Market Merchants' and Individuals' Lifestyle Events) has provided large grants to community-based organizations as part of its mission to promote a sense of community, diversity, cooperation, health and human services. The Folsom Street Fair is the largest leather, alternative, and fetish street fair in the world with over 400,000 attendees, and many San Francisco nonprofits have come to rely on proceeds from this and other Folsom Street events as part of their funding.

"We're coming up on our 25th anniversary in three years and we're eagerly anticipating that and want to make sure our granting is up to standard," said Copper. "This year we gave away $265,000. By the time we get to our 25th anniversary I want to give away at least a half a million, and I think [Moshoyannis] is really going to get us there."

Moshoyannis, 34, is in the process of moving from Los Angeles back to San Francisco, and will officially begin his position in January at an annual salary of $60,000. Several years ago Moshoyannis was the executive director of Bay Area Young Positives in San Francisco. He then was the executive director or Being Alive in Los Angeles, where he more than doubled the organization's budget, from $450,000 to $950,000, in two and a half years. The budget at Folsom Street Events is currently $400,000, according to Copper. Returning to San Francisco to head Folsom Street Events makes sense to Moshoyannis on a lot of levels, he said.

"This position is appealing to me on various levels. On a personal level, I consider myself a member of leather community. I've been involved with Folsom since 1996 when I went to my very first Folsom Street Fair," said Moshoyannis, a founder of Men of Discipline and former Folsom volunteer. "This also seems like a really good fit between what Folsom Street Events is looking for and what I could bring to them in terms of background and skills. I'm looking forward to breathing new life into the organization and offering new energy and ideas, expanding our repertoire of events, and basically helping us raise more money so we can give back to the charities that support us."

As executive director of BAY Positives, said Moshoyannis, his group was a beneficiary of Folsom Street Fair in 2000, and "I got to see how much work, energy, and love goes into the event," he said. "I can't think of a more exciting job for me. I'm going to love going to work everyday."

Moshoyannis also emphasized his HIV/AIDS focus and how that will help the organization known for sustaining service providers, health, and prevention groups. He said he is keenly aware that Folsom Street Events may take on an even larger role in the community as the city faces funding cuts.

"I'm particularly concerned about potential cuts to Ryan White CARE dollars. If that happens, organizations like ours are going to have to fill in those gaps. We are one of the largest funders out there for private dollars for AIDS organizations," said Moshoyannis, adding that if anyone can meet that challenge it's the leather community.

"The members of the leather community share a passion for volunteerism and philanthropy that has really impressed me," he said, adding that now may also be the time to address how the leather community fits into larger LGBT visibility as an important part of the movement.

It's no secret that the religious right likes to use images from leather events as arguments against gay rights, and often the LGBT community takes the bait and distances itself from many of its vital cultures. Moshoyannis said he hopes he can help to spark a dialogue within the LGBT movement about the contributions of all of its communities. "It's a tactic the right wing uses against us, to divide and conquer us," he said. "We become busy fighting ourselves rather than fighting the good fight."

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