Certain events in this city created the phrase "only in San Francisco." Sex blogger Vanessa Pinto's second annual sexy circus is one such event.
Last week, the sex positive community gathered for "Under my Big Top," an all-night celebration of seduction, highlighting San Francisco's deliciously alternative lifestyles.
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"The circus is my way of putting the bubble that we live in on display," said Pinto to The Huffington Post. "It brings the sex positive community to life."
The evening kicked off with a poem from infamous blogger Broke Ass Stuart on what it means to live in San Francisco. ("Living in San Francisco means having friends who are sex workers. Friends who have PhDs. Friends who have PhDs who are studying sex workers…")
The warmed-up crowd then cheered through erotic dances, trapeze acts, pole climbing, BDSM demonstrations and live readings from comedians and writers including Tourettes Without Regrets founder and L. Ron Hubbard descendant Jamie DeWolf.
A highlight of the evening was a live date auction of pornographic stars Mark Davis and Jiz Lee to benefit the Center for Sex and Culture and the Shanti Project, an organization that supports those living with life-threatening illnesses.
"I wanted to make sure those organizations could continue helping people for a long time," explained Pinto in her blog.
Pinto gained local fame last year when she was named the "Sluttiest Blogger" in the San Francisco Bay Guardian's annual sex issue—an honor in the sex positive community, but one that cost her a job. Shortly after the Guardian issue was published, she was pulled into her boss' office and fired on the spot.
"I had been fired for being 'that kind of girl,'" she told HuffPost.
But one year later, her story only invigorates her work. "People shouldn’t be afraid to be who they are," she told HuffPost. "Perhaps my talking about this will keep someone else from getting fired."
Check out photos from "Under My Big Top: A Very Sexy Circus 2012" in the slideshow below. (CAUTION: Slideshow contains graphic, NSFW images):
