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Available October 2, 2025 1:00 PM UTC
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Behind an unassuming “We Buy Gay Stuff” sign in San Francisco’s Castro district — complete with a striking leather daddy illustration — lies an unexpected treasure trove of queer history – AutoErotica, packed with artifacts from shuttered gay bars, vintage leather magazines, activist pins, and rare 8mm films; inside a bathroom, a young man lives three possible versions of the same encounter, each one exposing how fragile, violent, or tender desire can become when fate turns the handle; a newly out middle-aged lesbian panics before a third date and impulsively hires a sex worker to help her prepare; Sam and Adele are on a beach holiday in Portugal. When Sam locks eyes with Miguel, the attraction between them throws Sam, Adele, Miguel, and his friend Santiago into a new configuration; Sam and Dustin’s open marriage works… until a nosy friend asks if they ever have sex with just the two of them.

Behind an unassuming "We Buy Gay Stuff" sign in San Francisco's Castro district - complete with a striking leather daddy illustration - lies an unexpected treasure trove of queer history. AutoErotica's proprietor Patrick Batt has spent decades curating this living museum, packed with artifacts from shuttered gay bars, vintage leather magazines, activist pins, and rare 8mm films. While long a neighborhood curiosity, the pandemic nearly spelled the end for this irreplaceable archive. That's when customer Bradley Roberg launched a GoFundMe and Instagram campaign that transformed this local secret into a global phenomenon, saving not just a store, but a vital piece of LGBTQ+ counter-culture. Through Patrick's journey from a leather scene fixture to an accidental historian, this documentary reveals how preserving the ephemera of the past helps illuminate queer history's untold stories.

  • Year
    2025
  • Runtime
    17 minutes
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    United States
  • Genre
    queer, lgbt, history, san francisco, leather
  • Director
    Jeremy von Stilb
  • Producer
    Ricky Vidrio
  • Cast
    Patrick Batt, Bradley Roberg
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