Beneath the stairs of the first floor, surrounded by dark hallways and dimly-lit rooms, a group of men, women, and transsexuals prepare in the fenced dungeon that makes up the bottom floor. They pull erotic toys out of their luggage—whips, dildos, chains, and much more—while women peel off their street clothes in front of the group. Minutes later, men wearing leather gear use floggers, a form of rubber whips, to strike the bare backs of three nude women, two of whom are strapped to an x-shaped plank. They squeal and moan in a simultaneous feeling of anguish and gratification.

Not every person in this vault-like room with flames painted on the walls is participating in the play area designed for torturous pleasure. Some sit and watch while others await a willing partner for themselves. Voyeurs stand behind the fence watching in arousal, indulging the participants.

“Some men just stand there and masturbate while watching, and to me, that is a form of applause,” explains Robin, a transvestite and cross-dressing bisexual. Wearing a dirty blonde wig and crimson colored paint on her slender lips, Robin saunters in and around the crowd, making sure that her friends aren’t bothered by unwanted strangers or men trying to get a freebie—they typically play with the people they come with. Amidst the security of her friends, she flirts with a potential participant. Minutes later, the man is plastered on the plank, his wrists in chains while Robin gives him oral sex. A group of men in their fifties and sixties sits on a nearby couch, relaxing and smiling at the lascivious demonstration.

They are the first patrons of the night, arriving at the door of the Power Exchange Sex Club, a place where people engage in uninhibited fornication with consenting members. It’s a place where people can come to role-play, dress in kinky clothing, amuse themselves with eccentric toys, have non-conformist sex such as BDSM (bondage and submission dominance and sadomasochism), or just observe. The Power Exchange is one of the biggest, and first legal, sex clubs on the West Coast. Because the club is highly secure and open to a variety of sexual practices, it is a haven for the exhibitionist and definitely doesn’t accommodate conservatives who prefer intercourse behind closed doors.

This is an essential Thursday night of pleasure for a group of twenty or so friends and acquaintances who meet for their monthly gathering to play in erotic pleasures after a night of dining. They avoid discussing their lives at home or their occupations; their goal is simply to get together and have a night of fun, explains Gari “G-Shot,” the initiator of this routine of munching and playing. The medium-built man wearing all black elaborates on his idea of getting a group of sexually eager individuals together by making an agreement with Mike Powers, the owner and founder of the club.

This particular crowd welcomes a diverse range of people who are nondiscriminatory and accepting to all sexual orientations and all forms of play. BDSM, one of the more popular activities, utilizes both dominant and submissive practices. The dominant party usually takes control while the submissive appears helpless and endures painful whippings and penetrations.

There are no limits with toys and play, as long as the members are consenting. It is safe to say that nothing is astounding to people that frequent the club. Aaron Ericson, manager of the Power Exchange, recalls an event from one of the Fetish Balls—a themed monthly venue at the club that attracts a massive crowd and has been deemed the busiest night of the month. During a particular Fetish Ball evening, a lesbian couple joined a kinky-couple’s contest: “The girlfriend stuck her fist up her girlfriend’s vagina thirty-six times,” Ericson laughs.

Power Exchange is a family-run operation and opened its doors in 1995 after the legal debate of gay sex clubs and unsafe sex practices spurred in the 1980s. Michael Powers, former mayoral candidate of SF and the founder of the club, relocated it in 1998 from a smaller location on Harrison Street to the more spacious Otis Street building. Visitors of the club must come inside with an open mind and a mature demeanor. Even though the club is extremely liberal toward sexual desires and preferences, it still adheres to a strict set of rules, and all drugs and alcohol are prohibited inside.

“Respecting the visitors of the club is highly emphasized,” says Ericson. “We don’t tolerate immature behavior.” The tattooed manager with a ring hugging his nose explains that this business is just like any retail business and that customer satisfaction is vital to keeping the club up and running. The friendly Ericson ensures the safety of his guests, greets customers, and exchanges smiles and words with regulars. “Safe sex and sanitation is very important,” Ericson says, pointing out the numerous baskets of condoms, paper towels, gloves, and hand-sanitizers available in every room.

Joe Weigand, a sixty-three-year-old dominant, makes sure he does an extensive cleaning after a scene in which he causes his submissive partner to have an orgasm with a stainless steel dildo-like instrument, splashing vaginal fluids on the floor. With latex gloves and sanitizing spray, he wipes the ground with paper towels when his partner and he have finished.

Weigand is part of the closely-knit BDSM scene, which includes The Citadel, a BDSM club that opened in 2003, and the Society of Janus, a non-profit organization created in 1974. He is a volunteer at both the Citadel and SOJ and recalls being intrigued by BDSM at the young age of twelve. “I had fantasies of tying up little girls and had always had sick thoughts.” He adds that sex was oppressed in the fifties and sixties and it wasn’t until the seventies that he met people from the underground sex scene who were into kinkiness like he was. He used to be a frequent visitor of the Power Exchange and attended by himself, but he admits now that he only comes with a group about once a month.

Three floors dwell in this forty-thousand square foot building resting on the corner of Otis and Mission Street. A neon green sign welcomes people passing by. The rooms are plentiful and exude an artistic theme of vibrant colors visible through the dim fluorescent lighting. The Egyptian, Gothic, and Medieval-inspired rooms are just a few of the options for partners there to engage in erogenous fantasies. The room in the center of the building is called the Mixed Club, welcoming heterosexuals, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender men and women. If the door to one of the many rooms is open, a couple or sex partners are inviting others in. If the door is closed, the room is off limits, but voyeurs are still welcome to watch.
A stroll through the labyrinthine hallways of this club offers a deluge of sights for the sex-crazed or curious, including everything from screens displaying pornographic videos to couches, beds, sex machines, and gadgets.

For the eighteen-and-over crowd that is comfortable with their sexuality or simply wants to experience something new, Power Exchange provides a unique experience. This can be a safe places to explore, because protection is emphasized and security guards monitor all activities closely and incessantly, assuring that everyone is adhering to the regulations of using protection and behaving properly. The club’s rule reads in bold print, “Come on me, not in me.” The club can be a place for the overtly sensual or for people seeking to play in an open space with a group that embraces alternative forms of sexuality. This is the venue for the inquisitive or the exhibitionist, to quench a fantasy or a fetish, or simply for those desiring to come and play until the crack of dawn