San Francisco's Power Exchange

To my immediate left a naked woman in a gimp mask is shackled to the wall. Straight ahead, behind a chain link fence, one heavy-set woman in a corset whips another large woman. To my right, a dozen onlookers watch as a couple has sex on a bed with thick rubber sheets. And it was barely after midnight. Welcome to Couples Night at San Francisco's Power Exchange.

The Power Exchange bills itself as an adult sexual play space for "all preferences and exotic sensibilities." In short, a legal sex club. The top two floors are gay-only, while the ground floor and basement are for straight, bi, and lesbian couples. It's somewhat of an odd San Francisco institution - everyone knows about it, and everyone knows someone who has been, but very few actually admit to going themselves. The Power Exchange has various theme nights, and on the fourth Friday of each month they have Couples Night. I had heard that since it was a couples-only evening, the crowd was more varied and the action hotter. Sounds like a party to me.

I arrived at the neon lit warehouse space about midnight with Jacqui. (More on her later.) We signed in at the from desk, read the house rules, paid the $40 cover and proceeded to the clothes check. (What? You expected a simple coat check at a sex club?) I hesitated on taking off my shirt. "Do you think I should check this?" I asked Jacqui, glancing around at the crowd. "Hey, if she's going to show her tits like that, you definitely need to show yours," the clothes check guy laughed. It was true. Jacqui had checked everything that wasn't vinyl or see-through mesh. Well then…I guess the guy had a point. Check the shirt. So dressed in vinyl pants, a spiked choker, boots and nothing else except an open attitude, we started our exploration.

The first thing that hit me when we entered is the smell. It's a strange, almost overpowering gym locker room smell of sweat mixed with bleach, plus the unmistakable odor of sex. It would get more cloying as the night wore on, and the entire time I was there, it was never something I got used to.