Politicians often get a verbal spanking from public speakers upset with their actions. They don't often receive an award for being paddled.
Gay District 6 San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey could be the rare politico who does should he be voted as the "Best Impact Player-Bottom" in this year's Golden Dildeaux Awards. He is one of eight people up for what has been dubbed The Pound Cake Award.
"I think the best impact-player bottom is typically someone who likes things such as spanking. In Supervisor Dorsey's case, I can't say whether or not he likes it but I can say he is nominated," said Bob Goldfarb, a gay man who is executive director of the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District, which three years ago took over the awards first given out 54 years ago.
Over the last two decades only one sitting city supervisor has received a Golden Dildeaux statue, referred to as a Woody, that is given to all of the winners. In 2015, the top vote-getter in the category "Has Not Had Sex in Recent Memory...(The 'Winter Sleep' Award)" was Scott Wiener, a gay man then serving as the District 8 supervisor. He would be elected to the state Senate the following year and was just reelected to another four-year term last November.
Dildeaux contestants are nominated anonymously, Goldfarb explained, who could confirm to the B.A.R. that someone had put Dorsey's name forward for the spanking award.
"We don't know who nominated Supervisor Dorsey. We did receive an online nomination for him," said Goldfarb, himself a past Golden Dildeaux awardee. "We are delighted to have him on board."
Dorsey told the B.A.R. he doesn't know the origin of his nomination, only that he had attended last year's awards ceremony and had joked about being a nominee in 2025. When he learned about his nomination this month, he spoke to Goldfarb about it and suggested he be removed from the list of contenders so as not to take the award from someone who deserves it.
"I had to ask Bob what an impact-bottom player was," quipped Dorsey, who told the B.A.R. he is bending over backwards, so to speak, to see he is not the winner. "I, hopefully, will be the Susan Lucci of the impact-player bottoms and it will be a running joke for us!"
(The 21-time Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series nominee won just once, in 1999 on her 19th nomination, for her role as Erica Kane on the ABC soap "All My Children," according to her Wikipedia page.)
Dorsey demurred when asked if he likes to be spanked by his boyfriend, Gerson Costa, who has found his being nominated "very funny," he said.
"We will see if I get any offers in my DMs," joked Dorsey, who is a new co-parent of a Labrador and Carolina Dog mixed breed 4-month-old puppy, Brando Costa-Dorsey, the couple adopted from an agency in Concord.
The awards, launched by the late gay B.A.R. leather columnist Marcus Hernandez known as "Mr. Marcus," are a fundraiser for the cultural district, which is located in the western South of Market neighborhood long home to LGBTQ bars and the leather community. Last year, it raised roughly $15,000 from them and hopes to exceed that amount this year.
"In our current times, there is a lot of uncertainty, so we are not putting a target number specifically on it," said Goldfarb, whose district helps promote LGBTQ-owned businesses in SOMA and leather entrepreneurs around the Bay Area as well as preserves the history of the local leather and LGBTQ scenes in that area of San Francisco.
Anyone 18 years of age and older can vote multiple times via the awards website. Each vote costs $1, with voting unlimited.
"You can vote for as many people as you like," noted Goldfarb.
There are 24 categories to vote in this year. They run the gamut from "The TOP of Them All" and "QUEEREST OF THE QUEER" to "FIERCEST FEMME" and "Best CUDDLE BEAR."
Anyone nominated can request to have their name be removed. Dorsey opted to keep his name on the ballot, thinking it would bring a bit more attention to the fundraiser for the cultural district, which he represents at City Hall as part of his SOMA-centric supervisorial seat.
In a post on X promoting the awards and how people can vote, Dorsey wrote, "After having my work in this category overlooked for SO many years ... it's an incredible honor just to be nominated!"
Among those also nominated for this year's Pound Cake Award is Calder Storm, a transgender man and city resident who helped organize the recent protest outside Imperial Spa due to a transphobic policy that it rescinded just prior to the March 10 demonstration. Storm currently has the most votes in the category, with the standings updated weekly until voting ends at 5 p.m. on April 10.
In second place, as of now, is Eli Cather, who hosts the Divine Masc: Boys Town party at the Powerhouse for trans masculine patrons. Up again this year is Kayla Jennings, who came in second in 2024. The other nominees are Brian Entler, Judas Kane, Julian Castillo, and Ricardo Carrillo.
This year's Golden Dildeaux winners will be announced at the Woodys Awards Show being held from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at the LGBTQ SOMA bar the SF Eagle, located at 398 12th Street. It is free for anyone 21 years of age and older to attend.
"All are welcome," noted Goldfarb.
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on a new study about the discrimination faced by LGBTQ Americans.
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko and on Bluesky @ https://bsky.app/profile/politicalnotes.bsky.social.
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected]
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