Former SF Fetish Wear founder Robert Todd Fulton dies

by Cynthia Laird

Robert Todd Fulton, an event promoter and fetish wear website founder also known by his professional name, Scott Morris, died April 14 at his home in Cathedral City, California. He was 68.

According to an obituary from Avrum Goldberg, Mr. Fulton had a nearly yearlong battle with squamous cell cancer of the tongue, head, and neck. Mr. Fulton was a deeply involved community member, activist, and event promoter for the gay community in New York City, Fort Lauderdale, San Francisco, and Palm Springs, the obituary noted.

In 1998, Todd founded San Francisco Fetish Factory, an online fetish wear website that prompted an expansion into a gay male adult video company called Factory Video Productions, in the early 2000s. Factory Video was one of the first professional/amateur adult entertainment companies owned and operated by former models and industry insiders. In 2008, due to police crackdowns on adult public play at San Francisco’s Dore Alley and Folsom Street fairs, Mr. Fulton

Obituaries >>

Darryl Wayne Thompson

September 11, 1959 – April 4, 2023

Darryl Wayne Thompson, 63, a former San Francisco resident, died April 4, 2023 in Wichita, Kansas after a brief illness. He had relocated to Wichita in 2010 to be with the love of his life, Jeff “Mike” Baker. Thompson and Baker were married in 2016.

Thompson was born September 11, 1959 in Oakland, California. He is survived by his husband and by countless friends.

To honor his memory, make certain you sign up to donate your organs and give created safe spaces for adult men who have sex with men by creating CumUnion Party Events, which has grown into a global play party phenomenon in over 50 cities in seven countries, worldwide, the obituary noted.

Race Bannon, leather activist, author, sex educator, kink aficionado, and a former leather columnist for the Bay Area Reporter, said he knew Mr. Fulton.

“Scott was a trailblazer,” Bannon wrote in an email. “He was steadfastly dedicated to the notion that we all have a right to exactly the kinds of consen- the gift of life, something Darryl firmly believed in. “Let them take anything I have, I won’t need it anymore,” he said.

Leslie Jay Schroeder

1953 – 2023

Leslie Jay Schroeder died peacefully at his home in San Francisco on April 13, 2023, surrounded by friends and family. Les’ life was cut short by a rare and aggressive disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob, diagnosed in January 2023.

Les is survived by his husband, Jim Winslow; his sisters Kathy Schroeder (Jody Johnson) and Terry Inselmann; sual sexualities and sex environments we need and want. Whether through his adult content, parties, or activism within men’s sexual culture, Scott always bravely lived his truth for which I always respected him.”

Mr. Fulton got involved in the LGBTQ community back in the late 1960s.

In 1969, immediately following the Stonewall Riots, at age 14, Mr. Fulton volunteered at the Firehouse Dances in New York City, which were fundraisers organized to support the legal fees for the Stonewall freedom fighters. In 1970, he marched proudly in the Christopher Street Freedom Day Parade, a precursor to the first LGBTQ Pride parades in the United States. Throughout the 1970s, Mr. Fulton became one of the first disco club DJs, a model, and entertainer in the adult male film industry, in which he worked throughout the early 1980s.

The obituary stated that from 1982 to 1989 Mr. Fulton was a DJ in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and won multiple awards for his creative dance sets and mixes while promoting the city’s active gay nightlife. From 1989 to 1996 he became a nightclub manager and was the concept creator for the Stud Fort in-laws Joe Winslow (Sheila), Ann Winslow, and Rachel Planks (Daryl); mother-in-law Barbara Winslow; aunt-in-law Lois Trostle; five nieces (Lauren, Carly, Katie, Evy, Bella); and three nephews (Ryan, Andre, Caleb). Les is also survived by his biological daughter Harper Tracy and her two moms, Jess and Jill.

Born in Galveston, Texas, and raised in La Marque, Texas, Les earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Baylor University and a Master of Science degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington.

In 1980, Les moved to San Francisco, settling in the Castro district and then Bernal Heights.

Les began his nearly 30-year career in compensation and benefits with Pacific Bell, working in San Francisco then in the East Bay from 1986, during which

Lauderdale, an industrial/leather/Levi dance club. He was also the creator of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Business Association and the Gay Leathermen’s Group.

In 1989, Todd was widowed from his prior partner, Bob Sweeten, who passed away due to AIDS and was diagnosed posthumously during the early days of the global pandemic.

Before being diagnosed with cancer in 2022, Mr. Fulton intended to create and promote a Men’s Adult Safe Spaces Coalition to provide global advocacy and activism for the community. This was a byproduct of a need Mr. Fulton saw as a reaction to the recent COVID and mpox pandemics. In 2021 and 2022, he was an active participant and liaison to the bathhouse business community on the federal Centers for Disease Control Monkeypox Task Force. Mr. Fulton’s advocacy helped to bring treatment options to gay men at the venues where they congregated and to curtail a broader potential impact from this new health crisis.

The obituary stated that Mr. Fulton had always been a fierce fighter for the disenfranchised in the gay community. He created safety and dignity for time he lived in Orinda for 13 years before returning to San Francisco.

After 17 years with Pacific Bell, Les worked for LifeScan/Johnson & Johnson, Intuit, Genentech, Restoration Hardware, and SRI. In 2012 Les took a position with Fujitsu in Munich, Germany – and Les immersed himself in learning German. Les and Jim would split their time between San Francisco and Munich before moving to Berlin in 2017.

As an early member of San Francisco FrontRunners and the Bay Area Distance Runners, Les completed 34 marathons, numerous triathlons, and competed in several Gay Games around the world. Les equally enjoyed yoga, frequenting classes in San Francisco and Berlin, as well as tending to his garden.

An avid cyclist, Les completed the 545-mile California AIDS Ride and so many gay men who were estranged by their friends and families simply for living their lives authentically, and he wanted to see a world where love and acceptance were the norm.

Mr. Fulton is survived by his husband, Gordon Fulton, aka Gord Reece.

“Anyone who knew Todd and Gordon knew they were an inseparable and a formidable force – fun, outrageous, and truly devoted to one another,” the obituary stated. “Gordon often retells the story of meeting Todd in 1991 as being ‘picked-up by the hottest guy in the bar’ and from that day on he began living his true and best life.”

The family thanked everyone who has been supportive with their love, generosity, compassion, and kindness toward Mr. Fulton during this past year as they have dealt with his illness.

Mr. Fulton often said, “That through the grief, through the conflict, through the fighting, and all the adversity, I [and] our community kept on dancing.”

Mr. Fulton was born December 28, 1954.

In addition to his husband of 31 years, Mr. Fulton is survived by their loving dog, Truvada (Truvy), and his sister, Jenny, and brother, Bruce. t

AIDS/LifeCycle (from San Francisco to Los Angeles) 15 times, raising thousands of dollars for AIDS charities. Les and Jim twice completed the 462-mile Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Incredibly kind, generous, funny, and gentle by nature, Les had many friends around the world – as demonstrated by the outpouring of support during the final months of his life.

Les and Jim’s adventures took them to nearly every country in Europe as well as points in Africa and Asia. Les also volunteered with the Contra Costa County AIDS Task Force.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to Horizons Foundation in his memory. There will be a virtual gathering to celebrate Les’ life in May (email LesSchroeder2023@gmail.com for information).