"Glitter & Gore" at Second Pride

Second Pride has an amazing scarefest coming your way with 4 days of “Glitter & Gore” October 25th, 26th, 27th, and 31st.

In addition, an interactive haunted experience has opened! Spread the word! Remember, the Second Pride region is open to you anytime, with stores and other amenities open around the clock…stop by and see our progress!

Entertainment will run from 10am until 12am (midnight) each of the four days. It's going to be a BIG event! The party area has been fully decorated and we have an interactive Haunted Experience, You can stop by now to see the region, and have a sneak peek at the Haunted Experience.

You also have the opprtunity of sponsoring one of the Halloween entertainment sets for a suggested donation of L5,000. Please speak to Bock McMillan, Lee McKay, or Grant Valeska in-world for details on this. All donations continue to support Rainbow Railroad.

Closing Speech by Chair @SP2019

"DJ Regi will be up momentarily with our Grand Finale party until who knows when, but we wanted to take a moment to thank each and every one of you, present and not, who has come out and danced and played and had an amazing Pride celebration with us. Without you, there’d be no reason for us to do this. We deserve to feel good about who we are, to be proud of who we are, and boy have we done that this week!"

Chairperson Lee McKay by Fornith Cayshun

"I want to tell you that I have been overwhelmed by the compliments that I have received personally this week, and I know my fellow board members have also been receiving them. We’ve heard that this is your favorite Pride celebration, the best you’ve been to in Second Life, and so many other accolades. I can’t tell you how it makes us feel. It’s not that we want praise, it’s that we want YOU to be happy and enjoy yourselves in the best way possible, and it sounds like we may just have gotten it right.

I told you last week in my opening remarks that I would forget to thank someone, and I did. I want to recognize Andy Bates and Souix for three amazing art installations around the region. Two are called “Faces of Pride” and one is our “Stonewall 50” exhibit, which is a history in photographs. If you haven’t seen those, please take the time to check them out.  We have already been invited to present those exhibits at another venue!

That brings me to a reminder that this is not the end of Second Pride for the year…it’s more a beginning. The region will stay as it is, everything will be right here, shops and all, for you to visit anytime, bring friends, hang out, just enjoy yourselves. AND, we will begin soon having smaller events on a fairly regular basis, and you can definitely look forward to larger events and activities for Halloween, Winter, and other special times of the year. Please, remain a member of the Second Pride Festival Group to be kept up to date on what’s going on, and also check on our website at www.second-pride.com. In fact, coming up next weekend, we have Pride Fest, presented by FMD and The 40 Thieves in conjunction with Second Pride. All proceeds benefit Rainbow Railroad. Click one of the white posters outside the dance area to receive a landmark, and we definitely hope to see all of you there!

I want to thank Tootsie and her team for their hard work in keeping us secure for the last ten days, and tell her to go get some much needed sleep!

On July 13^th at noon (date corrected, 2019-07-06), in accordance with the Second Pride Bylaws, we will hold the annual meeting of the Board and Members. Also, you may remember that we tried to vote on a minor Bylaw change at the start of Pride, and the lag killed the voting machines immediately. We will complete that voting before the 14^th if all goes well now that the lag is gone.

Okay, thank you all again, and without further delay, Regi….take it home for us….let the Grand Finale begin!"

Second Pride - Call for Board Candidates (Updated)

The minutes of the Second Pride annual meeting on July 30, 2017, have been published on the Second Pride website. You will find the minutes in the right hand column.

Left to right, Tootsie Nootan, Viktor Sandman, Jak Calcutt & LLedge Eames
(Marge Beaumont wasn't able to attend) 

A quick summary of the reports from the board members would be that this years Second Pride festival was a huge success, with lots of visitors, wonderful venues and builds, few security issues and loads of donations.

The board thanked everyone and the board members were in turn all lauded by those in attendance for their good work for the community and the organization.

After setting aside funds for tier for the Second Pride sim for the coming year and some petty cash, there will be roughly US$1,000 for the board to donate to charity. The board is considering donations to either The Rainbow Railroad or The Human Rights Campaign Fund.

The biggest surprise was the news that the whole board is stepping down, every single one of them. All the positions will be open for the election of new candidates.

The election timetable is as follows (all dates are of course SLT).

1. August 1 - September 3, 2017 - The Second Pride Festival group is closed for new members until the end of the election.
2. August 7-20, 2017 Call for candidates.
3. August 20-26, 2017 Question & answers period 
4. August 27 - September 2, 2017 Elections

The election committee will be headed by LLedge Eames as the outgoing chair.

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Those considering submitting their candidacies will find a Board Candidate Submission Form (here).

Please take the time to consider how you - or perhaps a friend - could serve the LGBT+ community in SecondLife and send in your Candidacy.

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UPDATE 8/13/2017
Lee MacKay, the current webmaster for the Second Pride website, in a comment on Google+, informs me: "It's also very important to note that anyone wishing to participate in the Q&A portion of the election process MUST create an account on the website to do so. The Q&A will take the form of comments beneath each candidate's statement, and a working, verified login is required to post or reply. This applies to the candidates as well, of course. - SP Webmaster"

Madonna, The Love & Rebellion Tour

"After many years of entertaining people, the great folks at Provincetown have decided to close the sim. 

On Saturday, July 29, 2017, at 1PM SLT, Madonna The Virtual History Tour will kick off the closing parties at Provincetown. Join us!

All the donations will benefit again the American Friends of Rainbow Railroad!! This will be our last show of summer, and our last show on Provincetown.. So are you with us?"

To the show at Provincetown (SLurl)

This event is sponsored by Second Pride.

Early Notice: Madonna - The Love & Rebellion Tour

The Madonna Company is on tour again, now with a special benefit for American Friends of Rainbow Railroad Inc.

Rainbow Railroad (url) helps LGBT+ people escape from countries with state-sponsored violence and persecution, in this case, gay and bisexual men in Chechnya, who are being tortured, abused and murdered, to leave that country and get relocated somewhere else in the world.

The upcoming event on Saturday July 22, 2017, at 1PM SLT, is sponsored by Second Pride.

Be there or be square and bring your wallets!