No Hate Speech Movement

The Council of Europe is an international organisation in Strasbourg which comprises 47 countries of Europe. It was set up to promote democracy and protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe.

"Young People Combating Hate Speech Online is a project being run by the Council of Europe’s youth sector between 2012 and 2014. It aims to combat racism and discrimination, as expressed online as hate speech, by mobilizing young people and youth organisations to recognize and act against such human rights violations. The project is a tribute to youth participation and co-management. It was initiated by the youth representatives in the Joint Council on Youth, the committee which brings together youth leaders belonging of the Advisory Council on Youth and the governmental youth representatives of the European Steering Committee on Youth. The project is therefore being carried out by young people with the support of governmental youth institutions.

The campaign is not designed to limit freedom of expression online. Neither is it about everyone being nice to each other online. It is against hate speech online in all its forms, including those that most affect young people, such as cyber-bullying and cyber-hate. The campaign focuses on human rights education, youth participation and media literacy.

The goals of the campaign are:

• To raise awareness about hate speech online and the risks it poses for democracy and individual young people.

• To promote media and Internet literacy.

• To support young people in standing up for human rights, online and offline.

• To reduce the levels of acceptance of online hate speech.

• To mobilise, train and create a network of online youth activists to defend human rights.

• To map hate speech online and develop tools to combat it.

• To support and show solidarity to people and groups targeted by hate speech online.

• To advocate the development of and consensus on European policy instruments combating hate speech.

• To develop youth participation and citizenship online."

Read more about this campaign: http://www.nohatespeechmovement.org/

Tipped by the blog Vanadis ser på saken

Open Letter to A Well Meaning Woman

My son Guyke will undoubtedly tell me, that writing this post is creating drama, but as I have told him in my opinion people who say that others are taking part in drama are often not willing to take a position on an issue or unwilling to declare their opinion in public. They instead accuse those who are willing and dare to do so of creating drama.

After logging off from SecondLife tonight I was tired and going to bed but wanted to check the latest updates on my blog list.

I happened to notice the following title on one of the "recent posts" on a blogroll, it read (translated to English and to English/American customs): "Second Pride Festival. Isn't That Like Brussel Sprouts at the Christmas Dinner Table?"

The post was on a Swedish SecondLife blog that I haven't been reading for several years, due to the fact that the blog owner (on this blog unlovingly referred to as "the mudslinger" ) made a personal attack on me by challenging whether my late partner Ars Northmead has ever existed.

The writer of this post was however not the mudslinger herself, but one of her sisters, cousins, friends, whatever, a woman with a more reputable image.

As far as I am aware, neither the writer, nor the blog has any connection or affiliation whatsoever to or with any LGBTQ person, organisation or community, be it in first life or SecondLife. This fact however in no way daunts the writer of the blog post from expressing her opinions on when and where the LGBTQ  community as a whole and worldwide should celebrate Pride and how they should do it to appear less gimmicky. 

The writer utilises the interesting and insidious technique of phrasing all her statements as questions, which makes it completely impossible to hold them against her. I will however say this to her in an open letter:

My dear madam,

Your views on when, where and how we should celebrate our Pride, however well meaning they may be - and I must stress that I see them as well meaning - are from a purely heteronormative perspective and are, in my most humble opinion, lopsided, inaccurate, uniformed and/or false.

The fact of the matter is that every day, in every nation (yes, even in Sweden), in the virtual worlds and cyberspace and in every walk of life LGBTQ persons are verbally and emotionally harassed, underpaid compared to their straight (or closeted) equals, less likely to be promoted compared to their straight (or closeted) equals, emotionally, physically and mentally abused, violated, maimed and killed. 

We will continue to celebrate Pride as we ourselves see fit, even if you should happen to disagree and consider, it more of a stunt or gimmicky. We do this to come together to rejoice over our past victories, for mutual support and to support our brothers and sisters in less democratic countries where they are forbidden to express their homosexuality in private as well as in  public under the risk of fines, imprisonment or death penalty, where they are also forbidden to demonstrate their pride in any way, shape or form. And we will continue to do so as long as we see it as necessary and fitting.

If you should wish to see and experience what Second Pride is all about, please let me inform you that the festival has always been open for everyone to visit and take part in. Alas the festival for 2013 was concluded a week ago but I would be happy to accompany you and show you around the exhibitions and the parties at next years Second Pride Festival.

Yours kindly,

Bock McMillan

P.S. I have made the following list on the present status of samesex marriages worldwide to correct the false facts you give in your post. The information is readily available for everyone on Wikipedia. (I have updated the information on California according to recent developments)

As of May 2013 the following thirteen countries have legalized same-sex marriages

1. Argentina, 
2. Belgium, 
3. Brazil, 
4. Canada, 
5. Denmark,
6. France, 
7. Iceland, 
8. The Netherlands,
9. Norway,
10. Portugal, 
11. Spain, 
12. South Africa and 
13. Sweden

In August 2013 the following two countries will also legalize same-sex marriages (laws have already been enacted that that will come into force at that time)

1. Uruguay and 
2. New Zealand

As of May 2013 several sub-national jurisdictions in the following countries have legalized same-sex marriages

1. parts of Mexico and 
2. parts of the United States.

As of June 26, 2013, the following sub-national jurisdictions (states) of the United States have legalized same-sex marriages

1. California.
2. Colorado, 
3. Iowa
4. Maine
5. Maryland, 
6. Massachusetts, 
7. New Hampshire, 
8. New York, 
9. Vermont and 
10. Washington

In the following countries bills allowing legal recognition of same-sex marriage have been proposed, are pending, or have passed at least one legislative house in

1. Andorra, 
2. England and Wales, 
3. Finland, 
4. Germany, 
5. Ireland, 
6. Luxembourg, 
7. Nepal, 
8. Scotland and 
9. Taiwan 

In the following sub-national jurisdictions bills allowing legal recognition of same-sex marriage have been proposed, are pending, or have passed at least one legislative house

1. parts of Australia, 
2. parts of Mexico and 
3. parts of the United States.

Named Avatars 4

My friend Vanadis Falconer has graciously decided to take part in the fun.

Many of you may know Vanadis mainly for her blog, "Vanadis ser på saken" ("Vanadis takes a look at matters"). I have had a few feuds with Vanadis, but I have always respected her for her ability to stand her ground and for her strong will.

Vanadis Falconer

"I was born curious. When I was a child there was a lot of talk about Norse mythology in my neighborhood, very exciting tales of Thor, Odin, Frigg and Freya and the wicked Loki. The cow that never ran dry and the pig that was slaughtered every night and was back just as happy every morning. Modern research then started to go back to originals before the christian and punch-drunk influences.

It was found that women were the major gods! No one did anything without consulting with their clever wives. 


Freya, the Vaner dis - Goddess of the Vaner, became the greatest goddess among them all.

Growing up with the strong belief that the woman is the superior gender while the man is disposable, "save the women and children first", because of the woman's ability to create life. For the survival of the human race - as for any other mammal only one male is needed for every ten females in order to avoid inbreeding. Although it is nice to have your own "little boy" to play with. All this made it natural for me to take the name "Vanadis" in honour of Freya.

But the strange thing was that when I had to choose a surname the rare name "Falconer" was available. One of Freya's attributes is the Falcon. It was a strange coincidence that I started in Second Life that day, because the next day you could no longer choose that last name. It would take another eighteen months for the next time that it was possible to choose it. It was as if there was a higher power that caused me to log in for the first time that day. The Norns weaving the web of fate perhaps?"

----

If you would also like to participate in the series by sharing your reasons for choosing the name you have given your avatar, please send me an e-mail lundamats@gmail.com. Please include a picture of yourself.

I may take some editorial liberties with your text and picture, such as correcting obvious misspellings in the US English and perhaps shortening. However I promise that I will not distort any facts and that I will contact you if the changes are of a major nature (or if I have reason to believe that you would think so).

Better Than Sex?

This is a blog response to Vanadis Falconer´s post "Låt oss tala om sex!" (Let´s talk about sex!) where she discusses the morals that seem to guide SecondLife, Iphone, Blogger etc., and the morality clauses that all these services carry with them. The fear of nudity, the fear to discuss anything sexual in an open and outright why is crippling.

At the end of her post Vanadis makes the parallel - that comes naturally for many of us Swedes - between the need for sex and talking about it as much as we need the traditional Swedish crisp bread called "knäckebröd".

Remembering my childhood years in Pakistan, where one of the true highlights and big thrills was the arrival every six months or so of the "package from home". That package was an enormous crate (2 x 2 x 4 meters) filled with all kinds of goddies for the Scandinavian community.

It always contained such delicacies as enormous amounts of knäckebröd, several 20 kilogram containers of  lingonberries, several 20 kilogram containers of pickled cucumbers and all other food that we Swedes in the diaspora yearned for.

I totally agree with Vanadis, really it is as important to talk about sex with an open mind as to enjoy eating knäckebröd. Hell for the time being I am totally relying on knäckebröd alone and it keeps me sane!

Välkommen till bloggosfären Vanadis!

Nu bloggar även Vanadis Falconer om SL i bloggen "Vanadis ser på saken" Välkommen Vanadis!

(Ja, ja jag erkänner jag läste det först hos den som vanligt välinformerade dronningen!)

Bilden kommer från Vanadis bidrag till mitt bloggprojekt "Nakna avatarer i SL"