Second Pride: Habemus Praesidem!

The LGBT+ residents and our straight allies of SecondLife waited with bated breath for the announcement from the Special Meeting that had been called on Saturday for the particular purpose to appoint a new Chairperson.

All eyes were fixed on the tiny chimney perched on the roof of the Meeting-skybox for a sign of either black smoke or white smoke. Then suddenly, at 1:40 PM SLT, the smoke appeared. And it was gloriously white! The board had agreed (6-0, with 1 abstention) on a Chairperson for Second Pride.

Sister's and brother's, sing out in joy and exultation, for we are no longer orphaned lambs shambling our way through the desert in disarray, facing the dangers without a leader to guide us. 

Please join me in welcoming our new shepherd, and leader, 

Lee McKay!!!

A Straight Eye For The Queer Guy

I still haven't gotten over how truly stunning, fabulous and amazing I looked at the "It's A Party"-event, so I am giving you all another chance to admire me.

Photo by JJ Goodman

The fashion-forward CheerNo jumpsuit fitted me really well and kept me cool despite dancing nonstop for two whole hours.

Now that you've gotten your fill of the astounding me, why not surf on over to get The Not-So-Naked Apmel's report from the event: My Avatar's Name is Apmel: "It was Bock's party and notwithstanding Apmel's ass being there Bock's appearance would have made him center of attention at any party" (url). (Don't you just the lovely long title of that post?)

Announcing: Absolut Rainbow

The Swedish alcohol producer V&S Vin & Sprit AB (a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard) today announced a new product, read more about it here: Absolut Rainbow. I'm certain the launch is connected to the ongoing Stockholm Pride.

"Through the years, Absolut have done all kinds of proud activities, including the first spirits bottle ever to wear the rainbow flag, which was made in collaboration with Gilbert Baker, the designer behind the original flag. To us, the rainbow flag represents the diverse voices of the LGBTQ community coming together, celebrating difference in unity. Now, when the rainbow flag is about to turn 40, the time has come to give the rainbow a permanent place in our portfolio. This time with brush strokes, screen-printed on the glass, creating a strong connection to the creative artists that have been inspired by the Absolut bottle in the past. Absolut Rainbow Edition is limited in volume, but not in time. Consume what's on the inside moderately, but please be anything but moderate when spreading the message on the outside! Taking pride in diversity, is what the world needs, now more than ever."

Landslide For Yes!

42 out of the 43 constituencies voted for accepting same-sex marriage in the Irish referendum today! Only the constituency of Roscommon-South Leitrim voted "No" with a little more than a thousand votes.

What a wonderful and marvelous day this has been! And for many European gay men the fun continues today with the finals of the European Song Contest.

However my heroes of the day are our straight allies in Ireland, this song is for you wonderful people!

Thank You, Our Irish Straight Allies!

As Rachel Maddow, the television host of the MSNBC has said: “Here’s the thing about rights – they’re not actually supposed to be voted on. That’s why there’re called rights.”

But in the case of Ireland there was a definition of marriage written into the constitution, so to have it changed there was a constitutional requirement to put it to a ballot of the Irish people.

And according to all analysts the outcome is already clear, based on among other things by the huge voter turnout and the fact that even usually conservative constituencies have voted Tá/Yes. The only question now seems to be if any of the 43 constituencies will return a Níl/No-vote.

You can follow the counting here Irish referendum - Results by constituency. From there you can click on the detailed listing on the upper left of the page.

An Irish Cabinet minister, Leo Varadkar, who came out as gay at the start of the government's campaign, said: "We're the first country in the world to enshrine marriage equality in our constitution and do so by popular mandate. That makes us a beacon, a light to the rest of the world of liberty and equality. It's a very proud day to be Irish."

I could not agree with him more and would like to thank all our wonderful, sexy, beautiful, amazing, wonderful, marvelous, awesome, wonderful, amazing, beautiful, wonderful  and down-right sexy straight-allies in Ireland! I love and adore you all! 

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

To All LGBT or Straight Allies Who are U.S. Citizen's and/or Legal Permanent Residents

"When laws and constitutional amendments banning marriage equality were passed, many voters and legislators really were blinded by the times. They did not realize that they knew LGBT people personally. They did not recognize the contributions that LGBT people and their families make—as employees, as neighbors, as part of the social fabric in every community in America. Some saw the LGBT community as strangers, not as people with the same hopes and dreams as anyone else.

In many respects, those oppressive times are behind us. In poll after poll, the broad majority of Americans now support marriage equality. Many people who once opposed it are unafraid to admit their views have evolved. Why? They've simply met LGBT people in their own lives.

In other words, the laws challenged in this case are more than fundamentally unfair. They were also adopted in at a time that utterly failed to take into account LGBT Americans as individuals deserving of dignity. The Court has recognized that dignity throughout its history—most recently in U.S. v. Windsor. But recognizing that dignity isn’t enough. It’s time to leave the blindness of the past behind, and guarantee the equal protection our constitution promises to every American."

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The Human Rights Campaign, the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization in the U.S., and Roberta Kaplan, the leading civil rights litigator who famously argued U.S. v. Windsor before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013, launched this unprecedented "People’s Brief" on marriage equality to the Court.

As the nine Justices prepare to hear oral arguments in four critical marriage equality cases this spring, The People’s Brief marks the first time that tens of thousands of fair-minded Americans will have the opportunity to have their voices formally heard in a civil rights case of this magnitude. Americans who are LGBT or have LGBT friends, family members, and colleagues can review the content of the brief, and affix their name to a document that will be considered by the highest court in the land.

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As citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States you have the opportunity to sign this brief and have your voice heard!

Go here to read and sign The People's Brief.

To have your name submitted to the Court, all names must be signed by midnight March 1, 2015.

Matthew Shepard In Memoriam

Matthew Wayne "Matt" Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured and left to die near Laramie, Wyoming on the night of October 6, 1998, and died six days later at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12, from severe head injuries.

On the night of October 6, 1998, Shepard met Aaron McKinney (then 22), and Russell Henderson (then 21), at the Fireside Lounge in Laramie, Wyoming. It was decided that McKinney and Henderson would give Shepard a ride home. McKinney and Henderson subsequently drove the car to a remote, rural area, and proceeded to rob, pistol-whip, and torture Shepard, tie him to a fence, and leave him to die. According to their court testimony, McKinney and Henderson discovered Shepard's address and intended to steal from his home, as well. Still tied to the fence, Shepard, who was in a coma, was discovered 18 hours later by Aaron Kreifels, a cyclist who initially mistook Shepard for a scarecrow.

The parents of Matthew Shepard talk about the painful memories of their son's death following a vicious gay bashing in October, 1998. He died October 12, 1998.

Judy and Dennis Shepard have become tireless fighters against hate crime. They also reveal why they decided not to pursue the death penalty for the men who murdered their son.

(Sources: Wikipedia & YouTube)

Drew Bartscher - Hero & Straight Ally

GayStarNews reports:

"It was a regular Saturday night out for Drew Bartscher and his friends until he ended up with a black eye.

The 27-year-old was waiting for his two friends outside Wiley's Tavern in downtown Sioux Falls in South Dakota at around 2am when he heard a woman use a derogatory term for homosexuals.

'I hear a woman regard – make a comment to her boyfriend. Uh, along the lines of, "These F-ing F-words,"' Bartscher told the media."

Read the full article here.

#liveandletlove

(via J.M.G.)

About the clip

2,000 people of the city of Stockholm gathered at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium to show their support to the LGBT people of Russia and to sing the most beautiful national anthem in the world.

You can do the same, make your own rainbow version of the song and upload under the hashtag #liveandletlove. You'll find sheet music and lyrics on www.liveandletlove.se.
...

Watch, like on YouTube and share! Show Little Father Putin, the Olympic Committee that we will not forget their homophobia and the Russian LGBT community that we support them in their struggles against the horrendous and discriminating "Gay Propaganda" laws. Gay Rights are Human Rights!

Say Thank You to Chris Kluwe

Our straight ally Chris Kluwe has yet again taken a stand against homophobia in sports, say thank you to him by signing this at Athlete Ally. Go here to sign (url)!
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"Whether as a staunch proponent of marriage equality, a vocal Ambassador for Athlete Ally, or a whistleblower at the workplace, Chris Kluwe's advocacy is rooted in his belief that we should always treat people the way we want to be treated. We are so grateful to Chris for doing everything he can to advance social change and for articulating his vision of fair play.

Dear Chris,

Thank you for standing by your principles and standing with the LGBT community, even under pressure. Every day you live up to the words of your recent Deadspin article "Never be afraid to do what's right. If no one ever says anything, nothing ever changes." Because of you, we are on the fast track to making sports a better, more inclusive place. We're grateful to have you on our side.

-The Athlete Ally Team and your supporters everywhere"

Eye Candy for Sunday

This is Ben Cohen, our straight ally and an aesthetically pleasing man with a beautiful mind.

A Silent Protest

This is old news, but I still felt the need to blog about it as it shows us all - even opinionated loudmouths like myself - that one can sometimes convey a clear message extremely successfully and very subtly.

Emma Green Trégaro is a Swedish athlete and straight ally, who competed in high jump at the world championships in Moscow on Thursday. She colored her fingernails in rainbow-colors to show support for the LGBT community in Russia against the country's new homophobic law.

On a side note I would like to add that,  in my mind, Emma's second most notable achievement in life is catching and marrying a former crush of mine, the former high jumper and now successful trainer Yannick Trégaro.

Another Wonderful Brad

I know I have seem Brad Rowe in a couple of movies earlier, but I didn't really see him until I watched a movie with him on YouTube this past weekend. Brad is totally hot with a beautiful face,  the sexiest legs you can imagine and he is a great actor too!

The movie I saw was "Shelter", directed and written by Jonah Markowitz. I saw the version with Vietnamese subtitles as the original version had been blocked for copyright reasons. In spite of that, I was soon so moved and caught up by the beautiful story that I forgot my irritation with the subtitles.

In the film Brad Rowe plays the older brother of the best friend to Zach, the younger man who is the main character. Zach (played by Trevor Wright) finds comfort in surfing with Shaun (played by Brad Rowe) when his college dreams are sidelined by family obligations. The two men's friendship soon grows into love and we follow how Zach struggles  to accept that he is gay and the love they have for each other.

Its a wonderful movie with all it's Hollywood sleekness and glossiness.

What amazed me the most was that I had never heard of the film before, which perhaps is a sign of how out of touch I have been during the last few years. I urge you to see it if you can if you haven't done so already! And if you should have seen, why not watch it again?

Brad Rowe

Brad Rowe is straight and married and has a son. (Why are all the good men always either straight or taken or both, huh?).

Brad is however an outspoken straight ally. Well, he would be of course otherwise he would never had accepted the role in Shelter.

Now I am going to have to buy the DVD, because I will want to watch this movie over and over again.

Sharing A Gift

My sweet sister Millimina Salamander, one of +Joe Jervis @ J.M.G. faithful contributors, sent me this awesome video as a gift yesterday, I am sharing the love with you, my dear readers.

Please enjoy!

Same Love

(via +Joe Jervis at J.M.G.)

Damn Right, Dan Savage!

Photo interviewmagazine.com

I adore Dan Savage, the American humorist and sex advice columnist with a blog named "Savage Love", who is also a gay activist!

This is part of what he had to say on his blog yesterday when he reminded the gay community that we owe thanks to a group of fabulous people. (You can read the whole post here: We Couldn´t Have Done It Without Them):

"Now here's what I want to say: I know so many straight people in Seattle who worked unbelievably hard to approve R-74. They gave money, they volunteered their time, they reached out to friends and relatives and coworkers, all in an effort to make it possible for same-sex couples to marry. Gays and lesbians are a tiny percentage of the population. We couldn't do this on our own. A majority of the legislators who voted for same-sex marriage? Straight. The governor who signed the law making same-sex marriage legal in Washington state? Straight. The majority of the folks manning the phone banks for R-74? Straight. The overwhelming majority of people who voted to approve R-74? Straight. The president who took a huge political risk and came out for marriage equality before his reelection campaign? Straight. It has gotten better for us—better, not perfect—but it hasn't gotten better for us in a vacuum. It's gotten better for us because straight people have gotten better about us."

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I love our straight allies too and can only agree with everything Dan has to say in his post.

Thank You, Straight Allies! I Love You All!

I Love Our Straight Allies

Chris Kluwe

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo (see video) has spoken out in favor of a Maryland ballot initiative that would legalize gay marriage. Yahoo has published a letter that Maryland state delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. wrote last week to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, urging him to "inhibit such expressions from your employee." This is Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe's response to Burns.

"Dear Emmett C. Burns Jr.,

I find it inconceivable that you are an elected official of Maryland's state government. Your vitriolic hatred and bigotry make me ashamed and disgusted to think that you are in any way responsible for shaping policy at any level. The views you espouse neglect to consider several fundamental key points, which I will outline in great detail (you may want to hire an intern to help you with the longer words):

1. As I suspect you have not read the Constitution, I would like to remind you that the very first, the VERY FIRST Amendment in this founding document deals with the freedom of speech, particularly the abridgment of said freedom. By using your position as an elected official (when referring to your constituents so as to implicitly threaten the Ravens organization) to state that the Ravens should "inhibit such expressions from your employees," more specifically Brendon Ayanbadejo, not only are you clearly violating the First Amendment, you also come across as a narcissistic fromunda stain. What on earth would possess you to be so mind-boggingly stupid? It baffles me that a man such as yourself, a man who relies on that same First Amendment to pursue your own religious studies without fear of persecution from the state, could somehow justify stifling another person's right to speech. To call that hypocritical would be to do a disservice to the word. Mindfucking obscenely hypocritical starts to approach it a little bit.

2. "Many of your fans are opposed to such a view and feel it has no place in a sport that is strictly for pride, entertainment, and excitement." Holy fucking shitballs. Did you seriously just say that, as someone who's "deeply involved in government task forces on the legacy of slavery in Maryland"? Have you not heard of Kenny Washington? Jackie Robinson? As recently as 1962 the NFL still had segregation, which was only done away with by brave athletes and coaches daring to speak their mind and do the right thing, and you're going to say that political views have "no place in a sport"? I can't even begin to fathom the cognitive dissonance that must be coursing through your rapidly addled mind right now; the mental gymnastics your brain has to tortuously contort itself through to make such a preposterous statement are surely worthy of an Olympic gold medal (the Russian judge gives you a 10 for "beautiful oppressionism").

3. This is more a personal quibble of mine, but why do you hate freedom? Why do you hate the fact that other people want a chance to live their lives and be happy, even though they may believe in something different than you, or act different than you? How does gay marriage, in any way shape or form, affect your life? If gay marriage becomes legal, are you worried that all of a sudden you'll start thinking about penis? "Oh shit. Gay marriage just passed. Gotta get me some of that hot dong action!" Will all of your friends suddenly turn gay and refuse to come to your Sunday Ticket grill-outs? (Unlikely, since gay people enjoy watching football too.)

I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won't come into your house and steal your children. They won't magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster. They won't even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population—rights like Social Security benefits, child care tax credits, Family and Medical Leave to take care of loved ones, and COBRA healthcare for spouses and children. You know what having these rights will make gays? Full-fledged American citizens just like everyone else, with the freedom to pursue happiness and all that entails. Do the civil-rights struggles of the past 200 years mean absolutely nothing to you?

In closing, I would like to say that I hope this letter, in some small way, causes you to reflect upon the magnitude of the colossal foot in mouth clusterfuck you so brazenly unleashed on a man whose only crime was speaking out for something he believed in. Best of luck in the next election; I'm fairly certain you might need it.

Sincerely,

Chris Kluwe

P.S. I've also been vocal as hell about the issue of gay marriage so you can take your "I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing" and shove it in your close-minded, totally lacking in empathy piehole and choke on it. Asshole."

Chris Kluwe is a punter for the Vikings. Follow him on Twitter, @ChrisWarcraft.

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Quoted from Deadspin.

I think I am in love with Chris Kluwe or Brendon Ayanbadejo or both... I love our straight allies!

Madge in Saint Petersburg

(Via J.M.G..)

Respect!

Kathy Griffin - Proud Straight Ally

Kathy Griffin
Photo by Mike Ruiz/Bravo

"One doesn't ask Kathy Griffin an opening question in an interview situation. She just starts.

And once off and running, Kathy Griffin doesn't stop. In fact, she barely takes a breath.

The fiercely outspoken, fiercely intelligent, all-around-fierce comedian has, for years, been a champion of the gay cause. Long before Lady Gaga was popping up at rallies in support of LGBT rights, Griffin was embedded in the trenches, stumping for DADT repeal and marriage equality in an impassioned, fever-pitched way that would put most campaigning politicians to shame."

That´s how Randy Shulman of Metro Weekly starts off his interviw with comedian and straight ally Kathy Griffin. Please take the time to read the full interview at Metro Weekly; Kathy Griffin Sees You!

Straight Pride

Today I choose to post an image of "The Straight Pride Flag" in honor and celebration of my straight friends and straight allies!

Be damned proud of who you are and what you are, whatever it may be (as long as no children or animals are abused or hurt). And for the love of everything you believe in always, always, remember that you can be proud of yourself without belittling or disenfranchising those who are not like you.

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us."

Jane Austen (1775-1817), Pride and Prejudice, 1811