Picture of the Day - 220

"jj" by JJ Goodman

If you wish to see more of JJ's photography, please visit his Flickr photostream here.

And the Wall Came Tumbling Down

For those of you who are too young to remember and those of you who may have forgotten, this is the introductory paragraph of Wikipedia's article on the Berlin Wall.

"The Berlin Wall was a barrier that existed between 1961 and 1989 inclusively, constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off  West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until it was opened in 1989. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period."

The date on which the Berlin Wall fell is considered to have been November 9, 1989.

It's only 25 years ago, but it feels like more than a lifetime has passed. I remember the day well. After having lived in the Diaspora in Central Sweden for a few horrible years, I had recently returned down south, to my native town again, and followed the news closely and was filled with great joy at what was transpiring.

So much changed after the fall of the Wall, the cold war ended and the world felt like a better and safer place with great hopes for the future. For a while.

Now tension seems to be building up again, aided by the Russian president Vladimir "Little Father" Putin's desire to restore Russia to it's former glory as a world power.

"I'm Sorry..."

To the guy who punched me tonight for kissing my boyfriend pic.twitter.com/SMVmTpDCdL
— Cole Ledford (@ColeLedford11) November 7, 2014

This news reaches me via Wicked Gay Blog and Gay Star News:

"A US student, who was beaten up for being gay, tweeted a defiant message to his attacker and instantly became a viral sensation.

Ohio student Cole Ledford, who tweets at @ColeLedford11, was beaten up for kissing his boyfriend, and was left with a painful black eye.

Yesterday (November 7), he tweeted a picture of himself and his injuries alongside a text with the words: ‘To the guy who punched me tonight for kissing my boyfriend.’

‘I'm sorry that you called me fag,’ wrote Ledford.

‘I'm sorry you hit me for no reason. I'm sorry that whatever insecurities you have don't allow you to accept others for who they are. I'm sorry that I threaten you.’

‘I'm NOT sorry I'm gay. I'm proud to be this way. I'm proud to be confident enough to love who I love and to love me. I'm proud to have friends and family that love me regardless of me. Honestly, I'm not sorry.’

Since posting the image, Ledford has become somewhat of an overnight star. His tweet was retweeted more than 23,000 times.

He later posted a cute photo of him and his boyfriend with the caption: ‘Boyfriend wanted to say hi and thanks for the support! Off to Cleveland to see the fam! #loveislove #youallrock.’

He also tweeted: ‘overwhelmed by all the support. I have a nasty black eye but other than that, I'm fine. Thank you all so much! Love > Hate.’

He’s also been encouraging his new-found followers to support equality charities if they want to help.

‘If what happened to me makes you want to make a difference please consider donating to the @HRC and help their fight,’ he tweeted."

---

Another everyday hero steps out of anonymity for a while to make us all proud. Proud to be humans, to be men and most of all to be gay men.

Zeus - The Grand Re-Opening

Yesterday was the grand re-opening of the Zeus Gay Club and O.M.G. what an opening it was! Everyone was there at some point during the festivities.

L to R: Pook Cypher, my Tomais, J.J. Goodman. me and Rylan Sirnah

The owner Michelangelo Vilota and the rest of the extremely large Vilota family and Zeus crew took the opportunity to show off all the beautiful and scenic new venues that had been created by the talented architect and builder Fran Ghoststar, a.k.a. Arteo.

I was too lazy to take pictures, except for the one above, but my friends and co-bloggers Carl Paneer and Rusty Redfield were more active and can offer you many more pictures the parties. Head on over to Carl's blog NakedCarl: Zeus Grand Re-opening and Rusty's blog Playing with the Big Boys: 079: The re-opening party for the Zeus Gay Club.

Picture of the Day - 219

"We Make This World Our Hell" by Bronson Twine

If you wish to see more of Bronson's photography, please visit his Flickr photostream here.

The New & Improved Zeus Gay Club Opens

Just be there!

The Duo Birthday Bash, November 15, 1-3 PM SLT

Why: Celebrating Tomais Ashdene's 6th and Dejerrity Mycron's 8th rezdays
When: November 15, 2014, 1-3 pm SLT
Where: Southern Charm sim (landmark will follow at a later date)
What (to wear): The theme of the party is Sci-Fi and Alien Invasion (but you will be welcome in whatever you choose).
What (to bring): No gifts necessary, but if you feel inclined please use the gift jar that will be rezzed. All donations eill be forwarded to The Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBT youth.
Who: All of our family and friends and their families and friends and their families and friends ad infinitum...

Featuring The Big Boom Bounce Sound of DJ Ryder Yowman and the something-something sound of DJ Rylan Sirnah..

The Ali Forney Center