Pride Month -- Got An Email From SL

[Love Zhaoying]

15 hours ago, missyrideout said:

Note to LL pls mark my account Gay AF so I get the emails.

Yeah, I must not be queer enough. Unless the SL emails are all going to Spam folders (usually appropriate for SL emails).

[Love Zhaoying]

15 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

I just discovered something horrible -- that email was from last year. I had it pinned at the top and my email changed to place the pins far to the right so I didn't notice it was an old email from 2021

Now I have to worry...will we get a Pride announcement this year?

Nope, you jinxed it!

[Luna Bliss]

7 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

22 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

I just discovered something horrible -- that email was from last year. I had it pinned at the top and my email changed to place the pins far to the right so I didn't notice it was an old email from 2021

Now I have to worry...will we get a Pride announcement this year?

Nope, you jinxed it!

If only my meditation had produced such siddhi powers of the advanced Yogi to influence a preferred outcome!  I'm afraid the only powers I've developed in my meditation so far though is the power to nod off into dreamland with ease, or the ability to be especially irritated because I'm not achieving SOMEthing'.    

[Luna Bliss]

22 hours ago, Coffee Pancake said:

Silence is complicity.

Corporate pride with out affirmative action is pink washing.

LGBTQ+ people are not simply a marketing opportunity for companies to make hay while the sun shines. We depend on actual meaningful support from people outside of our community or history's echo's will wipe us all out, again.

A few more thoughts about all this...

Do you remember when the environmental movement was especially pronounced in popular culture, around 2006, and all these corporations were advertising their "green" causes?
I experienced this with companies who sought a presence in SL --  I worked for a couple of them, designing very "green" themes. I had mixed feelings about one I worked for, as though I knew they were just following what was popular at that time in order to enhance their company, the particular way they connected SL to RL was actually doing an immense amount of good in RL. So I was in conflict about whether this was overall a good thing.

This other project I worked on was with a bonified environmentalist who had work in RL environmentalism to his credit -- he really cared. And he hired me to create something too in SL, but wanted to make sure I truly cared and was not just using environmentalism to enhance my own design business here...lol.  Crazy times. Eventually he began to see I really did love nature and wanted to protect it.

Anyway, what do you think of the Disney debacle? I haven't really examined it in depth so don't know the heads of the corporation and what they truly believe, but from what I've read so far they actually seem concerned about sticking to their beliefs and are not kowtowing to local government demands even if it entails a loss of income.

[Luna Bliss]

12 hours ago, Paul Hexem said:

23 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Well, Love, I like a quote by Joan Baez:

         The best antidote to despair is action.

So this is one of my actions -- to bring greater awareness to a celebration of diversity, as let me tell you, the plans of those coming to power (the MAGA people and their Christian Nationalist friends in the Supreme Court) are aiming to take these hard-won rights away. It's too easy to feel despair when contemplating what likely lies ahead.

There is an opportunity to celebrate diversity in SL during the month of June, to take pride in being who you are, or be an ally to those who are in danger. Don't let those trying to make LGBTQ+ people into 2nd class citizens have their way. Have fun with friends and enjoy the rights that still exist, and maybe at some of the Pride events learn ways you can support human rights in RL communities too.

Expand  

"Hey, LL is doing something good. Let's make it political."

 

23 hours ago, Coffee Pancake said:

LGBTQ+ people are not simply a marketing opportunity for companies to make hay while the sun shines.

Except, unfortunately, it usually is.

But it already is political and that's why Pride events exist -- powerful factions of society decide an element of society is wrong (in this case, LGBTQ+ citizens) and use political parties and government in order to root out what they don't desire. Pride events exist as a support, as a way to bolster self-esteem in order to cope and survive a society that seeks to destroy those it wants to dominate and/or exclude.  It would be very difficult to separate Pride events from the political.

But your comment to me and to Coffee seem to contradict each other. Is LL doing something "good" or not if they feature LGBTQ+ people in announcements or blog posts? Am I doing something "good" if I call attention to their plight and refer to how severe the issues have become and so how much more important the issues are currently with all the crazies making egregious laws against us...or am I simply being "political"?  And what exactly is "political" anyway?

At its most basic definition 'politics' means 'who gets what, and how' -- and government determines much of this via the influence of political parties. So actually everything is political, and this is why LL can't make a TOS rule for the forum disallowing it (though they have discouraged political discussions) -- it's simply too hard to define as basically everything is political at its root.
However, what we usually mean when we accuse someone of being political is to that they have taken the side of their chosen party and they're fighting against some other party they believe to be wrong.

But Paul, I do not belong to any political party so how am I being political (using the definition in my last paragraph)? I'm simply describing particular movements within society, involving people who do not believe in democracy and seek to overthrow the government (the MAGA people) and others who want to thrust their religious ideas on everyone else (the charismatic Catholic sect adherents on the Supreme court), and in the process taking away the rights of those who acquired civil rights in recent years.
My mentioning that one party does indeed embody these dynamics more and that it has pretty much gone berserk via becoming a Christian Nationalist party does not mean I'm a big fan of their 'other side', in fact, I am so let down by that 'other side' that it is a primary reason I want to leave the US -- because they are responsible in a large part for why the berserk side manifested -- they have been content to create too many 'losers' (allowing too much inequality) in our society, and societies that create too many losers are typically drowned in a fascist tide. 

My purpose is not to be political, but to rail against 'soul stealing', as nothing is worse than a wasted life where someone's personhood is stolen to whatever degree, and they can't be who they are in their fullest expression, and so instead exist in varying degrees of misery because of the domination by another person or group that seeks to keep them down for their own benefit. This is what fascism does -- it is the opposite of respecting diversity.
I would be against any person or group disrespecting the personhood of anyone else, no matter their political affiliation.

Edited May 19, 2022 by Luna Bliss

[Paul Hexem]

43 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

survive a society that seeks to destroy those it wants to dominate and/or exclude

If "society" wanted that, we wouldn't have any of these events anywhere. I'd argue most of society is perfectly fine with LGBTQ, minus some loud extremists. But then every group has their loud extremists that make the whole group look bad.

46 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

But your comment to me and to Coffee seem to contradict each other. Is LL doing something "good" or not if they feature LGBTQ+ people in announcements or blog posts?

If you think the world is out to get LGBTQ people, then LL is doing something good. Otherwise, LL is just pandering for social justice points. I think the latter.

48 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

However, what we usually mean when we accuse someone of being political is to that they have taken the side of their chosen party and they're fighting against some other party they believe to be wrong.

No, I meant exactly what I said. If you support rainbow pride, you can simply enjoy that there's a pride event, full stop. It doesn't have to be more than that. If it is, then we're moving into "scoring social justice points" territory.

51 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

involving people who do not believe in democracy and seek to overthrow the government (the MAGA people) and others who want to thrust their religious ideas on everyone else (the charismatic Catholic sect adherents on the Supreme court), and in the process taking away the rights of those who acquired civil rights in recent years.

That's making it political. Also, a bunch morons aren't going to overthrow the government, especially not a bunch of unarmed idiots wearing viking cotumes. I don't know why this keeps getting parroted. A bunch of loud idiots on one side make the loud idiots on the other side try to shout louder, then it's a shouting match of extremes that doesn't represent how most normal people feel. Stop getting sucked into that void.

55 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

I would be against any person or group disrespecting the personhood of anyone else, no matter their political affiliation.

Most normal people are. It's been said before; SL is one of the most inclusive spaces on the Internet. Choosing this platform to fight for the cause is making a fight where there isn't one, and creates enemies where there aren't any.

[Love Zhaoying]

On 5/18/2022 at 7:40 AM, sirhc DeSantis said:

Yay! And once again Second Pride has picked some great orgs to benefit.

Same orgs as last year! 

[Codex Alpha]

Yep and every time this topic comes out, gotta be on record to say "Keep your political BS out of Second Life"

[Luna Bliss]

3 hours ago, Paul Hexem said:

4 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

survive a society that seeks to destroy those it wants to dominate and/or exclude

If "society" wanted that, we wouldn't have any of these events anywhere. I'd argue most of society is perfectly fine with LGBTQ, minus some loud extremists. But then every group has their loud extremists that make the whole group look bad.

Groups are always allowed to protest and have festivals even when society hates them, so to say that society is accepting because we allow the protests isn't valid.

I don't think you know what's happing in the US. There were 240 anti-gay LGBTQ bills filed in 2022 so far:
    https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/nearly-240-anti-lgbtq-bills-filed-2022-far-targeting-trans-people-rcna20418

Sure, I'd venture to say that more people are accepting of gay people these days than not, and more than in times past, but it sure doesn't feel like it if you can't have the same rights that straight people have...and that is the aim of those coming to power in the US (to take away rights from LGBTQ+ people, women, and people of color).
Not having these rights can cause a whole lot of pain. Jobs, housing, and family life ae all affected in detrimental ways. 
And when gays are criminalized and are seen to be unworthy of the basic rights others enjoy more hate is likely to follow and before long its back where it was before any civil rights were attained.

This is why I think Pride this year might feel exceptionally special, as we'll all be coming together with the knowledge we really have to support each other to overcome the increased hatred directed by those coming to power and controlling the lives of LGBTQ+ people (forgot to say, hate crimes against marginalized groups are up to).
You see, SL really is not so separate from RL for many, many people. The numerous support groups in SL dealing with RL issues attest to that.

[Luna Bliss]

15 hours ago, Polenth Yue said:

The website location hasn't changed since last year's email, so you can see the countdown and who they're raising funds for this year. It'll update with more stuff as it gets near. There's also the inworld group "Second Pride" and a discord. They run events through the year on the regions, as well as the main pride event.

It's why it didn't immediately register that you'd gotten last year's email, because the basics are true every year.

Yes, keep us posted.  And thanks!

[Coffee Pancake]

52 minutes ago, Codex Alpha said:

Yep and every time this topic comes out, gotta be on record to say "Keep your political BS out of Second Life"

Aww, you see queer people and think it's politics.

Pride isn't a celebration, it's a protest.

[Sammy Huntsman]

The one thing I don't get with Pride, is why do stores and corporations do it only once a year. I mean I feel like its a big old way to make a crap tonne of money off of us. Then they change it right back, about a couple of weeks right after pride is done. Lol 

 

[Arielle Popstar]

9 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

But it already is political and that's why Pride events exist -- powerful factions of society decide an element of society is wrong (in this case, LGBTQ+ citizens) and use political parties and government in order to root out what they don't desire. Pride events exist as a support, as a way to bolster self-esteem in order to cope and survive a society that seeks to destroy those it wants to dominate and/or exclude.  It would be very difficult to separate Pride events from the political.

But your comment to me and to Coffee seem to contradict each other. Is LL doing something "good" or not if they feature LGBTQ+ people in announcements or blog posts? Am I doing something "good" if I call attention to their plight and refer to how severe the issues have become and so how much more important the issues are currently with all the crazies making egregious laws against us...or am I simply being "political"?  And what exactly is "political" anyway?

At its most basic definition 'politics' means 'who gets what, and how' -- and government determines much of this via the influence of political parties. So actually everything is political, and this is why LL can't make a TOS rule for the forum disallowing it (though they have discouraged political discussions) -- it's simply too hard to define as basically everything is political at its root.
However, what we usually mean when we accuse someone of being political is to that they have taken the side of their chosen party and they're fighting against some other party they believe to be wrong.

But Paul, I do not belong to any political party so how am I being political (using the definition in my last paragraph)? I'm simply describing particular movements within society, involving people who do not believe in democracy and seek to overthrow the government (the MAGA people) and others who want to thrust their religious ideas on everyone else (the charismatic Catholic sect adherents on the Supreme court), and in the process taking away the rights of those who acquired civil rights in recent years.
My mentioning that one party does indeed embody these dynamics more and that it has pretty much gone berserk via becoming a Christian Nationalist party does not mean I'm a big fan of their 'other side', in fact, I am so let down by that 'other side' that it is a primary reason I want to leave the US -- because they are responsible in a large part for why the berserk side manifested -- they have been content to create too many 'losers' (allowing too much inequality) in our society, and societies that create too many losers are typically drowned in a fascist tide. 

My purpose is not to be political, but to rail against 'soul stealing', as nothing is worse than a wasted life where someone's personhood is stolen to whatever degree, and they can't be who they are in their fullest expression, and so instead exist in varying degrees of misery because of the domination by another person or group that seeks to keep them down for their own benefit. This is what fascism does -- it is the opposite of respecting diversity.
I would be against any person or group disrespecting the personhood of anyone else, no matter their political affiliation.

This post contradicts itself in that it says the purpose is to not be political after being nothing but political in its entirety. Announce the event and chat about how great it is going to be but the moment one starts denigrating political parties or groups that may not supportive in spite of no one from those factions having said anything in the thread, the poster has made it political. What part of that is difficult to understand?

[Sammy Huntsman]

55 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

This post contradicts itself in that it says the purpose is to not be political after being nothing but political in its entirety. Announce the event and chat about how great it is going to be but the moment one starts denigrating political parties or groups that may not supportive in spite of no one from those factions having said anything in the thread, the poster has made it political. What part of that is difficult to understand?

She did go on a political rant. I just noticed the hypocrisy. Lol. 

 

[Luna Bliss]

1 hour ago, Arielle Popstar said:

This post contradicts itself in that it says the purpose is to not be political after being nothing but political in its entirety. Announce the event and chat about how great it is going to be but the moment one starts denigrating political parties or groups that may not supportive in spite of no one from those factions having said anything in the thread, the poster has made it political. What part of that is difficult to understand?

Well if you want to imagine some kind of political fighting is happening be my guest, but I'm not participating so argue with yourself I guess.
I'm simply advertising Pride coming in June, and pointing out why I fear rights are likely to be taken from LGBTQ+ people -- and my fears were why I said I got an email from SL and how this was proof to me that we had not descended into the place where LGBTQ+ people needed to be invisible yet, and so I was relieved. Merely being descriptive, describing what is occurring, is not political fighting.

Many rights are likely going to fall for women and LGBTQ+ people due to the way the Supreme Court is interpreting the law now. What was used to undermine Roe vs Wade can be used to undermine LGBTQ+ rights as well, and many who understand the law much better than myself are worried. Whenever you get a religious sect that seeks to mold society as they see fit this does not bode well for marginalized groups or a platform/game like SL that is not exactly G-rated. We should really talk about it. How far is all this likely to go?

[Luna Bliss]

https://second-pride.com/

Schedule available soon.

[Sammy Huntsman]

1 hour ago, Arielle Popstar said:

This post contradicts itself in that it says the purpose is to not be political after being nothing but political in its entirety. Announce the event and chat about how great it is going to be but the moment one starts denigrating political parties or groups that may not supportive in spite of no one from those factions having said anything in the thread, the poster has made it political. What part of that is difficult to understand?

Ngl I can't stand politics at all, and also I tend to keep to myself and be in my own space when it comes to news and politics. With the way the world is going, I want to keep my hair in my head and not be constantly anxious or stressed. And before someone says, I am ignorant. No I am not, I know enough from people talking about it on social media. I just would like to keep my sanity and mental health intact. I mean I do scroll on by posts like that. 

[Arielle Popstar]

21 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Well if you want to imagine some kind of political fighting is happening be my guest, but I'm not participating so argue with yourself I guess.

No need to argue, it is pretty plain. I've wondered in past and am becoming increasingly convinced that when there is a seeming obsession that such a one is actually paid for making political posts.

[Luna Bliss]

14 hours ago, Arielle Popstar said:

No need to argue, it is pretty plain. I've wondered in past and am becoming increasingly convinced that when there is a seeming obsession that such a one is actually paid for making political posts.

Social justice is what love looks like in public.

[Luna Bliss]

Watching a good movie on YouTube....If These Walls Could Talk 2.  Three stories about gay people living in the same house from three different eras. The first story portrays what happens when LGBTQ+ people aren't allowed to marry and so not considered as 'family' who would have the right to visit a loved one in the hospital, or not given the right to keep a house they've had for years with their partner when one of them passes away.

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Luna Bliss

[Blaise Glendevon]

14 hours ago, Arielle Popstar said:

No need to argue, it is pretty plain. I've wondered in past and am becoming increasingly convinced that when there is a seeming obsession that such a one is actually paid for making political posts.

Because your positions are always party-agnostic, and never at all partisan, right?

[Codex Alpha]

2 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Watching a good movie on YouTube....If These Walls Could Talk 2.  Three stories about gay people living in the same house from three different eras. The first story portrays what happens when LGBTQ+ people aren't allowed to marry and so not considered as 'family' who would have the right to visit a loved one in the hospital, or not given the right to keep a house they've had for years with their partner when one of them passes away.

 

Does one of those eras take place  after 2000? As far as I've seen LGBTQ have had a Pride Decade and have been kicking it for awhile now. Your continue cries of oppression and unfair treatment is not the norm in the West - and no there is no war against women in the US.

What more can I and others do for you that we haven't already? This is more of a cry for attention than anything else at this point.

Go to another country, preferably a third world or non-democratic one, and fight your social justice war there - where it is actually needed.

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

Edited May 20, 2022 by Codex Alpha

[Blaise Glendevon]

11 minutes ago, Codex Alpha said:

Does one of those eras take place  after 2000? As far as I've seen LGBTQ have had a Pride Decade and have been kicking it for awhile now. Your continue cries of oppression and unfair treatment is not the norm in the West - and no there is no war against women in the US.

What more can I and others do for you that we haven't already? This is more of a cry for attention than anything else at this point.

Go to another country, preferably a third world or non-democratic one, and fight your social justice war there - where it is actually needed.

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

Right now, in this United States, Republican legislators have overtly indicated that the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade will be a catalyst to deny LGBTQ+ folks the right to marry, to have intimate relations without being charged with a crime, to express themselves in ways assured by the First Amendment based on a revocation of the assumed right to privacy. RIGHT NOW, trans kids are being legislated against. RIGHT NOW, the voices of LGBTQ+ families and teachers are being silenced by religious fascists intent on shoving their religious sentiment into our secular law. 

 

[Sammy Huntsman]

3 minutes ago, Blaise Glendevon said:

Right now, in this United States, Republican legislators have overtly indicated that the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade will be a catalyst to deny LGBTQ+ folks the right to marry, to have intimate relations without being charged with a crime, to express themselves in ways assured by the First Amendment based on a revocation of the assumed right to privacy. RIGHT NOW, trans kids are being legislated against. RIGHT NOW, the voices of LGBTQ+ families and teachers are being silenced by religious fascists intent on shoving their religious sentiment into our secular law. 

 

Roe V Wade just takes away the federal powers of creating abortion laws, and gives it back to the each state individually. Roe V wade has nothing to do with Gay Marriages or anything like that. 

[Sammy Huntsman]

Let me preface this by saying I am all for body autonomy. But I think that each state or each province in Canada should be able to create their own laws based on body autonomy.