Tag: SL Pride

SL Pride, the event celebrating diversity organised by and on behalf of Second Life’s LGBTQ+ community officially opened on Friday, June 9th, 2023 and runs through until Sunday, June 18th, 2023.

Given the uncalled for backlash and targeting of the LGBTQ+ community and against gender rights within western nations, coupled with the overall suppression of the community around the world, the theme for this year’s event is, appropriately a message of strength.

NOT GOING BACK – NOT BACKING DOWN

– Second Pride 2023 Theme

As with recent years, the 2023 Second Pride event is hosted across two regions – Second Pride East, with its traditional urban theme, and Second Pride West, with its similarly familiar beachfront and pier design. Straddling the two is the central park and events area, with the landing points for both regions sitting-side-by-side and facing one another across the region boundary.

Also as with previous years, the regions utilise a Second Life Experience to assist with teleports, etc., and if you have not previously visited the event or joined the Experience, doing so is recommended. Posters at the landing points will also provide visitors with information on the festivities and entertainment, which will be focused on the main stage in the park, the Beach Stage, located alongside the beachfront with its Second Pride Boardwalk and associated amusements, rides and stalls, with smaller, more intimate events also being held at the Bandshell / City Venue.

And if that weren’t enough, the Bijou Theatre will be hosting a series of special performances and light shows. When you arrive there, just walk the red carpet to the doors and you’ll be TP’d directly to the theatre proper. Details of the shows – and on the more than 70 live performances and events taking place through the event, please refer to the Event Schedule on the Second Pride website.

If you’re new to the LGBTQ+ communities is second Life and wish to learn more, you can drop into the Second Pride Community Resource Centre, while those who wish to sit in quiet contemplation, the Second Pride Memorial Chapel with its message of Solidarity, is available. Or you can just relax at the Dim Sum Gardens or simply tour the two regions!

Funds raised at this year’s even will benefit:

LGBTQ Freedom Fund: is a US-centric organisation which is focused on securing the safety and liberty of people in US jails and immigration detention centres, with a focus on LGBTQ individuals. Because of whom they love / hoe they identify, a tangle of discrimination and poverty disproportionately traps LGBTQ people in cycles of crime and incarceration, with the impact particularly felt by transgender, brown, and black individuals.

In tandem with provide financial support to secure the release of LGBTQ+ people unfairly incarcerated, the fund works with the public and policymakers to curb the mass detention of LGBTQ individuals, given the fact that sexual minorities are three times more likely to be incarcerated than heterosexual individuals. The sweep of criminalisation is extraordinary, with some estimates suggesting that, at some point in their lives, 70 percent of low-income LGBTQ people are homeless – and as a result can be considered vagrants and subject to arrest and indefinite incarceration in many US states.

The It Gets Better Project: founded as a non-profit organisation in the United States in 2010, the Project now involves international affiliate organisations across 19 countries. Together they are able to reach millions of young people around the world, promoting the vision of a world where all LGBTQ+ youth are free to live equally and know their worthiness and power as individuals. A huge part of this work is in outreach through storytelling – those within the community telling their stories and inspiring / encouraging others. The Project additional fosters community-building and promoting open discussions on the challenges young LGBTQ+ people have to face as a result of their sexual orientation and gender identity journey, and to positively influence the outlook of both those who identify as LGBTQ+ and those who do not.

With entertainment, shopping, camaraderie, friendship, fun, support and more, do be sure to make time to visit SL Pride, share in the entertainment, tour the regions, have fun – and donate to the supported charities.

SLurl and Link Details

The Second Pride regions are rated Moderate

• Event SLurls:
  • Second Pride East
  • Second Pride West
  • Second Pride Boardwalk
  • Second Pride Beach Stage
  • Bandshell / City Venue
  • Bijou Theatre
• Second Pride website
• Supported Charities:
  • LGBTQ Freedom Fund
  • It Gets Better Project

SL Pride, the event celebrating diversity organised by and on behalf of Second Life’s LGBTQ+ community officially opened on Friday, June 3rd, 2022 and runs through until Sunday, June 12th, 2022.

With entertainment and activities throughout the event, 2022 is a special year for Second Pride, marking as it does the event’s 15th year.

You are … Unmovable, Unstoppable, Unbreakable

– Second Pride 2022 Theme

Funds raised at this year’s even will benefit:

ILGA Europe: an independent, international non-governmental umbrella organisation bringing together over 600 organisations from 54 countries in Europe and Central Asia, and a part of the wider international ILGA organisation, ILGA-Europe is a driving force for political, legal and social change in Europe and Central Asia. Its vision is for a world where dignity, freedoms and full enjoyment of human rights are protected and ensured to everyone regardless of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS: is the philanthropic heart of Broadway, helping people across the United States receive life-saving medications, health care, nutritious meals, counselling and emergency financial assistance. It is one of America’s leading industry-based, non-profit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organisations, drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community. Since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than US $300 million for essential services for people living with HIV/AIDS, struggling with COVID-19 and facing other critical illnesses in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.

This year set across two regions, the event follows its popular metropolitan setting, with the core music entertainment centred within a city park adjacent to the landing points. A Second Life Experience is operating in the regions to assist with teleports, etc., and newcomers are invited to join it as they arrive at the landing points. Also at the landing point are a couple of large posters that will provide visitors with a list of key landmarks around the event regions.

As well as the main stage at the park, events will also take place at a beach stage alongside the fun fair, and also the Bijou Theatre, where a series of live special performances have been scheduled:

• Saturday, June 4th, 15:00 SLT: Men In Motion.
• Sunday, June 5th, 14:00 SLT: Alchemelic.
• Saturday, June 11th, 12:00 noon SLT: Britney Spears: A Live Event.
• Sunday, June 12th, 18:00 SLT: Britney Spears: A Live Event.

When you arrive at the Bijou, walk the red carpet to the doors and you’ll be TP’d directly to the theatre proper.

There is also a teleport HUD that has been “in beta” during the run-up to the event, and which I was able to use extensively without incident in preparing this piece, so hopefully that will be available via kiosk / vendor at the landing points soon as well. It provides a full list of places of interest across the two regions, making getting around even easier.

This year also brings back some traditional landmarks for Second Pride: the elevated train line; the Stonewall Inn, outside of which Black Lives Matter is supported; the art exhibitions; the community resource centre; the Gateway Experience for those unfamiliar with Second Life who are coming to the event directly from the Second Pride website; and more. And of course, there are plenty of opportunities to donate and to shop!

So, be sure to make time to visit SL Pride during the coming week, share in the entertainment, see the art, tour the region – and donate to the supported charities.

SLurl and Link Details

• Event SLurls:
  • Second Pride East (rated Moderate)
  • Second Pride West (rated Moderate)
  • Beware of the region crossing between the two!
• Second Pride website
• Supported Charities:
  • ILGA Europe
  • Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

SL Pride, the event celebrating diversity organised by and on behalf of Second Life’s LGBTQ+ community officially opens on Friday, June 5th, 2020 at 14:00 SLT, and runs through until Sunday, June 14th.

With entertainment and activities through the week, this year’s event has the theme TOGETHER, which the organisers define as: Together in Unity; in Life; in Health; in Harmony; in Spirit; in Love; in Power; in Strength; in Mind; in Body and in Peace. Given the situation in the United States at present, the event also stands in support of, and in solidarity with, Black Lives Matter.

Once again, the event is centred on a city-like region setting, a central park within it offering the event space. Surrounding this is an elevated train line designed by Jogi Schultz (yogijo), who also supplies the buildings below the elevated rails that house shops, galleries, social spaces, the Community Resource Centre. Among these can also be found further event areas (such as the Men in Motion stage), beyond which sits a façade of high-rise buildings representing the Manhattan skyline.

As with the 2019 event, a funfair sits to the west of the region, whilst to the north-east there is a Welcome Area for newcomers reaching the event directly from the Second Pride website and Community Gateway. This offers fun and comprehensive introduction to Second Life and the viewer. In particular, this Welcome Area offers a place where members of the LGBTQ+ community can find a home and a place from which they can explore the wider opportunities within Second Life.

A full schedule of activities for the the event can be found on the Second Pride website, as is a list of sponsors for this year’s event. Note that while the entertainment schedule opens in List view, for ease of reference, you can change it to a Day view via the drop-down at the top right of the page.

In addition, the website also supports a Get Social option, which allows people to interact with one another. Those joining it can create extended profiles, upload profile pictures, join an activity stream (similar to Facebook), connect with friends, private message one another, and so on. Click the Get Social! in the website’s menu bar to get started.

Donations from the event will go to the Trevor Project. Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.

So, be sure to make time to visit SL Pride during the coming week, share in the entertainment, see the art, tour the region – and donate to the Trevor Project.

SLurl and Link Details

• Second Pride (Second Pride, rated Moderate)
• Second Pride website

SL Pride, the event celebrating diversity organised by and on behalf of Second Life’s LGBTQ+ community opens on Friday, June 14th, 2019 at 13:30 SLT with a short address by the Chairman and Board Members of Second Pride, and runs through until 18:00 SLT on Sunday, June 23rd, when there will be the closing remarks and a 2-hour opportunity to simply hang out in the celebratory region.

With entertainment and activities through the week, this year’s event has the theme Stonewall 50: Celebrating Heroes, marking the 50th anniversary of New York’s 1969 Stonewall Riots. These were a series of protests in New York City’s Greenwich Village that are now widely regarded as the most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the United States.

As a part of marking this, the host region for Second Life has been set out to reflect Greenwich Village, with a design by Jogi Schultz (yogijo), of the 1920 New York Project fame (see here for more), the region is centred on a park area in which can be found the main events stage. Around this can be found a road system, complete with sections of elevated railway, beyond which sits a façade of high-rise buildings representing the Manhattan skyline.

On the south side of the park, is a brick-faced homage to the Stonewall Inn, the focal point for the 1969 riots. Sadly, it is also a façade; while there is a museum to the events at Stonewall Inn on the region, it is located in another building to the east of the region – it would have been fitting to see it framed inside the inn’s walls. Also to be found along the roads is a fun fair complete with Ferris Wheel, roller-coaster and carousel, and the new Second Pride Community Gateway.

Designed to resemble a construction site, the latter is intended to offer users coming into Second Life a place to learn the basics of the viewer and be a place where members of the LGBTQ+ community can find a home and a place from which they can explore the wider offerings of Second Life.

In terms of the SL Pride event, A full schedule of entertainment is available on the SL Pride website, as a full list of sponsors.   Note that while the entertainment schedule opens in List view, for ease of reference, you can change it to a Day view via the drop-down at the top right of the schedule page.

In addition, the website also supports a Get Social option, which allows people to interact with one another. Those joining it can create extended profiles, upload profile pictures, join an activity stream (similar to Facebook), connect with friends, private message one another, and so on. Click the Get Social! in the website’s menu bar to get started.

This year, donations will go to Rainbow Railroad, an international organisation dedicated to helping LGBTQ+ people around the world escape state-sponsored violence, offering them the chance to travel to places where they can live their lives in freedom. As hard as it may be to believe, there are 71 countries where being LGBTQ+ is criminalised, and in eight countries the sentence can be the death penalty. As such, Rainbow Railroad can literally save lives around the globe. You can find out more about their work in the video below.

So, be sure to make time to visit SL Pride during the coming week, share in the entertainment, see the art, tour the region – and donate to the Rainbow Railroad.

SLurl and Link Details

• Second Pride (Second Pride, rated Moderate)
• Second Pride website
• Rainbow Railroad

I’m a little late in getting to this – so my apologies to the organisers.

SL Pride, the event celebrating diversity and focusing on Second Life’s LGBTQ community is currently in progress in-world. Featuring shopping, art, music and dancing, the event will remain open through until 23:00 SLT on Sunday, June 24th, 2018.

The theme for this year’s event is This Is Me, This is Us, a celebration of community, and also of solidarity – at least one of the billboards in the region includes a display commemorating those from the LGBTQ community who lost their lives in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting.

A full schedule of entertainment is available on the event website, as a full list of sponsors and participating merchants.   Note that while the entertainment schedule opens in List view, for ease of reference, you can change it to a Day view via the drop-down at the top right of the schedule page.

In addition, the website also supports a Get Social option, which allows people to interact with one another. Those joining it can create extended profiles, upload profile pictures, join an activity stream (similar to Facebook), connect with friends, private message one another, and so on. Click the Get Social! in the website’s menu bar to get started.

For 2018, SL Pride is raising money for The Trevor Project. Founded in the United States by Peggy Rajski, Randy Stone and James Lecesne, the creators of the 1994 short film Trevor, the stated goals of the project are to provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning  young people ages 13–24, as well as to offer guidance and resources to parents and educators in order to foster safe, accepting, and inclusive environments for all youth, at home and at school.

The Trevor Project offers a number of services, including:

• The Trevor Lifeline – the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for LGBTQ youth in America.
• Ask Trevor – an on-line non-time-sensitive question-and-answer resource for young people with questions surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity.
• TrevorChat – a free, confidential, live and secure on-line messaging service.
• TrevorSpace – an on-line social networking community for LGBTQ+ youth ages 13 through 24.
• Lifeguard Workshop Programme – a school workshop programme using a structured, age-appropriate curriculum to address topics around sexuality, gender identity, the impacts of language and behaviour, and what it means for young people to feel different.
• The Youth Advisory Council – a liaison between youth nationwide in the United States and the project on issues surrounding suicide, sexuality and gender identity.
• The Palette Fund Internship Programme – providing five internships for young LGBTQ people at the Project’s Los Angeles and New York City offices.

Donations to the Trevor Project can be made via the kiosks located around the SL Pride region.

SLurl and Links

• SL Pride (Second Pride, rated: Moderate)
• SL Pride website
• The Trevor Project