View allAll Photos Tagged itgetsbetter
October 22 to October 30 2022!
Second Pride!
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Second%20Pride%20West/173/...
10 Days of Music and Shows! All benefiting the It Gets Better Project!
You can learn more about the many outreaches that the It Gets Better Project offers at itgetsbetter.org/.
"Crawling in my skin
These wounds, they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real" - Linkin Park
October 22 to October 30 2022!
Second Pride!
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Second%20Pride%20West/173/...
It Gets Better Project!
They have programs such as: It Gets Better Global, with a footprint spanning four continents and six major languages, it is the world’s largest storytelling effort to empower LGBTQ+ young people where they live, learn, and socialize, and It Gets Better EDU, which exists to ensure that the uplifting stories crafted and collected by the It Gets Better Project reach LGBTQ+ youth wherever learning takes place. Educators and student leaders are provided with easy-to-access and easy-to-use resources, information, and more.
You can learn more about the many outreaches that the It Gets Better Project offers at itgetsbetter.org/.
October 22 to October 30 2022!
Second Pride!
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Second%20Pride%20West/173/...
10 Days of Music and Shows! All benefiting the It Gets Better Project!
You can learn more about the many outreaches that the It Gets Better Project offers at itgetsbetter.org/.
Jana Winchester has always been a western girl at heart. It's been a long time coming, but we finally got out to our first western riding event together! We took her horse, The Dodge's Key, and placed 5th in Western Horsemanship and 1st in Western Pleasure.
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This year Second Pride is supporting the It Gets Better Project and the LGBTQ Freedom Fund. To help support these causes, Evergarden Equestrian kicked off their three day charity event with the Western portion of their program. If you're interested in participating, the show information and registration can be found here. You can also drop by in world to come support both the charity event and its competitors!
Show Schedule:
Western Events
June 24th, Western Horsemanship starting at 11.00AM SLT
June 24th, Western Pleasure starting at 1.00PM SLT
Dressage Events
June 25th, starting at 5.00PM SLT
Intro Test A & Dressage Freestyle
Show Jumping Events
June 26th, starting at 1.00PM SLT
Beginners & Intermediate
Costume Class
June 26th, after show jumping
PRIDE Theme
A very special thank you also goes out to Cheval D'or
for sponsoring this event!
Awards:
Placement and participation ribbons for each event.
The top three of each class, including the costume class, will receive a Cheval D’or gift card. (1st - 1500L, 2nd - 1000L , 3rd - 500L)
A special Overall Champion ribbon will be awarded to the competitor who excels most across all events.
Getting to share with Jana Winchester what PRIDE means to me has been wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better friend and ally.
__________________________________________________
This year Second Pride is supporting the It Gets Better Project and the LGBTQ Freedom Fund. To help support these causes, Evergarden Equestrian kicked off their three day charity event with the Western portion of their program. If you're interested in participating, the show information and registration can be found here. You can also drop by in world to come support both the charity event and its competitors!
Show Schedule:
Western Events
June 24th, Western Horsemanship starting at 11.00AM SLT
June 24th, Western Pleasure starting at 1.00PM SLT
Dressage Events
June 25th, starting at 5.00PM SLT
Intro Test A & Dressage Freestyle
Show Jumping Events
June 26th, starting at 1.00PM SLT
Beginners & Intermediate
Costume Class
June 26th, after show jumping
PRIDE Theme
A very special thank you also goes out to Cheval D'or
for sponsoring this event!
Awards:
Placement and participation ribbons for each event.
The top three of each class, including the costume class, will receive a Cheval D’or gift card. (1st - 1500L, 2nd - 1000L , 3rd - 500L)
A special Overall Champion ribbon will be awarded to the competitor who excels most across all events.
Another GLBT teen suicide. Rest in peace Corey Jackson, a 19-year-old student at Oakland University, in Rochester, Michigan. Corey chose to leave us the same day so many were showing their love and support for GLBT teens. Did he not hear our collective message?
I love this photo - Taken by our friend, Rene Webb
After 15 years together, let me tell you, it gets better and better!
Much love and support to LBGT youth everywhere.
B&T
I created this pattern as a fundraiser to buy Dan Savage's It Gets Better book for school libraries. The pattern is for sale in my Etsy Store Hardcore Stitchcorps (and the original piece will be for sale soon) and all proceeds from it go to buying the books.
bloggity blogged: workthatneedle.blogspot.com/2011/03/it-gets-better.html
“You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into… the Twilight Zone.” -Rod Serling
Inspired by the film Milk, I dug out my collection of buttons to re-live my own gay history which was very closely interwoven with what was happening in San Francisco.
I've laid the buttons out in chronological order. The first button was from the movie The Word is Out which I saw in 1978, in my Sophomore year at UC Santa Cruz with Panda my third female lover at UCSC. (She's now married to a man she dated soon after that. It's her little sister who turned out to be a lesbian.) I had officially come out in the winter of my Freshman year having slept with enough guys to know the difference. Plus I had had a high school girl lover and others I was sweet on. At least one for every year. Santa Cruz was also where I marched (rode my unicycle actually) in my first Gay Pride march. I also protested the Brigg's initiative (which would have ousted gay/lesbian teachers and possibly any teacher saying seeming to support us). It failed.
The summer before I had attended my firt SF pride parade, the one where a poster size picture of Anita Bryant was held up next to pictures of Hitler and Mussolini. Only I didn't make it to the parade part because I was working at my summer job at a gas station. (Worse recession year ever for summer jobs.) I got there just as the weather turned gray and they were packing up the booths. I picked up a postcard that said "Dear Anita, Having a gay time. Wish you were here." I cannot find that card right now.
I moved back home to the Bay Area the year that Harvey Milk was shot. I was busing tables during the lunch shift when someone told me the news. I was stunned and couldn't tell anyone why. I saw the candlelight march on TV with my dad with whom I was living at the time. I very much wanted to jump in the family station wagon and drive up there to join them, but I couldn't tell him why. I was out to him, but we didn't discuss it much past the initial conversation. I was also watching TV with him when the twinkie verdict came down and the gay community went to city hall and busted a window or two and overturned three cop cars and set fire to them. That part wasn't mentioned in the film. "That will be the end of the gays," said my dad who anticipated a crack down on the gay community. He couldn't have been more wrong.
Harvey's message was that we had to come out. I realized when I saw the film that that was the message I politicized and lived for the next decade (and the rest of my life). In 1981 I got myself a motorcycle and a full suit of black leather. The jacket pictured here. My kung fu thighs won't fit in the pants anymore. The whistle and the leathers and later martial arts were my response to the fag bashing of the times.
The second button in this line-up is from 1979 when I went to Gay Night at the local amusement park on the eve of my 21st birthday with my pal Stacy. That was something, to infiltrate such a family park with us perverts. It made the staff rather nervous. At midnight we were at the local lesbian bar, the Daybreak (named after Joan Baez for her bisexual leanings—all true). There I had my first legal drink.
The next few years were marked by the Dykes on Bikes. I wasn't actually a member, but they allowed any woman with a motorcycle to follow behind them in the parade. Stacy rode on the back of her lover Angel's bike and we rode side by side, my then lover behind me. The first year we rode, they put us at the middle of the parade in an attempt to molify those who wanted to purge the event of the pervert aspects of the community in the hopes of becoming more acceptable. This included drag queens, us and that naked guy wearing the boa constrictor. (I still say it won't work; they'll hate us more because we look normal, but we still do the nasty in ways that revolt them—men at least, lesbians are just male porn fodder.) Nevertheless it was one of the highlights of my young life to be so out in the open being cheered like that. The following year we were back at the head of the parade. Soon after that we were wearing black ribbons to mark the appearance of AIDS. Everything I learned about community and crisis came in the years that followed.
Under parental pressure I sold my bike in exchange for the safer transport of a car. So no more dykes on bikes. There's a gap in my collection because nothing could compare to being in the parade and I got tired of the lesbian community and the political correctness of it. I do remember I was there for the appearance of the first lipstick lesbians. I had returned to the community when I was living with a woman who was best friends with a lesbian celebrity. There's a 1991 button from Living Sober, the humongous LGBT AA event where she often did her best speaking appearances. Five years or so later she got together with a man and the lesbian community never let her hear the end of it (we are still friends though). Her public appearances were demoted to introducing other "cliteratti" some of whom I got to know too.
When I met Catherine, she was a filmmaker and had a press pass. She and her husband and I were free to roam the parade beyond the barricades. The next year her movie "Queers Among Queers" was in the film festival. By that time the parade was so big, it wasn't worth going to and we retired to the comfort of the film festival for the Sunday shorts. So no more parade buttons after '95. The buttons from the DC march and AIDS walk were gifts. I did not actually attend. I threw out all the souvenir condoms thrown from floats; they disintegrated.
The SLGBT Alliance is proud to present The Halloween Gacha Spooktacular, October 7th - 21st!
Join us as supporting designers unite with *New* and *Exclusive* Items for this two week long gacha event in efforts to raise money for Dan Savage’s It Gets Better Project!
What is the SLGBT Alliance?
The SLGBTA is a Second Life network of creators and community members. Our mission is not only to bring together the LGBT Communities of Second Life, but also to raise linden for various real life charities that promote and support the LGBT cause. Each event we host will benefit an alternating Real Life charity!
Our upcoming event, The Halloween Gacha Spooktacular, will raise linden for Dan Savage’s It Gets Better Project, an out-of-world organization focused on the support of LGBT Youth.
For more information about The It Gets Better Project, please check out the website at: www.itgetsbetter.org/
Visit the event!
Cause baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst...
There's a few things I would like to say about all of the recent teen suicides. It breaks my heart that these kids feel so unimportant and that the world would be better off without them. SO:
If you're feeling lost or scared or like you don't belong - it's okay, you're not alone. Gay or straight, everyone goes through those feelings. It's especially hard when you're at that age where you're trying to figure out who you are. Life is not easy. I know what it feels like to not want to exist anymore. I went through depression, cutting, suicidal thoughts. At one point I really didn't think I was going to be able to make it through another day. I still struggle with depression. But there are times when the positive light shines so bright, it forces the darkness away.
I know how frustrating it is to have people around you telling you to "Smile, it's not so bad!" when you just want to scream, because it's so much more than just feeling a little sad. It literally feels like the the whole world is beating down on you.
I know how hard it is to look past what you're going through right now and to see the possibilities of the future. When I was 13 I wanted to die. I'm 23 now and I'm SO thankful that I lived. It does get better. And the beauty of it is that I'm still young. I have SO much more that I want to see and do and experience. And there are so many people out there that I can't wait to meet. People like YOU - people who don't quite seem to fit in, people who feel lost, or different. Because I'm one of those people.
You are not alone. You are not wrong. You are NOT worthless. And honestly, the world would be much worse off without you. You are unique and cannot be replaced. You are LOVED by people you may not even know.
If you're out there and feeling alone and desperate and like you have no one to turn to, I'm always available to talk. You can flickrmail me or email me at like_shipwrecks@yahoo.com, or you can anonymously contact me through my formspring.You can also visit thetrevorproject.org, which has a 24 hour hotline and other really great resources for you.
Peace&Love
<3Nic
It's tie dye, and it's purple. And I'm wearing it because when I was a kid I would have got the shit kicked out of me for "being a fag" if I had dared to wear this shirt.
photo (c) Daniel Stern 2010
recently six young men committed suicide because of homophobic teasing aimed at them.
hearing about this really hit close to home. when i was in jr high i used to get made fun of all the time for "acting queer." so part of me knows what it's like having that dread looming over you. what i don't know is what it's was like and IS like for many of these boys and girls that are both gay and are being scrutinized for it.
my heart truly goes out to them. life is a blessing and it's so sad to have people see it as a curse.
I personally know that there are better days to come.
Stay strong, it's true when people say "It gets better."
I wanted to do a photo to spread the word about the It Gets Better Project. If you haven't heard, it's a project to help end suicide among LGBT youth. Click the link above to learn more.
If you're being bullied because of your sexual orientation, remember that IT WILL GET BETTER! If you feel like there's nowhere else to turn, PLEASE get help.
This video on YouTube really got to me today. Everyone should watch this: The Gay Rights Movement
After being introduced by mutual friends and looking forward to seeing and talking with each other for months after that; it was 15 years ago this very moment that we were on our first date. We went out for Thai at The King & I restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia and have been almost inseperable ever since.
It was a wonderful night and I remember it like it was yesterday.
This weekend we celebrated by seeing, Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky performing together as Red Horse on Thursday, and attending our favorite Holiday open house last night at the Anderson Alley Artist's Co-op.
It was also a wonderful night and I remember it like it was yesterday. ;~)
I ♥ my llama.
The Billyllama
Kodak Brownie Reflex - Synchro Model
Booksmart Studio: Gallery Kunstler
Rochester, New York
December 2010
This is Billyllama's view.
oh my! oh my! oh my! Stay right there,. Let me get this camera setting were it should be. Don't move!
Me and Sami, once again, this time, taking a picture for our health project on homophobia and gay rights. We took a bunch of pictures of people holding a sign that they would write "it gets better" on, then we put them all together in a video along with some other photos and statistics. Hopefully I can get that up here at some point!
It gets better!
The Trevor Project, and organization aimed at preventing suicide among LGBT youth.
Also, join The It Gets Better Video Project! All the info is in the group.
Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did? Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid.
And I'm still standing after all this time
#girlslikeus #transisbeautiful #mtf #feelingpretty #proud #stopdiscrimination #loveoneanother #shareasmile #lifteachotherup #itgetsbetter #newday
So my #minime as a boy is slowly coming along. I still have a couple elements to pull together but I'm almost there. The first and possibly only doll I was photographed with as a closeted #sissyboy was #Jumpsy by #Remco. She was supposed to be able to jump rope. Mine just kind of had epilepsy. #doll #dolly #dolls #kenspiration #childhood #nostalgia #barbie #barbiedoll #gay #itgetsbetter
I have a strange relationship to this meme/project. Truth be told, I was suicidal in high school -- despite near complete acceptance of my sexuality by everyone in my life. I came out at 16 and had a wholly positive experience. To my shock, my peers and teachers (to their extreme credit) were far more than tolerant -- they were accepting and nurturing.
But acceptance isn't everything. I still felt alone; I still felt that there was no one out there "like me" -- though I boned up on "gay books" and listened to ABBA nonstop (yes, this was 1996, LOL) in hopes of feeling connected. I had crushes on straight guys, who -- no matter how lonely I felt -- remained straight. (They were, without exception, incredibly cool and understanding, and kinda bummed they couldn't be there for me in the way I wanted them to be.)
It wasn't until through work and through luck (and through copious financial aid) that I ended up at Stanford and met hordes of people "like me" that I really felt I wasn't going to be eternally alone. Nothing ever gets easy, but some things get better and the other things change.
I can say assuredly that it's been worth hanging on and hanging out.
When The L Word first came out, many lesbians complained that the women were too glamourous. When I first came out I complained that the lesbian community was too ugly (that was back in 1976; things have changed some). It was all about not conforming to mainstream values, bla bla and not being looked at by men.
We shot these photos back in the mid '90s, when we first got together, because we wanted to enjoy looking at ourselves together and being looked at. This is another Warren photo shoot session. I'm sure he enjoyed himself, too. I am wearing Warren's jacket and Catherine is wearing mine. We were aiming for a gay male sensibility here because gay men are a turn on. Then Warren persuaded us to take the jackets off, but he assures Catherine that he burned those pictures.
Catherine and I met because she was friends with someone I worked with (one of Warren's ex-girlfriends, actually—small world). Anyway she appeared one day in the visitors lounge wearing a black leather jacket and I stopped in my tracks and looked at her quizzically until she felt compelled to explain why she was there. "Ah, that explains it," I said, "we don't see many black leather jackets around these parts". That's when she realized I was the resident lesbian her friend had mentioned.
At the time, Catherine was just completing her documentary video "Queers Among Queers" about the bisexual community. (It was shown at the Frameline film festival that year—'94). I mostly dated bisexual women, since I was so not the lesbian community; we hooked up not long after that and the rest, as they say, is history.
I was alerted to today as the day to wear purple.
In memory of the gay suicides who thought that life would not get better.
And as a hopeful outreach for those considering it.
As an open gay man - I can confirm that, while life still has its moments of ups and downs - being gay is the least of my worries.
"When the world around you is all crackling dust, and endings without beginnings, and you feel it's time to remove your shadow for good...to remove your laughter...I hope, instead, that you reach for that final page you're staring at and pick up a permanent marker, and you strike hard through The End, and you scream out loud, "NO, I WILL LIVE!" because (listen) this is just another beginning because (really listen) There's someone out there whose next breathe holds all its faith in seeing your smile again" Erin Van Vuren
This was taken in a beautiful cornfield in southern New York that we found on our way back from our vacation in Virginia.
We spent a weekend with our friend Froot Smoothie (pictures to come) and then took some time to visit some states I've never seen.
I love our new northern home but the South will forever be a part of my soul... remind me to tell you about Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Actually, it will be the next post.
;-)
Personal project inspired by the "It Gets Better Project."
18x24" Poster Print.
Concepted and roughed out in Illustrator, then stylized and finished in Photoshop.
National Coming Out Day 2011
I would encourage anyone who it's safe for to come out and celebrate being you for who you are. We also on this day need to recognize that it is truly not safe for all of the GLBT's to come out in their current environments/situations...
For us that have come out, for those who plan on coming out and for those of us that will come out in the future... we celebrate all of us today! Happy National Coming Out Day Everyone!
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender National Hotline
CONTACT INFO:
Toll-free 1-888-THE-GLNH (1-888-843-4564)
HOURS:
Monday thru Friday from 1pm to 9pm, pacific time
(Monday thru Friday from 4pm to midnight, eastern time)
Saturday from 9am to 2pm, pacific time
(Saturday from noon to 5pm, eastern time)
Email: glnh@GLBTNationalHelpCenter.org
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender National Hotline provides telephone and email peer-counseling, as well as factual information and local resources for cities and towns across the United States.
All of our services are free and confidential.