Category: discrimination

SIR: Legacy!

10th Anniversary, Stonewall Inn Riots, 1979: “Taking A Break”

Stonewall Inn Riots: Legacy!

The actual date, 28 June, 1969, may not be etched mentally for everyone, but for a majority of GLBTQ+ community and culture, the familiar phrase, Stonewall Inn Riots (SIR), instantly beats the drum and blows the trumpet! The early hours of this morning heralded the commencement of the movement that initiated the struggle to end bias, condemnation, marginalization and oppression. It began the attainment of the goals of equality, fairness, freedom and respect deserving of all peoples, no matter where they live! Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer+ (GLBTQ+) rights are human rights progress inaugurated!

The rioting that followed the planned raid on the unlicensed Stonewall Inn bar, catering almost exclusively to a “homosexual” (derogatory designation for same gender loving persons) customer base, erupted into a totally unexpected riot against police brutality and harassment. The law enforcers were completely unprepared for this reaction and were overwhelmed by the results. The “homosexual” community was always considered docile and effeminate, not capable of any type of masculine action!

Contemporary Stonewall Inn Historic Site!

The Stonewall National Monument is a fairly new national park unit located in Christopher Park in New York City’s lower Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village. It is the very first U.S. national monument dedicated to GLBTQ+ rights and history; indeed, to the entire community and culture. Then-President Barack Obama designated it as a national monument on June 24, 2016!

The Stonewall Inn, 1969

“Stonewall will be our first national monument to tell the story of the struggle for LGBT rights. I believe our national parks should reflect the full story of our country, the richness and diversity and uniquely American spirit that has always defined us. That we are stronger together. Out of many, we are one.” ~ President Barack Obama ~ Dedication of Stonewall National Monument ~ 24 June, 2016

“There was no gay pride before Stonewall. Only gay fear and gay isolation and gay distrust and gay self-hatred.” ~ Edmund White ~ Stonewall Inn patron and gay author

“The police weren’t letting us dance. If there’s one place in the world where you can dance and feel yourself fully as a person and that’s threatened with being taken away, those words are fighting words.” ~ Tommy Lanigen-Schmidt ~ Stonewall Inn patron and riot participant

“You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protestors and it was a good sound. It was a real good sound that, you know, you had a lot of people out there pulling for you.” ~ Raymond Castro ~ Stonewall Inn patron who was detained inside the bar during the riot

The Stonewall Inn Riots (SIR), 1969

In 1966, the Stonewall Inn Restaurant, which had been in business at that location since the 1950s, closed for remodeling following a fire that had devastated the restaurant. The restaurant re-opened as a commercial tavern (bar) on 18 March, 1967, under the ownership of the Genovese Mafia family. The tavern was in business illegally (no license to serve liquor) and one officer of the New York Police Department was accepting monthly bribe payments allowing the business to operate. The targeted consumer base for the tavern were “homosexuals.”

On Friday evening, 27 June, 1969, the police held a raid upon the Stonewall Inn tavern for two specific violations, operating a “homosexual” related business and for selling alcohol without a license. The customers, by now angry over repeated harassment, rioted against the police. The protesters soon numbered in the thousands and marked the first time any law enforcement received any defiance and/or resistance from the “homosexual” population. This represented the same gender loving (SGL) community organizing against oppression and the police were bewildered and clueless.

No one in the New York Police Department had anticipated the “homosexuals,” always believed to be meek and mild, to fight back. The years of abuse, oppression and ridicule had taken its toll, and the frustration now became revolution and the time for retribution was at hand. Unfortunately for the police, the pent-up anger with law enforcement was now being released and returned in kind. The police who initiated the raid were now isolated prisoners inside the Stonewall Inn.

The early morning hours of 28 June, 1969, became history. The discrimination against people who loved their own gender soon faded away to be replaced by the movement for gay power, gay equality and gay rights. This, in turn, became known as the GLBTQ+ movement (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer+). The journey was not easy, peaceful nor was it bloodless. However, the journey itself was historic. Unfortunately, the history remains to be completed, even into now, the 21st Century!

Christopher Park GLBTQ+ statues!

In the 1970s, a local volunteer group, the Friends of Christopher Park, was organized in order to oversee the park’s maintenance and upkeep. In 1983, the New York City Parks agency began a three-year project to restore the park to its original condition under the guidance of Phil Winslow.

In 1992, the “Gay Liberation” statue by George Segal was placed in Christopher Park. The statue consists of four figures (two standing men, two seated women) in natural and neutral poses. The park also has two other statues both related to the civil war that were created in 1936. In 2023, a move to remove the statue of General Phil Sheridan because he had led a massacre of Indigenous (Native American) people.

On 29 June, 1999, the Stonewall Inn building, Christopher Park and nearby streets were recognized as official by the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The same area was declared a National Historic Landmark on February 16, 2000.

The statues, decorated in celebration!

On 23 June, 2015, the City of New York determined the Stonewall Inn to be an official City landmark. This inspired the other Greenwich Village residents to pursue both The Stonewall Inn and the Christopher Park to be labeled a national monument. This happened when then-President Barack Obama officially determined the Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park as national monuments on 24 June, 2016.

Welcome to all!

Our history and our story are still ongoing. To those who are planning to visit New York city, a visit to this national monument is highly recommended in order to help define and perpetuate our community and culture!

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Sunday, June 30, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Bottoms-Up! Pride Month, 2024!”

Pride, 2024: Why?

Why?

For many years now, there has been and endless amount of questioning, from both outside and from within the GLBTQ+ movement as for the necessity of Pride events. This argument, minimally, supports the existence of a marginalization and of a prejudice against us all from a broad spectrum of the general population. It may not be as blatant and as prevalent as it once was, however, it remains present. even into the 21st century! As long as these biases are evident and felt, then, yes; pride observances are most definitely needed!

Until our communities and cultures as GLBTQ+ peoples receive the same amount of consideration and respect as shown to others, no matter their race, ethnicity, ability, gender, age or heritage, yes; pride activities are needed. Distrust is a serious detriment to equality acceptance and respect.

The determination that a certain action and/or behaviour is illegal by legislative or parliamentary procedure or even a royal proclamation doesn’t immediately eliminate or erase the offence out of existence. .A behaviour or a belief isn’t innate, it is learned – from parents, teachers, clergy, adult authority figures, et al. A learned behaviour is among the most difficult to eradicate from memory and practice.

A learned behaviour is a prejudice, plain and simple. It is not based on concrete knowledge or scientific fact. It is solely and usually based on the unsupported opinions of others, more often than not substantiated by fear, hate, myth, rumour or a combination of all. As such, it is almost impossible to refute with reasoning and any alternate proposition generally only increases its intensity.

The persistence of marginalization (setting aside of the perceived “normal”) and prejudice based on a person’s sexual attraction is often illegal in a growing number of countries globally but frequently remains inside people’s minds (and their hearts). The learned behaviour that has never been completely discarded or removed. Thus, their actions nominally are based on other aspects beyond sexual orientation in order to circumvent the judging of their negativity as being prejudicial. This type of “cover-up” has repeatedly happened throughout the various societies in the world, especially in the USA.

This situation justifies the existence and observation of pride events and their continuation. Among humanity, everyone deserves a chance to develop and grow in happiness, security and tolerance.

On a communal/social level, some societies are developed, liberal and progressive. Then there are others that are conservative, traditional and unyielding. There remain other social orders that are isolated from development and are stagnant. They keep closed to those of different beliefs, creeds and values. They are intolerant to all concepts and persons outside of their nature. These circumstances justify pride experiences. As in individual cases, inherited values are learned values and these, likewise, are the most difficult to alter or to change.

Contemplation!

In composing this post entry, my spouse, Aaron, and I have had numerous discussions about the various reasons for the continued hosting of pride-related activities for our communities and cultures. We even held talks with friends on a person-to-person basis. Ideas and thoughts were shared and the above represents a summary of what appears to be the most popular argument in favour of the ongoing necessity of our pride heritage.

There are remaining GLBTQ+ persons who have very limited knowledge of our culture and the diversity of our community and the many facets offered. They seek information and many times just the contact with another person who is seeking the same or has actually experienced the same. A pride occasion is an opportunity for them to socialize, become acquainted and to observe as well as seek answers. Some travel distances for such contact. No matter where we live, there are always those for whatever reason benefit from the casual opportunity to mingle with others who may help provide them “the way.” Sometimes, merely being in an accepting environment is rewarding in and of itself.

As to persons who are active within our culture, an informative pride event allows us to assimilate with others of our lifestyle that we would otherwise never encounter. It is also an invaluable tool that permits us to stay abreast of current news, trends and emerging information. This hopefully keeps us “in the know” so we’re better qualified to determine what is beneficial not only in our own lives but also to those we hold dear.

Pride functions as an enabler that keeps us current as to the latest legal, political and social challenges and issues that we may confront, in our personal lives as well as a community. We not only remain informed on topics but we are also able to learn of different opportunities of involvement in order to share our cares and concerns with others.

As a summary for the benefits of pride for us all, Aaron and I see it as an important tool that we, as a culture need, so as to prevent any of us from being alienated/isolated from those around us. We are a minority within a broader culture and society. In keeping ourselves connected to others, we can make a difference not only in our own lives but also in the lives of those around us.

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, June 10, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “A Seasonal Disguise!”

Pride, 2024!

GLBTQ+ Pride Month, 2024!

Introduction:

The gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer+ (GLBTQ+) community and culture in the USA observes the month of June, annually, as its traditional Pride Month. An entire month to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Inn riots that initiated the modern, ongoing GLBTQ+ equality movement within this country and to celebrate all of us simply for being us: what and who we naturally are! There are only thirty days in the month of June, so let’s get the festivities underway now!

The idea or the notion of “pride” represents a variety of connotations and/or definitions that overlap and vary from person to person. It doesn’t often mean the same belief or concept to every individual all of the time. The importance and value that we place on pride does change throughout the course of our lifetime. This fluctuation is beneficial and good as it encourages us to keep abreast of current affairs, events and trends. Understanding the what and the who we are empowers us to be accepting and inclusive.

The Progress banner of our GLBTQ+ community!

Pride is real:

Pride is a noun that references a positive emotion or feeling meaning a sense of one’s own proper dignity and/or value; self-respect; pleasure or satisfaction taken in one’s work, achievements or possessions. It also denotes self-esteem.

Pride also has a negative connotation as an excessively high opinion of oneself; arrogance and/or conceit. The consideration or personification of this condition or the first of the proverbial seven cardinal sins.

The Progress Flag raised in Nottingham!

“The Progress Flag:”

The current GLBTQ+ international community banner.

The Progress flag was designed and developed by non-binary (outside of the gender binary: female or male) artist Daniel Quasar in 2018. Based on Gilbert Baker’s original 1978 Rainbow Pride flag, Quasar’s redesign was unfurled 40 years later celebrating the expanding and still growing diversity of the global GLBTQ+ community and culture and at the same time encouraging a more inclusive general society. The redesign has increased the overall representation of discriminated minority identities covered under the GLBTQ+ umbrella.

Quasar’s creation includes the original six stripes flag made by Gilbert Baker and his volunteers, all with the incorporation of the colours of the natural rainbow and the ideals they symbolize. Quasar has added an arrow to the left of the Rainbow Pride that is pointing to the right. This arrow includes both black and brown stripes (representing peoples of colour) and light blue, pink and white stripes (representing transgender and non-binary persons).

Gilbert Baker’s original Rainbow Pride flag and what the colours mean!

In Daniel Quasar’s description “…the arrow points to the right in order to show forward movement and illustrates that progress towards inclusivity still needs to be made.” The black stripe has a double meaning as it is also intended for “those living with HIV/AIDS and the stigma and prejudice surrounding them and all those who have been lost to the disease.”

The Progress flag was an immediate success. On the evening of 6 June, 2018, he posted the flag on social media and woke up the next day to find that globally it had gone viral!

Personal observations:

Both Aaron, my spouse, and I remain grateful and impressed by Gilbert Baker’s original Rainbow Pride flag and the work of his friends and volunteers: Lynn Segerblum, James McNamara, Glenne McElhinney, Joe Duran and Paul Langlotz. Their efforts will retain their work in the archive and hearts of our global GLBTQ+ community and culture.

We also appreciate and are equally impressed with Daniel Quasar’s incorporation of the colourful and historic Rainbow Pride flag in his affirmative and inclusive design of the Progress flag. Forty years after the Rainbow Pride design first appeared, Daniel Quasar publicly credited and preserved the Rainbow’s basic intent as we continue to strive towards equality and inclusion!

Aaron and I commend and salute Gilbert Baker and his friends and Daniel Quasar for their remarkable achievement in the honouring of our GLBTQ+ community and culture!

Covered by the original Rainbow Pride flag!

Awareness:

Our pride events, fairs, festivals and related celebrations not only bring many of us together as a community and culture, it also affords us an occasion to renew with acquaintances and long-lost friends. It helps us to remain connected with those we otherwise would remain estranged for a very lengthy period of time. It reminds us of our common and shared experiences that have enabled us to become exactly the person that we are currently.

It also enables us to explore the many opportunities that evolve in our shared environment. As the individuals within our community and culture expand and grow, we all benefit from remaining current and focused on the challenges and the needs of our peers and the changing world in which we live.

Since the Stonewall Inn riots (SIR) in the early morning hours of 28 June, 1969, we, the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer+ people have energized, galvanized and organized a vibrant global movement for change, enhancement and equality that continues on, even today. Our efforts have produced drastic results in some areas, minor adjustments in other areas and minimal (if any) difference in yet other areas. However, our struggle remains alive and underway as even a small change helps to generate and inspire hope for success in our future!

A recommendation:

A challenge for everyone: this year, invite an acquaintance to attend a pride-related event with you this year. This is a non-threatening opportunity for all of us give to someone an understanding on the importance of our community and culture within today’s world. It also enhances the life of your acquaintance as they can see the similarity between our lives and their own.

Best wishes for a very happy and productive pride month, 2024 to everyone!

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, June 3, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Bare Pride, 2024!”

Race: Race’s POV!

Race Cooper!

“Racism takes many forms and our thoughts on racism, sexuality and nudity need to change.” ~ Joseph Ross Anderson ~ aka Race Cooper The Pink News SGL News Service London, UK 10 June, 2020 

Prologue:

The examination and exploration of the topic of race extends beyond the limited concepts of just Black people and White people. It includes all of us, no matter our skin tone, ethnicity or racial heritage. Race, unfortunately, is also aligned with community, culture, politics, religion and value systems.

Regrettably, racism (racial discrimination and/or hatred based on skin tone) is often a “learned” behaviour – usually passed from one generation to the next – without any basis of proof or scientific fact. Unchallenged, it is frequently misunderstood as the “norm” – the routine standard.

ReNude Pride published a post entry here, Race On Race, last year on March 6, 2023. Click on the title to link. My spouse, Aaron, and I both offer this expanded version of the topic in the hope of overcoming our need to be reminded of the importance of this reality in our daily lives. This is the reason, among others, that we do not restrict this issue or topic exclusively to the period of Black History Month.

Race Cooper: tunnel of experience and knowledge!

Race Cooper is the stage name of Joseph Ross Anderson, a talented and thoughtful star of same gender loving (SGL) – bisexual and gay – pornography and outspoken advocate for bare (naked/nudist) rights, sexuality rights and racial equality. He was born and grew up in Toronto, Canada on December 5, 1973. Amazing, he didn’t begin his film career (porn) until 2009 – he was 36 years old! An age when most openly gay porn actors are ready to retire from performing live!

In the same year that he launched his film debut, he started blogging about the porn industry on blogger.com and swiftly acquired notoriety as “a-man-who-tells-it-all!” Race’s blog was a popular favourite as he kept no secrets from his readers. He consistently posted of his experiences with his fellow actors, both complimentary and flattering and…honest and real. His descriptions and observations of their intimate abilities and anatomical attributes made his blog a success for many and a regular “must-read” for both his followers and his peers in the film studios! His writing skills hastened to dispel the stereotype of the gay porn actor as egotistical, “flaky,” and self-obsessed.

He also began to publicly encourage and endorse the expansion of the alpha-man (top-man) and the beta-man (bottom-man) sexual identities to include versatility (preference to engaging in either sexual position or fluidity)!

Additional facts on Race Cooper are listed below:

Name: Joseph Ross Anderson

Height: 6′ (183 cm)

Weight: 180 lbs. (82 kg)

Hair: head (shaved) body (armpit, pubic)

Penis: 7.9″ (20 cm) circumcised

Sexuality: gay exclusive

Sexual position: versatile (preference: bottom)

Clothing status: bare

Film career: 2009 – 2014

“I’m an African-Canadian. Growing up in Toronto, I got to see how lots of White Americans reacted to Black people. Working in gay pornography in the USA, I personally saw how Black men were treated by White men with no difference between gay or straight.” ~ Race Cooper ~ The Pink News 10 June, 2020

Race Cooper: serious!

Race Cooper, based on his own experience in the SGL porn industry, views racism as “a daily constant in the USA.” He initially began working as a casting director for the exclusively SGL studios – Raging Stallion – before he moved to performing in front of the camera. He acknowledges that he was paid considerably less than his White peers and regularly and repeatedly had his work ethic and his intelligence questioned. He honestly believes that he was only hired initially in order for the studio to appear “less racist.”

“Homophobia and racism in the USA is the reasoning for discrimination and prejudice. It is part of the legacy of slavery. In Canada, race is just a difference. You shave your pubic hair, I let mine grow naturally. We’re both gay men, we’re just different in some ways.” ~ Race Cooper ~ The Pink News 10 June, 2020

Canada had slavery in the 1600s only. It was never a permanent institution like in the USA. As a slave, you were bought, you worked a couple of years, earned your freedom and then you moved on. Similar to an indentured servant. Enslavement was never a source of distrust and hatred. You worked, earned freedom and then became a neighbour – equal – not inferiour or subserviant.

Playful Race Cooper!

“As a Black gay man, I know and have witnessed bias, hatred and prejudice because of nudity, race and sexual orientation. It is unfair and unjust. It is wrong. As a performer in the porn industry, I’ve never experienced criticism for being publicly or for being socially naked. But I do know of fellow gay nudists who are judged because of their nudity. Clothes freedom is part of who we are. Just like race and sexuality, we don’t have a choice.” ~ Race Cooper ~ The Pink News 10 June, 2020

Race Cooper was interviewed by The Pink News, a GLBTQ+ news service in London, England, United Kingdom, on 10 June, 2020, for his thoughts on racial inequality in the SGL porn industry in the USA in light of the killing of the late George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. He also wants the porn studios to openly admit that many White men – straight – have been cast into roles, intended for Black gay men. Many of these substitutions were in films catering to primarily SGL African-American audiences.

As a path forward, he’d like to see the studios hire and utilize “diversity mentors” to help casting and hopefully these very same mentors could advance the careers of actors of colour and other minority qualifications. He also advocates the ending of “gay-for-pay” and the immediate end to the shunning of HIV+ porn actors.

Race Cooper: bald head and buttocks!

In the conclusion of his interview with The Pink News, Race Cooper offered – in my humble opinion – his most daring and profound argument against bigotry, discrimination and judgment based on not only just race but sexual orientation and nakedness as well. This declaration was made on his own initiative and observation. Proof positive that Joseph Ross Anderson (Race Cooper) is – heart and soul – a brother bare practitioner and all of us welcome and embrace him in complete nudity and pride into our community and culture! True equality is a basic human right for us all!

“I’ve made numerous naked appearance at gay studio social events. The newcomers to our profession are often intimidated by us older professionals. Usually, fellow Black new actors are gathered, made to strip out of their apparel and paraded through the White guests who are fully or partially clothed only to be ridiculed, teased and tormented and not allowed to get dressed until the social is done.” ~ Race Cooper ~ The Pink News 10 June, 2020

Great observations, Race Cooper! We are grateful for your honesty!

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, February 26, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Bonus: +24!”

Bare! Black! SGL!

The Triumvirate: Bare! Black! SGL!

The Magic and the Myth!

Often, the mythology lies around, dormant. After all, it’s an old myth that no one really considers important. It’s also an old myth that we have all probably seen refuted by reality. It simply is nothing earth-shattering or shocking. It’s not detrimental or explosive. All it does is just lie there.

Then, one day when we least expect it, it raises up and punches us in our face! We are so caught by surprise that there are few words that would adequately describe our reaction.

The overwhelming majority of us have been so involved with our everyday lives – handling our own business – that we never saw this coming our way! That’s the reason we’re so dumbfounded and numb.

We never saw “it” coming toward us! Suddenly and unexpectedly there “it” is! Right, directly, in front of us!

Bare! Black! SGL!

The “it” we never saw coming toward us? The mythology that was simply lying around: dormant. It was an old myth that none of us considered important. It was so completely and totally dormant that we had – intentionally or not – simply forgotten that “it” was “out” there. So irrelevant and useless that most of us never gave it any thought at all!

That old myth is this: Black people aren’t gay and they aren’t naked! White people are that way and they are “teaching” our people how to act and to be like that!

Believe it or not, like it or not, that old myth remains among us and with us. Another overwhelming majority of us may know it to be no more than what it really is: an old myth. A meaningless and useless thought left behind by hatred and homophobia. But wait! “It” is still with us.

Bare! Black! SGL! Continuation!

We do indeed live in the 21st Century. And yes, reality – real life – does afford us all with a multitude of opportunities to see examples and reminders of same gender love (SGL) as we go about our everyday lives handling our business. That’s just how this world is supposed to work.

We are all free to be ourselves. To be what and who we truly are. We should all remember that we are free to expect this from others as long as we show the same respect of freedom to all others! We all live in the same world, therefore, we all share the same world.

Nakedness and same gender love (SGL) may or may not be something that is essential or important to everyone and that is good. It is likewise good that we all accept and recognize that for some of us these aspects are crucial, vital and paramount in our lives. The same holds true for interracial couples and marriages – irregardless of the gender. The days of the iron-clad formula that Black should be with Black or that White should be with White are now long past.

Free to be themselves!

All of this I can share from personal experience. Following the arrival of marriage equality here during President Barack Obama’s second term in office, my then-partner, Aaron, and I took the path forward and became legally married (after incessant urgings from both of our sets of parents). My spouse is African-Canadian. I am Greek. An interracial union of two SGL men who prefer bare rather than textile (clothed). Ever since our wedding, we’ve both received an endless amount of comments from numerous casual acquaintances and/or co-workers about our “relationship.”

Kissing!

For some unimaginable reason, people – SGL couples included – have an issue or a problem when referring to a “marriage” between same gender partners. Is it our gender or is it our skin colour? Or is it a combination of the two?

Now back to the mysterious “it” that was creeping upon us earlier. “It” remains with us and will somehow prevail. Aaron and a multitude of others are actual breathing, living proof that the old myth is unfounded and untrue. There are Black men who are confident being bisexual or gay and who also enjoy and are proud being naked.

Pride!

The awesome reality of this predicament is that no one, Pink, Green, Blue or White had to “teach” him anything. He was born this way and has no shame of being who he is. He has no guilt in being who he is!

Enjoy the remainder of Black History Month, 2024!

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, February 19, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Happy Hemisphere!”

NBHAAD: Part II!

NBHAAD!

In 1999, alarmed over the statistics reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the effects of HIV/AIDS on the African-American community, the CDC and the U.S. Public Health Service convened a meeting with representatives of organizations serving Black Americans and persons of faith to address concerns over rising infection rates. Other organizations participating included Concerned Black Men- Philadelphia, Health Watch Information and Promotion Services, Jackson State University, Mississippi Urban Research Center, National Black Alcoholism and Addiction Council and the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS along with the heads of several African-American communities of faith. The National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was conceived by these organizations and the official name agreed upon.

February 7, annually, was decided as the date of observance and the very first observance was announced for the following year: February 7, 2000. The event would be sponsored by the Strategic Leadership Council (SLC) – created specifically for this event – and the membership was determined and terms of office set.

The popularity of the Red Ribbon for the efforts towards HIV/AIDS awareness was noted by the SLC. At the time, awareness ribbons for a multitude of charitable causes were very important in focusing attention to the cause represented and to encourage support. This inspired the creation of an awareness ribbon for the purpose of support of the National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day efforts.

NBHAAD Awareness ribbon!

Four Key Components of the NBHAAD Campaign:

The SLC of the NBHAAD campaign mandates four (4) key elements for an inclusive and successful campaign. Each component is designed to build both individual and community strengths in combatting HIV/AIDS for all people.

The four elements and a brief summation are as follows:

Get educated: Know the facts about transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Get involved: Learn about opportunities available in individual and community prevention efforts and become an active part of those efforts.

Get tested: Know your status and encourage others to do the same.

Get treated: Receive proper healthcare and support to successfully live with HIV.

Dedication!

Analysis proves that people learn and retain knowledge most effectively from people they perceive as most like themselves. NBHAAD is an African-American focused organization, based within the community, to provide direction, guidance and information to the Black population specifically but not exclusively. It represents a resource that is both accessible, authentic and dependable.

Explore your options (choices)! Take back the control of your life!

An important message to share with others!

If your viral load (amount of HIV in your blood) is undetected, then sexually, your HIV is untransmittable!

This message is vital as it advises everyone of the significant benefits of not only getting tested for HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) also for seeking treatment for living with HIV. This enables persons to experience a healthier, longer and more productive life.

Knowledge is power!

HIV/AIDS Basic Facts:

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

AIDS is a result of HIV infection.

HIV is not spread through everyday casual contact.

Only a doctor can diagnose AIDS.

Arthur Ashe, Wimbledon Tennis Champion and AIDS educator!

Throughout the year, NBHAAD has sponsored innumerable locally-oriented activities and events to provide information and involvement on community issues and needs. This level of action increased general awareness and support for both prevention and treatment of the disease.

Personal Involvement:

I served both the City of Alexandria, Virginia Chapter of the Red Cross and the Arlington Red Cross Chapter as a volunteer (not paid) instructor trainer in three HIV/AIDS curriculums: Basic, African-American and Workplace. My responsibility was to teach others how to conduct community prevention education sessions within the curriculum they had elected to enroll. As a Greek man, I always had an African-American co-instructor with me. As a Deaf man, I always had a sign language interpreter with me.

Each class that I taught involved 36 hours of training and a passing score of 85 % on the final examination. Upon completion of each class, a certification was given to each student in recognition of becoming a Red Cross instructor.

Personalities:

Importantly – and fortunately – there are among all of our cultures many who are bold and brave enough to act and think for themselves. Their individual uniqueness is one aspect among the qualities that make life bearable (bare-able) for those of us who live around them or are influenced by them. Ideally, their insight and worldview makes a difference in the lives of others.

The two persons presented here I met through my volunteer position with the Red Cross African-American prevention education curriculum. Both of them are/were same gender loving men and African-American.

Rodney Lofton

Rodney Lofton!

A native of Richmond, Virginia, and a student of mine who also became a volunteer with the Red Cross. We taught a teen peer education weekend-long seminar together three consecutive years. Rodney was the first Black deputy director of the GLBTQ+ community advocacy group: Diversity Richmond. In 2015, he received the Equality Virginia OUTstanding Virginian Award. For many years he served on the organizing committee of the NBHAAD function with the City of Richmond. He was the author of two books on growing up both Black and gay in the City: The Day I Stopped Being Pretty: A Memoir (published 2007) and No More Tomorrow: Two Lives, Two Stories, One Love (published 2009). He died in March, 2022, and is survived by his husband, Faron Niles. Rodney was first diagnosed as HIV+ in 1993.

Rodney’s first book!

*************************

Kory Mitchell

Kory Mitchell

A mixed-race man born in Germany of an African-American father in the military service and a German mother. He grew up and attended schools in both Germany and the USA. As a young adult he achieved the role of actor within the gay pornography industry and starred in more than three dozen films. He was diagnosed as HIV+ in the early 1990s. When he learned of his status, he became a student of the Red Cross African-American curriculum and after receiving his certification he began teaching HIV/AIDS prevention education to others working in the gay porn industry. He appears at numerous NBHAAD campaign benefits and events and is affectionately known as the unofficial “Magic Johnson of gay porn!” When he became a celebrity, he had “blessed” tattooed across his shoulder and a cross tattooed on his abdomen to remind fans that he is a Christian. Shortly after his HIV+ diagnosis, he had the message “hope” tattooed on his neck. Instead of the letter “o” in hope, he had the red AIDS awareness ribbon placed there.

Kory’s “Blessed” shoulder and neck of “hope!”

Remember, it’s not who we are but it’s what we do that puts us at risk for HIV/AIDS!

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next planned post entry here is planned for Friday, February 9, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “S’Naked Simply!”

USA: Black History Month!

Origin:

In the USA, the entire month of February, annually, is observed as Black History Month (now referred to as African-American History Month). It was started in 1926, when the noted Black historian, Carter G. Woodson (now remembered as the “Father of Black History Month) and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) jointly announced the second week of February to be Negro History Week. This particular week was chosen because it contained the birthday (February 12) of the late president, Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves held in the rebellious south during this country’s civil war. It also contained the birthday of Frederick Douglass, the noted Black abolitionist and influential leader (February 14).

Carter G. Woodson, “Father of Black History Month!”

The very first commemoration of Negro History Week was featured in segregated public schools in three states (Delaware, North Carolina and West Virginia) and the Black schools in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Frederick Douglass, Abolitionist and Black leader

Up until the commencement of Negro History Week, throughout this country, the most that anyone was aware of African-American history was when the topic of slavery was discussed. Otherwise, there was practically no mention of any achievement or contribution of any Black person in the history of the USA. Black people were largely viewed as nothing more than “second-class” citizens throughout this nation. Discrimination and segregation were practiced everywhere and severely hindered the recognition of any notable African-American leadership.

Black History Month encourages honouring persons of the African Diaspora!

Black educators and Black United Students at Kent State University in Ohio first proposed a month-long celebration for Black History Month in February, 1969. It was approved and first observed from January 2, 1970 through February 28, 1970.

President Gerald Ford first recognized Black History Month in 1976 during the USA bicentennial. He urged people to “seize the opportunity to honour the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavour throughout our history. He may have been the first president not elected for the job but he became the first one to publicly recognize the Black History Month celebration.

Looking for his past!

Personal Recollections:

As a child of Greek immigrants, I have very limited knowledge of what it was like to grow up in what was perceived by many to be a White man’s world. I do have some insight into the most definite deficiency of historical information concerning African-American history.

When my parents arrived in Richmond, Virginia, during the second presidential term of Eisenhower, the only home they could purchase was in a primarily Black neighborhood. The city was the capital city of the Confederacy during the Civil War and “old habits die hard (they were, after all, immigrants). Fine. The street that we lived on had a Greek Orthodox Church on one end, an Armenian Church in the middle and an African Methodist Episcopal Church on the other end. A celestial highway!

My oldest brother remembers the controversy surrounding the televised release of Alex Haley’s Roots. For many die-hard Confederate descendants, it was absurd and unforgiveable that White Confederate characters and their offspring were shown as evil, dishonest and violent. I imagine the truth does sometimes hurt.

Alex, my identical twin brother, and I are both Deaf but that didn’t prevent us from having Black friends in our neighborhood. Children don’t need an official interpreter to communicate between Deaf and hearing. We had several Black friends who shared with us in our nakedness (with enthusiasm).

Our motto!

Our neighborhood bordered the south side of the James River in Richmond. As we grew into our teenage years, Twin and I and our neighborhood friends frequented the James River during our summer school holidays. On one of those excursions, we discovered an area within the park very popular with the local same gender loving (SGL) people who were also active nudists. This resulted into an entirely different educational and enlightening world for all of us! The doors to bare practitioner manhood were opened – at last – and remain opened until this very day!

One of my neighborhood friends is named Paul Turner. We have become lifelong friends and have kept in contact with each other since our early teen years. He’s three years older than me and is also gay and a self-admitted bare practitioner co-founder and cohort! We jointly enjoyed and explored the SGL naked area of the James River Park almost daily. We continue to exchange laughter and memories of those summer “retreats” into our nakedness, our SGL identity and all the adventures and pleasures we had while maturing together! This past summer, we took a reminiscent hike to the riverfront park and our “classroom” of education into reality.

Paul and his partner have been a live-in couple for twenty-two years now. They’re both active in Richmond’s Black gay community and are very good friends to my spouse, Aaron, and myself. The four of us are exploring and negotiating the collective composition of a perspective of bare practitioner in today’s world. Our goal is a 2025 publishing.

Nudist friends are the best friends!
Black History

Happy Black History month to everyone! Enjoy the time that we all share together!

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for tomorrow, Friday, February 2, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “A Dream Comes True!”

MLK’s Legacy!

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Background:

Today marks the celebration and observation of both the official (actual) birthday and the Monday-holiday commemoration of the occasion both happening simultaneously.

Birthdate:

January 15, 1929

Nobel Peace Prize

Recipient

Awarded to him by His Majesty, King Gustav VI Adolph of Sweden on October 14, 1964.

Civil Rights Advocate

International

Non–Violent Protest

Activist

Ordained clergyperson

Professional

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Founder, 1957

Married: Coretta Scott King

Wife

Children: Yolanda, Martin L. King, III, Dexter Scott King, Bernice

USA: Presidential Medal of Freedom

Posthumously given, 1977

National March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs

Organizer, Keynote Speaker

August 28, 1963

Speech: “I Have A Dream”

*************************

Fortunately, we live in a world where there are others among us who are able to recall and remember the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fortunately, we live in a world that is “all-too-gradually” witnessing the dreams of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. materialize into reality. Fortunately, we live in a world that recently experienced the overwhelming election and re-election of a Black man, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama, as president of the United States. This, too, was a dream of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fortunately, we live in a world that is living in the times of the “Black Lives Matter” movement – a dynamic, growing and popular awakening of social conscience to the basic fact that African-American people are entitled to certain rights and responsibilities within this country and within our world. Another dream of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that has now become alive.

Equality and brotherhood!

Yes! We are indeed fortunate that we live in a world where the dreams of a visionary and historical inspiration, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have come to pass. And we are grateful for his sacrifice and his struggle. His example and his leadership – in addition to his remarkable dreams – opened to doors towards equality and justice that few see in their lifetime!

His dreams, his foresight and his wisdom instill a feeling and sense of hope within us all. Yes, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. continues to offer and to provide all humanity with courage and with dignity his accomplishment and his achievement of fairness, of knowledge and of non-violence. During an era of degradation, discrimination and prejudice he overcame those obstacles and chose forgiveness, harmony and peace!

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is and was a shining star who brightly guided our way into his dreams and himself into the dreams of many of us!

Wisdom from the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Unfortunately, we live in a world that continues to ignore and reject the profound and serious pronouncements of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the United States today, despite the cultural, legal and social changes and progress that has occurred since his brutal assassination on April 4, 1968, many persons still refuse to accept the lessons of cooperation, forgiveness and inclusion that were endorsed and taught by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In their minds, when his memory is involved or his name is invoked, they see nothing except the colour of his skin as the sole cause of discarding his dreams of future harmony and understanding. They are powerless and unable to move beyond racial hatred.

Thankfully, the efforts and examples set by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. continue to diminish the numbers of those following hatred rather than healing. “Injustice anywhere remains a threat to justice everywhere.” A valid and unyielding truth!

In Israel today, the self-identified survivors of the the Nazi holocaust flagrantly demolish and evict native Palestinians from their United Nations sanctioned partition-designated homeland and property without concern for their safety, survivorship and well being. The so-called holocaust victims creating victims of their own inspired genocide. Cultural and ethnic hatred preferable to cultural and ethnic healing.

Ideally, the efforts and examples set by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will inspire harmony and healing in triumph over hatred. “Injustice anywhere remains a threat to justice everywhere.” A valid and unyielding truth!

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. paramount speech, August 28, 1963!

Tragically and unfortunately, it is now evident that globally, throughout our world, all of us need to follow the important yet simple quotation from the wisdom of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. From the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the Congo, the Sudan, the Ukraine and elsewhere, “Injustice anywhere remains a threat to justice everywhere.” A valid and unyielding truth!

In 1964, our entire world watched as His Majesty, King Gustav VI Adolph of Sweden graciously bestowed the international Nobel Peace Prize upon the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A man who responded to the bias, condemnation and hatred of his contemporaries in a heroic, non-violent and peaceful manner. A man who through bravery and courage exemplified his gallant and noble legacy: “Injustice anywhere remains a threat to justice everywhere.” Timeless and valuable advice that is applicable to us all – forever!

Thank you, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for your care, concern and forgiveness of us all!

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, January 19, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Bare New Year!”

Unlearn It!

Pride in his nakedness!

Introduction:

Official definition: “In human psychology, the term “learned behaviour” refers to any manner of conduct that a person performs as a result of experience. People learn behaviour from their parents, siblings and other authoritative environmental entities.”

A learned behaviour is a distinct practice that isn’t part of our natural (human) experience or nature. It is by no means universal (shared by everyone). More than likely, it is a behaviour or belief that is taught to us when we are young so that we do not acquire or begin a particular behaviour, habit or practice that is actually more conducive, intuitive or natural to an overwhelming majority of us. A perfect example of a learned behaviour is the wearing of clothes. The lesson taught to us is that bare, naked, nude is wrong and that clothes must be worn at all times!

Clothing is an instrument/tool that is divinely delivered to us in order to remove and/or restrict our body and clothes freedom. A freedom that we are all born with!

Ironically, the exact learned behaviour that we are taught is a complete and total lie (fabrication, falsehood). This untruth (falsehood) is practically always taught to us by the same person/teacher who also instruct us to always be honest and tell the truth. After all, lying is a sin (wrong) that is offensive not only to the divine but to all humans as well. Two lies (fabrications/falsehoods) do not equal to a truth!

So much for the un-natural and very un-truthful lesson that garments are divinely inspired! Quick! Someone should alert the divine!

Bare is wrong!

Body shame:

Body shame is defined/explained as: “the mock or stigmatize (someone) by making critical comments or gestures about the appearance, shape or size of their body.”/We are taught throughout our developmental (growing-up) years to shame ourselves and to especially to be ashamed of our bare (naked, nude) bodies. Additional instructions include that the desire and urge (want) for body and clothes freedom is both despicable, shameful and wrong! Nakedness (absence of garments) is the epitome of disgrace and it is evil.

Nakedness is also inhuman – that’s why prisoners are incarcerated nude or with a minimal covering. It is also un-natural – that’s why aboriginal persons are also classified/labelled as “backwards” or as “uncivilized.” Some are also referenced as “primitive.”

Nakedness is therefore undignified. It is also unrefined. Nakedness is deplorable. It lessens our humanity. It makes us savage. Ironically, the same may be applied to all of those who deliberately and intentionally and with malice direct and with intent inflict body shame on others. Body shaming is the process by which one attempts to address degradation, humiliation and ridicule upon the body of another with emphasis on perceived differences, discrepancies and flaws.

We are taught to conceal or cover (hide) our nakedness if we are ever in the company of others. Communal nakedness is both disgraceful and deviant. It is to be avoided at all times. It is indecent to be seen in our nakedness when around others. Communal nakedness is considered a perversion.

Pointing his finger!

The body shaming of others is a direct result of the insecurities felt by those criticizing of their own personal physical stature. They ridicule and taunt others in a feeble attempt to deflect attention from themselves.

“Who are you to judge the life I live? I’m not perfect and I don’t have to be! Before you start pointing fingers, make certain your hands are clean.” ~ Bob Marley ~ Jamaican reggae legend

Searching!

Refutation:

Yet, we were all born only in our complete, full and total nakedness. No matter our parentage or social class. In nakedness we begin our life and we enter into this world. In the countless numbers of thousands of years, humanity continues to create itself through birth in nakedness.

Multiple millennia of teaching all of our offspring of the artificial concealing and covering of their natural body with textiles (clothing) yet the instructions must still continue even into this day and age. Clothing remains a learned behaviour, that none of us are born with. It does not automatically pass from one generation to the next.

All joining together!

“Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it’s a good place to start.” ~ Jason Collins ~ first openly gay NBA professional, Brooklyn Nets

“For all of us, as same gender loving and bare men, we must remember that as members of a distinct minority community and culture, it is incumbent on us to recognize that our pride in ourselves is based on our own self-acceptance and our own self-confidence of both what and who we essentially are. Guilt and shame have no place in our lives. We need to let them go and move forward in patience and tolerance for all. Love nd respect are the keys we need. Hate and ignorance are not.” ~ Roger Peterson-Poladopoulos ~ June 16, 2023

One important thought to hold onto is that not everyone who taught us about nakedness was in harmony with the lesson. Many were merely complying with their perceptions of what was expected from them.

Suggestions For Unlearning:

The actual unlearning of a learned behaviour is easier for some of us than it is for others. One important factor to remember is that we all learn differently and the process of unlearning is equally diverse. There is not one standard formula/prototype that is applicable for all of us. Ponder the recommendations offered below and proceed with what is comfortable for you.

  1. Remove all clothing and relax. Read a book or a magazine. Watch a film or television. Paint a canvass and/or draw/sketch.
  2. Invite one or several friends over and encourage them to become naked with you. Play cards or a board game. Do something bare together. Interact.
  3. Repeat the above or variations thereof in order to increase the nude comfort level of everyone. Undertake similar activities. Invite others to join the experience.
  4. Progress from nakedness (alone) to an atmosphere of social nudity (acquaintances/friends engaging together).
  5. To increase the bare comfort level of all, organize a social event (such as a cocktail party of a meal) where the ones naked can intermingle with those who are wearing clothes. It is advisable to let all the guests know of the social make-up of the gathering in advance. This is done to avoid any awkward or uncomfortable “scenes.”

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, November 6, 2023, and the proposed topic is: “Autumn Leaves!”

Purple: Spirit Day!

Purple Spirit Day!

Purple: Spirit Day is officially observed on the third Thursday of October, annually. This posting entry is offered in anticipation of the official observance!

On the Progress Rainbow Pride flag, the colour of purple at the bottom of the original rainbow field of six stripes represents the ideal of spirit. The colour also denotes pride and is considered a calming colour. It also connects us to the spiritual realm. For a great many of us, this is symbolic of our reflective nature and signifies the soul of the GLBTQ+ quest for our equality and freedom. In the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth, purple is a royal colour and often is representative of the Crown.

Purple: Spirit Day is an annual anti-bullying, anti-coercion date that is held during National Bullying Prevention Month. It is particularly focused combatting damaging or threatening behaviour based on a person’s perceived or real same gender loving status. The Stonewall Inn Riots (SIR) of 1969 and the National Coming Out Day observance that commenced on October 11, 1988, reduced the suicide rate among the GLBTQ+ community and culture but it was never completely eradicated as a cause, even with the millennial transition.

A significant increase in GLBTQ+-related suicides committed not only raised the awareness of this problem within our community and culture but also in the minds of the general public. Clearly, more attention and efforts were necessary.

The commemoration of Purple: Spirit Day began on October 20, 2010, at the advocacy and inspiration of one Canadian teenager on her FaceBook social media. It is an awareness day of recent development in response to a USA suicide that gained international attention. On September 22, 2010, eighteen year old student Tyler Clementi, of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River. On September 19, Tyler’s roommate, Dharen Ravi, had posted to his Twitter social media account a clip showing Tyler kissing another man and announced to all his followers that he is gay. All of this was done without the permission of Tyler or his encounter partner.

Purple: Spirit Day!

The resulting media explosion that followed the suicide led Brittany McMillan, a secondary school student in Canada to respond to her conscience and launch the Purple: Spirit Day campaign on her own. The concept was undertaken by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) who immediately assumed sponsorship after consulting with Brittany.

Promoted by GLAAD, participants wear the colour purple as a visible sign of awareness and support for GLBTQ+ young people and opposition to bullying (for whatever reason) in general. It is also a gesture in tribute to all GLBTQ+ victims of suicide.

Cartoon in support of GLBTQ+ Purple: Spirit Day!

The very first Purple: Spirit Day was held on Wednesday, October 20, 2010. Later observances were on Thursday, October 20, 2011, and on Friday, October 20, 2012. After that time, GLAAD enacted the official date of the third Thursday in October as the annual occasion.

For those persons restricted by requirements of uniform, a purple awareness ribbon may be worn to show agreement with the cause. If a pre-printed purple ribbon isn’t immediately available, a plain one suffices. Use a regular safety pin to attach the ribbon to your collar or shirt.

I remember the very first Purple: Spirit Day. Aaron, my spouse and I were simply living together at the time, and there wasn’t much notice given in advance of the first occasion. We decided to make purple ribbons to distribute on our jobsites promoting the cause and spent the night before staying up late to create the awareness tokens. We assorted 150 ribbons for each of our jobs. By mid-morning the next day, we exchanged emails and we had both given out of ribbons!

Supporting Purple: Spirit Day!

For bare practitioners the event may be signified by painting a purple ribbon on the left side of the chest. It is important to promote attention to this worthy cause!

For additional information on Purple: Spirit Day! please click onto the link below:

Purple: Spirit Day

Naked hugs!

Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride

Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, October 20, 2023, and the proposed topic is: “A Brief Synopsis!”