The downward-pointed pink triangle was used in Nazi Germany during the 1930s and 1940s as a badge of shame. It was sewn onto the shirts of “deviant” men (homosexuals) in concentration camps to identify and to dehumanize them. Sexual deviancy was made illegal in Germany in 1871 with the creation of the German Empire, but the statute was rarely enforced.
When the national socialists (Nazi) seized control and power in 1933, it was made a priority in order to culturally and racially “purify” Germany. The Nazis arrested and incarcerated thousands of “deviant” men and sent them into concentration camps, where many perished. They viewed them all as degenerate and impure.
The pink triangle has been reclaimed as an empowering symbol for the GLBTQ+ community and culture. It is also serving as a reminder to remember the past – and to recognize the persecution GLBTQ+ people continue to suffer around the world.
The pink triangle on a black banner was the first “flag” to signify the gay and lesbian movement.
GLBTQ+ safe space emblem!
The above depiction of the pink triangle inside a green circle represents a safe space where GLBTQ+ people will not be harassed, ridiculed or shamed. This identification was necessary due to the threats against our community and culture by homophobic individuals who operated with the unofficial endorsement of law enforcement during the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The Lambda!
The Lambda:
The lambda was first designed in December, 1969, by Tom Doerr, a graphic artist and one of the founding members of the emerging Gay Activists Alliance. Doerr selected it because in chemistry, the lambda represented catalyst. Later, it was argued that the lambda denoted synergy of the growing gay and lesbian movement; the idea of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
The Lambda image from the Greek alphabet was first chosen as a gay symbol when, in 1970 – one year after the Stonewall Inn riots (SIR) – it was adopted by the then New York City’s Gay Activist Alliance as the emblem of their growing movement of gay liberation. In 1974, it was subsequently adopted by the International Gay Rights Congress at their international conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. As their symbol for gay and lesbian civil rights, the lambda became globally popular and recognized.
Many interpreted the lambda symbol as for males only.
The original rainbow pride flag!
The Rainbow Pride Flag:
First raised on June25, 1978, in San Francisco, California, USA! It was designed and created in honour of gay pride at the 1978 San Francisco Gy Freedom Day parade in honouring the annual anniversary of SIR. The very original flag consisted of eight coloured stripes and was designed by Gilbert Baker and hand-stitched and dyed with the help of friends and volunteers Lynn Segerblum, James McNamara, Glynne McElhinney, Joe Duran and Paul Langlotz.
The eight-stripe original was soon revised to six stripes with pink (symbolizing “sex”) and turquoise (symbolizing “art and magic”) eliminated as the colours were unavailable in flag fabrics.
Baker conceived the flag would “empower his tribe” in a “rainbow of humanity” motif to represent the GLBTQ+ movement’s diversity.
Above are the stripes and the meanings associated with each one of the rainbow-based colours.
The Progress Pride Flag!
The Progress Pride Flag:
The Progress Pride Flag was developed by non-binary artist and designer Daniel Quasar in 2018. Based on Gilbert Baker’s 1978 rainbow flag, Quasar’s redesign celebrates the continued growing diversity of the GLBTQ+ community and culture and encourages a more inclusive general society. The improved design increased the representation of discriminated minority identities covered by the GLBTQ+ umbrella.
Quasar’s creation placing black and brown stripes (emblems representing peoples of colour) and light blue, pink and white stripes (representing transgender and non-binary persons) in the shape of an arrow on the left of the Progress Pride flag. In Daniel Quasar’s own words “…the arrow points to the right to show forward movement and illustrates that progress towards inclusivity still needs to be made.”
The black stripe has multiple meanings as it is also intended for “…those living with HIV/AIDS and the prejudice and stigma surrounding them in addition to those who have died from the disease.”
On the evening of 6 June, 2018, Quasar posted the design on social media and went to bed. He woke the next day and discovered that it had viral! It was an immediate success!
The Progress Pride flag over the University of Nottingham!
The Progress Pride flag is currently internationally recognized as representing the global LGBTQ+ community and culture. It is now flown at the United Nations. The inclusive design and nature of this flag have received the commendation of many.
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, October 10, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “NCOD: Closets Are For Clothes!”
The header (opening image above) of this post entry here on ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers depicts an early camera (antique) being utilized to capture the likeness of the model. It is absolutely not an authentic photograph from the intended era.
The footwear (shoes) on the photographers are not relevant to the time period. Nor are the hairstyles of any of the three men posing for the picture. The hair and shoes reflect the early-to-middle 1950s decade.
The above photo because it represents the title and topic of today’s post here. The photographs published here below are the authentic copies of the originals.
Preamble:
When the camera initially appeared in the middle of the 1800s, public nakedness was either banned, forbidden, outlawed, prohibited and/or all of the previous choices. The existence of any type of affection between persons of the same gender (SGL) was not even considered a possibility outside of the highest legal minds. That act was judged by clergy and legalists alike as immoral and beyond description!
These circumstances were interpreted as degrading, indecent and offensive to all! It was viewed as the “work of the devil” and totally “unChristian!” As though everyone was an active supporter of that belief system!
Yet, despite volumes of judgemental and negative labels, bare posing for the camera, same gender affection and naked photography emerged. It also managed to survive, thrive and remains with us even today!
Bare practitioner, actor Sean Xavier, and his cup of tea!
Perhaps, somewhere, there are some bare practitioners reading this post entry while having their morning warm beverage! Positive proof of the survival of the very fittest – along with their nakedness and their SGL!
Before homosexual:
Even before the misleading and offensive term “homosexual” entered into the common vocabulary, there existed almost no popular identity classification for what is now determined as same gender love (SGL). It was usually referred to as “decadent,” “deviant” and “immoral.” As with nakedness, it was also construed as “the work of the devil” and condemned as bibically forbidden and completely unChristian.
The photography of (taking of pictures), posing of and the possession of pictures even “hinting” (suggesting) affection and/or intimacy between two individuals of the same gender was illegal and often punishable by imprisonment. Regardless of this restriction, early photographs were indeed created and many are visible even today!
Early SGL Photographers and Their Bromantic Subjects!
Wilhelm von Gloeden
Wilhelm von Gloeden (14 September 1856 – 11 February 1931) was born in Mecklenburg-Strelitz, later part of the German Empire. As an early adult he moved to Taormina, Sicily, Italy, due to tuberculosis. He trained initially as a paint artist, during which time he was given a camera as a gift.
He became fascinated with the novel camera. He later mastered photography while in Italy.
Also, while in Sicily, he became the adult lover of many Sicilian youth. He met and took Pancrazio Biciuni (sometimes referred to as Il Moro), a youth of 14 years as his lover and they remained together until he died. Patrons of his photography included Oscar Wilde and Albert Freidrich Krupp (of the German Krupp armaments family). Under Benito Mussolini he was put on trial for harboring pornography (his photographs) but was acquitted by the court in Milan.
Pancrazio Biciuni “Il Moro”
Pancrazio Bicinui (1879 – 1963) as a youthful teenager he became the lover of Wilhelm von Gloeden and remained with him until his death in 1931.
Vincenzio Galdi
Italian photographer (1871 – 1961) of primarily male nudes. His interest in photography began when he became first a model, then lover and then assistant to the German photographer, Wilhelm von Pluschow. He operated his own studio in Rome between 1900 and 1907. It was closed by the police and images seized in 1907.
Sicilian teens photographed by Vincenzio Galdi
On the bottom of the above picture, the shadows of the photographer, Vincenzo Galdi and his camera are visible. All three subjects at times were lovers of the adult photographers and were either bisexual or gay.
Two Sicilian teenagers
A Galdi photo showing two nude teens, Greco-Roman style. On the right is Pasquale Stracuzzi, the first Sicilian lover of Wilhelm von Gloeden. Stracuzzi appears in numerous pictures and was also known as Il Grande Fauno (The Great Fawn).
A Classic!
Bare artist, bare subject!
The above picture was posed for along the coast of Denmark, far away from the island of Sicily! It shows openly gay Danish artist, Ainor Bagnor, painting his equally bare subject who’s reclining on a rock, reading a book. Bagnor was known to be a very enthusiastic supporter of same gender love as well as body and clothes freedom! It is unknown the sexuality of either the subject of Bagnor’s art not the photographer of the image.
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, October 10, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “NCOD: Closets Are For Clothes!”
In the USA, the month of October, annually, is observed as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer + History Month!
Knowing our past enables our understanding of our present and empowers us to prepare for our future!
As a segment of the population that has been banned, blamed, discriminated, maligned, marginalized, punished and segregated, it is vitally important that we are all made aware of the major, notable, significant and vital contributions we have given throughout centuries of oppression and persecution. If we don’t celebrate and commemorate our achievements and advancements, who will?
Introduction:
Mentally, the phrase “gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer+ history month” (GLBTQ+ history month) produces an image that mistakenly projects the beginning of our GLBTQ+ community and culture as 1969. The year of the Stonewall Inn riots (SIR) in New York City, New York, USA.
Actually, historically and honestly, the story of our community and culture extends far back in time. Many persons believe that Adam and Eve were the first two human persons to inhabit the Earth. Obviously, they were a heterosexual couple. The GLBTQ+ story begins shortly thereafter and continues to unfold today.
In reality and in truth, the history of our GLBTQ+ community and culture begins with our global humanity experience, wherever we reside. It progresses along national boundaries once a political entity (nation) was created.
Original Pride flag!
Countries Honouring GLBTQ+ History:
Armenia October, annually
Australia October, annually
Canada October, annually
Cuba May, annually
Germany May, annually
Hungary February, annually
Netherlands, October, annually
Roumania, October, annually
United Kingdom February, annually
United States October, annually
International Progress GLBTQ+ Pride Flag
USA GLBTQ+ History Month:
The USA observance of GLBTQ+ History Month began in 1994 by a state of Missouri secondary school (high school) history teacher, Rodney Wilson. His intent was to provide role models for teenage youth, build community identity and to offer a civil rights statement of the achievements and efforts of the same gender loving (SGL) community and culture.
A GLBTQ+ History Month website was created, designed and launched by Equality Forum in 2006. In reference, click the link below:
The above website is designed and maintained by Equality Forum. The site features 31 honoured recipients (one for every day of the month of October) for every year since 2006, arranged chronologically.
Notation:
Equality Forum is a USA national GLBTQ+ civil rights organization with an educational focus. It coordinates GLBTQ+ history month, produces documentary films, sponsors high-impact social initiatives and offers an annual GLBTQ+ civil rights conference. Click the logo below to visit the site.
2025 GLBTQ+ Honours:
October 1: Peter Anastos choreographer
October 2: Walter Arlen composer
October 3: Becca Balint congressperson
October 4: Samuel Barber 20th century composer
October 5: Andy Cohen television personality and producer
October 6: John D’Emilio GLBTQ+ historian
October 7: Colman Domingo actor and playwright
October 8: Billie Eilish indie musician
October 9: Cecilia Gentili transgender activist
October 10: Jeffrey Gibson indigenous artist and sculptor
October 11: Nikki Giovanni author and poet
October 12: Lily Gladstone indigenous actor
October 13: Mel Heifetz philanthropist
October 14: Sir Lady Java drag performer
October 15: Ella Jenkins children’s music
October 16: Abilly Jones-Hennin GLBTQ+ activist
October 17: Ellsworth Kelly abstract artist
October 18: Karl Lagerfeld fashion designer
October 19: Troy Masters publisher
October 20: Sarah McBride first transgender congressperson
October 21: T. J. Osborne country rock musician
October 22: Ted Osius diplomat
October 23: Ann Philbin museum director
October 24: Chappell Roan pop musician
October 25: Harper Steele comedian and screenwriter
October 26: Breanna Stewart WNBA player
October 27: Arthur Tress fine art photographer
October 28: Cy Twambly painter and sculptor
October 29: Ocean Vuong author and poet
October 30: Abby Wambach women’s soccer
October 31: Lanford Wilson pulitzer-winning playwright
Prehistoric GLBTQ+ human!
The picture (above) is a contemporary impersonation of the rustic and vintage GLBTQ+ heritage. It is an interpretive, not an accurate, portrayal. Itis posted here for illustrative purposes only.
Enjoy GLBTQ+ History Month!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, October 3, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Historic Visibility: Early Photos!”
One of my summer pleasures is skinny-dipping (swimming naked). One of my favorite pastimes while enjoying the aquatic environment is reading. Using the spare moments to enjoy the books that often I failed to read while my university is in full session throughout the year. Strictly pleasure reading (fiction) for my excursions to outdoor bodies of water (natural or a pool). The subjects aren’t as intense or serious as professional reading or for research!
My surprise discovery!
David Baldacci is one among my favourite contemporary authors and I was very shocked to discover that he had a novel published earlier this summer that I knew nothing about. Several local booksellers that I subscribe to always alert me whenever my designated authors have a release to enable me to order. I had received no information on Baldacci’s newest, Strangers in Time!
It was never featured in my local bookseller (part of a national franchise) that has always promoted this particular author. When I stopped one of the management team as Aaron, my spouse, and I were in the location, they researched the title and were equally unaware of the publishing.
I was very fortunate and lucky to have discovered a copy of this book. Published in April 2025, Baldacci’s latest novel takes place in London, UK, in 1944 during the final days of the Blitz (German bombing). It is the documentation of the friendship that grows between 14-year-old Charlie Matters, orphaned by the bombings of the city and the ravages of World War II, and Molly Wakefield, a 15-year-old evacuee from London in 1939 who is returning to the unrecognizable city from which she fled.
They encounter Ignatius Oliver, a widowed bookseller attempting to heal from his recent loss of his wife. The three join together in friendship, dependence, and support in a dangerous and perilous time. Disaster and doom strike, yet they somehow manage to survive until the peace approaches, when fatality falls upon them.
A World War II historical fiction novel unlike any written by the author previously and presents a very impressionable and memorable story that is captivating, entertaining and refreshing as to the rewards of life.
When I first began university, my major area of study was history. David Baldacci’s Stranger in Time closely aligns fiction, history and suspense into a true work of an inspired mind!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, August 15, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Tenth Anniversary Today!”
4 July, 1776: The Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, unanimously sign the Declaration of Independence that created the United States of America.
Patriotic gesture: USA flag briefs in his mouth!
Since that time, this date is popularly known as Independence Day!
Have a happy and safe 4th of July!
Important Notice:
NATIONAL NUDE RECREATION WEEK:
7 – 13 JULY, 2025
Naked hugs!
Roger Peterson-Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, July 8, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Nude Recreation Week #1!”
1 July, 1867: Queen Victoria signs the British North America Act, creating the Dominion of Canada!
The British North America Act, now referred to as the Constitution Act, 1867, united three separate British colonies – Canada (Ontario and Quebec), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia – into one self-governing Dominion under the name of Canada while remaining in the sovereignty of the Crown.
His Majesty, King Charles III
On 27, May, 2025, King Charles III reads his Speech From the Throne of Canada reasserting Canada’s sovereignty over itself and the Canadian future!
Prime Minister Mark Carney requested that His Majesty, the King, to open a new Parliament and to reassert Canada over the belligerent threats from the president of the USA. This action reassured Canadians angered about annexation to the U.S.
Of course, we all know the limits of the mentality of the trumpster-dumpster (alias: rotund-rodent)!
Canada Day, 1 July, annually!
Map of Canada!
Since the British North America Act became real, the four original provinces covered within the parliamentary act (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Canada – Ontario and Quebec), through westward expansion, have now grown to become the Canada that we know today!
Canadian flag promoting an event!
The World Naked Bike Ride announced above was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the city where Aaron, my spouse, was born.
Have a very happy and safe Canada Day!
Naked hugs!
Roger Peterson-Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, July 4, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “USA: 4 July, 2025!”
The exterior view of The Stonewall Inn, Christopher Street, New York City, New York, USA, where history happened the evening of 27/28 June, 1969!
Background:
Friday, 27 June, 1969, was a very hot and humid day in New York City. Everyone was anxiously awaiting the approaching weekend and the freedom from having to struggle for relief from the oppressive weather.
At that time, the same gender loving people were known, at least in “polite” society, as “homosexuals” (a name now considered derogatory). The popular nickname was “homos.” This segment of the New York City population was not only oppressed by the weather but also by the bias, discrimination, hatred, marginalization and violence of the general population against all persons seen as homos.
There were laws prohibiting homosexuality socially on record in 49 of the fifty states of the USA. Illinois had repealed its anti-homosexuality legal restrictions in 1961. All segments of society: general, government, legal and religious were united against the “deviant” (homosexual) peoples.
It was unlawful for homosexuals to gather together in public. They were fired from their jobs for being thought of as being homosexual without any legal recourse. They were ridiculed and attacked publicly often without any consequence for those assaulting them. Simply being a homosexual was considered a criminal act.
Everyone was required, by law, to wear clothing appropriate to their birth gender. The only legal exception was for Halloween.
The Stonewall Inn:
The Stonewall Inn (it was never a hotel) opened as a bar catering to the homosexual community in 1967. Prior to that, it had been a stable (for horses), a French bakery, a tearoom and lastly a restaurant that had burned out of business. Upon renovation, it opened as a tavern (bar) on 18 March, 1967, under Mafia-affiliated management and owned by the Genovese crime family.
The establishment consisted of two main rooms, each with its own dance floor. The front room was popular with older clientele and the back room attracted the younger ones.
“The door of the Stonewall had wrought-iron bars across this little “peephole,” a little wooden thing that slid open. The man inside would look at you and, it you looked like you belonged there, he would let you in.” ~ Chris Babick ~ describing the entrance to the Stonewall Inn
*************************
Friday evening, 27 June 1969:
Most of the patrons gathered inside the Stonewall Inn were looking forward to a night of dancing with their friends, relaxing with watered-down cocktails and enjoying a summer’s Friday night in New York City in a place relatively comfortable and safe for homosexual acquaintances. They had no idea that they were about to witness an historical event that would change their lives – and the homosexual world – forever.
Both the dance floors at Stonewall Inn were full of dancing homosexual couples. It was now just after midnight and 28 June, 1969, was now in its infancy. Suddenly, the music stopped. The lights that were dimmed to enhance the atmosphere came back on in a bright glare that caught everyone by surprise. Almost simultaneously, the realization dawned on the festive crowds: New York City police were raiding the bar!
The New York City Police Department was long familiar with conducting raids on homosexual bars (both female and male). Their process for the procedure was fairly routine and standard. They recognized homosexuals as a relatively compliant and passive crowd. For this reason, only one police transport vehicle (“paddy-wagon”) and one marked police squad car were involved in the raid.
Less than a dozen officers were assigned the task of managing and segregating the clientele, confiscating all the alcohol and arresting the Stonewall Inn employees.
Patrons outside Stonewall Inn, early evening, Friday, 27 June, 1969!
Early Saturday morning, 28 June, 1969:
“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 Lanigan-Schmidt ~ Stonewall Inn patron and participant
The arrival of the police raiding force caused pandemonium to erupt inside the Stonewall Inn. Customers searched in vain for an escape route or for a place to hide. The police immediately began confiscating both liquor and beer as evidence against the establishment and segregating the bar crowd: bar employees, cross-dressers (transgender persons) and the “regular” homosexuals.
The bar employees and cross-dressers were to be arrested for their individual violating the law. The “regular” homosexuals, once they showed officers their proper identification, were to be given citations and then permitted to leave.
The year, 1969, was at the end of a decade that had witnessed massive social unrest. The African-American protests for civil rights, the birth of the feminist and women’s rights movements, the anti-Vietnam war and peace demonstrations and the equal pay marches for primarily Latino/Latina immigrant farm workers were underway during this time. The homosexuals who had participated in some of these public unrests were energized and many wondered when their time for equality would happen. Little did they, and the police raiding the Stonewall Inn, realize that moment had arrived!
As the police began checking the identities of those inside the Stonewall Inn, those with proper credentials were released and herded outside the bar. Only this time, instead of simply leaving the premises, they congregated on the sidewalks and across the street at the Christopher Street Park. Once law enforcement attempted to disperse them, they grew confrontational and belligerent.
Unaccustomed to homosexual defiance, the police continued to press the order to vacate the area. The growing crowd, emboldened by their frustration with being treated as “deviants” and second-class citizens, began to chant and to empty nearby trash cans and hurl the garbage at the officers.
By this time, passers-by, curious as to what was happening, joined the upset homosexuals to express their dissatisfaction with the raid. The crowd outside the Stonewall Inn began to grow in both number, anger and curiosity. When word of what had transpired inside the tavern began to spread, even more homosexuals started to descend into the inn’s neighborhood and amass in the bar’s vicinity.
Angry crowd outside Stonewall Inn, early Saturday morning, 28 June 1969!
SIR: Stonewall Inn Riot commences:
By now, the police, trapped inside the facility by the large crowd outside, understood that the situation had gotten beyond their control. They tried to call for reinforcements but were unable to reach any source for assistance. They had secured the bar but were confined inside and the crowd outside was swelling in both size and fury. A few hundred bar patrons had now increased into an angry mob of several thousand and more were joining by the minute.
“You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protesters, 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 customer detained inside the bar under siege
No one in the New York City Police Department had anticipated the homosexuals, always believed to be “meek and mild,” would fight back. The years of abuse, neglect, oppression, and ridicule had taken their toll, and the frustration had now become revolution; the time for retribution was at hand. Unfortunately for law enforcement, the pent-up anger toward the police was now being released and returned in kind. They were now prisoners inside the Stonewall Inn.
Two hours after the raid was initiated, the raiders and their detainees were trapped and no immediate relief was available. The two-way communication devices between the raiding party and their office weren’t working and the only public telephone inside the tavern wasn’t able to connect with any local police precincts. The “passive” homosexuals had finally achieved a “first” in their spontaneous riot: the police were contained, surrounded and they were all very nervous. By now, the mob outside the Greenwich Village bar numbered several thousand with a full-fledged riot underway.
SIR: Stonewall Inn Riot!Multiple police attack a protester early Saturday morning, 28 June, 1969!
In an effort to relieve the inflammatory predicament, the isolated police decided to send the detainees and half the officers trapped inside the tavern, using the two police vehicles on site, to the closest local precinct. There, the detainees would be formally charged with arrest, and the officers could make arrangements for a police riot force to assemble and rescue the remaining law enforcement personnel. This relief effort finally returned to the bar and eventually dispersed the angry mob of homosexuals and curious onlookers several hours later.
Saturday evening, 28 June, 1969:
Despite damage to the Stonewall Inn, the bar opened for business (dancing and socializing) the following night, Saturday, 28 June. by then, word of the disturbance the previous evening had spread throughout the city’s largely closeted (anonymous) homosexual community (primarily by word of mouth). The city officials and law enforcement superior officers were hesitant to release information that would encourage more aggressive reaction.
A larger than usual crowd gathered both inside and outside the Greenwich Village establishment. Most didn’t expect a repeat raid of the night before and a significant number of those in attendance mainly wanted to inspect the damage. The police, however, had different ideas. They were strictly outside the facility in full force with a large number in riot gear. They had learned their lesson and were determined to remain in complete control should the patrons become unruly again.
The homosexuals and the neighbourhood residents had been empowered by the riot the night before and of the mindset not to bullied into submission again. As the large police presence attempted to disperse those gathered outside the Stonewall Inn, they were confronted by verbal insults and an array of street-savvy tactics that set law enforcement chase off onlookers, only to have them run around the city block and return again.
Silent obedience to uniformed policemen was no longer a fact of life for New York City’s homosexuals. They were tired of suffering abuse, disrespect, ridicule and treatment as second-class citizens.
A crowd lining the sidewalk on the Stonewall Inn city block watched by police, Saturday evening, 28 June, 1969!
The second night of the Stonewall Inn congregation wasn’t as aggressively disruptive as the previous night. No further damage was done to the tavern facility. However, an awakening consciousness was raised within the municipal homosexual community that would change the way society viewed them and – most importantly – the way they perceived themselves.
For the first time, the often assumed obedient and passive homosexuals joined together and defended their rights and demonstrated that they, as a community, had finally and long last, “had enough!”
“There was no gay pride before Stonewall. Only gay fear and gay isolation and gay distrust and gay self-hatred.” ~ Edmond White ~ American gay novelist and Stonewall witness
Our GLBTQ+ Progress Pride flag!
Footnote: This posting entry was from a research paper that I composed for class distribution that I taught at my university, 2015 – 2018.
Sources:
Bausman, Ann “Stonewall: Breaking Out for Gay Rights”
Doberman, Martin F. “Stonewall: A History”
Naked hugs!
Roger Peterson-Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, June 30, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Bottoms-Up! June, 2025!
As we are, this week, approaching the actual dates of the Stonewall Inn riots of 1969, my spouse, Aaron, and I agreed that a look at the historic site of SIR (Stonewall Inn riots) that ignited our movement for equality and justice was appropriate and fitting. A sense of irony that the dates of 2025 coincide in reality with the corresponding days and dates of SIR in 1969!
The purpose of this posting entry today is to offer a visual image of the facilities that played an important role in the SIR event, 1969. It may serve as a reference for those traveling to New York City in the future. A scene from our shared past as it appears today: a glimpse of our history. One that was ignored and overlooked for decades!
The Stonewall Inn, June, 2016!
The image above is of The Stonewall Inn as it was decorated for Pride Month, 2016. The facility was renovated, both externally and internally, in 2007. The Stonewall Inn and surrounding area was designated as a national monument by then-President Barack Hussein Obama on 24 June, 2016. It was the first such designation associated with the GLBTQ+ community and culture.
Footnote #1:The current gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer+ (GLBTQ+) flag was not created nor adopted until June, 2018. The above flag was displayed in honour of then-President Obama’s signing of the Stonewall Inn National Monument status two years earlier.
The Stonewall National Monument is the very first site in the USA exclusively dedicated to the commemoration of anything specifically related to the GLBTQ+ community and culture. The fact that the site underscores the beginning of the struggle for the equality, freedom and justice of that particular community and culture keeps it within the supposed national tradition of all persons being equal under the guise of this country, this government and the law.
Footnote #2: On 13 February, 2025, the National Park Service eliminated all references to transgender persons from the Stonewall National Monument facilities and website. This action was taken so public park facilities would comply with the felon-in-chief executive order denying the history of the Stonewall Inn riots. What was originally promoted as GLBTQ+ is now simply GLB (gay, lesbian, bisexual).
Inresponse, the Stonewall Gives Back Initiative and The Stonewall Inn replied with an appropriate, mature and respectful statement immediately following the issuance of Executive Order #14168:
“This blatant act of erasure not only distorts the truth of our history, but it also dishonors the immense contributions of transgender individuals – especially transgender women of color – who were at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots and the broader fight for GLBTQ+ rights.”
The Stonewall National Monument!
The Monument Property:
The monument includes and surrounds Christopher Park (formerly known as the Christopher Street Park) that was originally owned by the New Netherlands Director-General, Wouter van Twiller, as a tobacco farm from 1633 until his death in 1638. When he died, the property was divided into smaller farms.
European immigration to New York City (following the Netherlands ceding the New Netherlands colony to the British) magnified and streets and neighborhoods developed. In 1835, the Great Fire of New York City burned the area known as Greenwich Village. The new Christopher Street Park opened in 1837 on the land of the old tobacco farm. The Stonewall Inn, which consisted of two adjacent stables, was built across the street from the park in 1843.
Entrance to Christopher Park, Stonewall National Monument!
The Stonewall National Monument is located in the West Village neighbourhood of Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan, New York City. The site includes the actual Stonewall Inn, Christopher Street and Christopher Park (formerly known as the Christopher Street Park).
Then U. S. President, Mr. Barack Obama
“But the arc of history is clear – it’s an arc of progress. And a lot of that progress can be traced back to Stonewall. So, this week, I’m designating the Stonewall National Monument as the newest addition to America’s national park system. Stonewall will be our first national monument to tell the story of GLBT rights.” ~ President Barack Obama ~ Weekly Address, The White House 25 June 2016
Stonewall National Monument, Christopher Park statues!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Thursday, June 26, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “HIV Testing Day!”
The proper name of this date is Juneteenth National Independence Day. It is the most recent federal (national) holiday in the USA, first enacted by then-President Joseph Biden in 2021. It is an annual celebration observed on 19 June (exempt from the Monday holiday policy) to commemorate the formal and official emancipation (freedom) from slavery of the African-American and Indigenous Peoples (Native Americans) in the USA.
The name of this occasion is a combination of the words “June” and “nineteenth” (in the vernacular of the populations freed) because on this exact date, 19 June 1865, Major General Gordon Granger ordered the official enforcement of the declaration of the Emancipation Proclamation of the late President Lincoln. This enactment occurred throughout the entire state of Texas at the end of the U.S. Civil War.
Introduction:
The initial celebrations of this happening began as early as 1866 throughout the state known as Texas. Initially, because of the shortages and financial burdens of the civil war and the Union occupation, the events were in the format of local church sponsored community gatherings often featuring a large communal meal with each family/household contributing a special food. Observances soon spread beyond the borders of Texas and into surrounding former slave-owning states, still limited to the liberated enslaved peoples.
Once the Reconstruction (military occupation and administration of the South by the Union army) Period ended, a period known as “Jim Crow” government (racial oppression and legal segregation) ensued throughout the former Confederacy. During this time, the continued unofficial celebrations of the Juneteenth date were held under the auspices of local churches but gradually expanded from food festivals to include music and dancing.
Juneteenth Expansion:
The exceptionally large number of former slaves and their families continued to live in the South due to limited financial resources and travel availability. The U.S. involvement in The Great War (World War I) in 1917 allowed Blacks a chance to improve their economic circumstances by fighting in France. Following the war ending in 1918, The Great Migration happened with hundreds of thousands of African-Americans moving from the rural Southern sharecropping to Nothern and Western industrial factories and a regular paycheck.
This reality opened the doors to introduction and expansion of Juneteenth festivities to local church communities in both northern and western areas of the U.S. The growth increased awareness of and observances of the occasion and its importance to this particular population. Gradually, among churches, statewide and soon national recognition of this event followed.
The success of the civil rights struggle and the repeal of systemic segregation policies in the 1970s and 1980s, a movement emerged urging support of a Juneteenth official observance. This culminated finally in then President Biden signing into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in 2021.
Togetherness!
Juneteenth Myth:
A popular myth/rumor surrounding the earlier observances of the Juneteenth event was the fact that Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses Grant on 9 April, 1865, in the town of Appomattox, Virginia, many hundreds of miles from Texas.
The Southern plantation/slave owners were extremely reluctant to inform their enslaved “property” that they were now free. The myth evolved that the news of the emancipated slaves receiving liberation was only orally repeated from plantation-to-plantation. The Texans were the last to learn of their terminated bondage on 19 June, 1865. Hence the Juneteenth designation.
This word-of-mouth only conveying of the news of freedom from slavery was how many justified the delay in the information of Lee’s surrender to Grant two months earlier.
A Closer Look:
Given the speed of internet, social media and technological marvels, it is almost impossible to comprehend the validity of the myths/rumours of delayed news transmission concerning freedom. However, with the timeline and the reality that the exclusive Southern “upper class” was totally Caucasian, slave-owning and severely financially impacted by the defeat of the rebellious Confederacy, there’s a possibility of some vague truth here.
In addition, the wealth of plantation owners and the upper level of Southern society was frequently based on and measured by the values of those held in servitude. The eradication of slavery as a legality would and did bankrupt an empowered class of that society. Combined with the conclusion of a five-year-long devastating Civil War in which an overwhelming number of battles – and destruction – occurred in the strictly segregated South, this provided circumstances that could lead to some verification of the unsubstantiated Juneteenth myth.
The Unanswered Question:
Why did it take 156 years to designate a holiday to commemorate a major event in this nation’s history? A country that was built for democracy and freedom.
Happy Juneteenth holiday and naked hugs to all!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Saturday, June 21, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Summer, 2025!”
Bare Practitioner:same gender loving and embracing nakedness as both community and culture. An enthusiastic advocate of the right to love and of body and clothes freedom.
Body and clothes freedom!
Naked is defined as without clothing on the body. Without addition, concealment, disguise or embellishment. Nude.
Nude is defined as without clothing or naked. The condition of being unclothed.
Introduction:
Mutual body and clothes freedom!
Bare! Body! Clothes free! Naked! Natural! Naturist! Nude! Nudity! Nudist! All of these terms/words refer to the fact that we are uncovered (without clothing)! We are completely visible without even a single thread concealing any part of our natural body. Identical to the state of our birth. Not a single one of us were born wearing anything! Hallelujah!
Yours truly at a local park in Arlington, Virginia, USA!
My name is Roger Peterson-Poladopoulos. As many of you already know, I am the co-author and the creator of this site: ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers! I am a same gender loving (SGL) man – gay – Deaf and of direct Greek heritage (both of my parents were born in the Kingdom of Greece).
Aaron, my spouse!
This is Aaron M. Peterson-Poladopoulos, my spouse. He is also the co-author and photographer of this site. Obviously, he is also SGL and is of African-Canadian descent. Aaron’s family is of the Yoruba ethnic tribe from the city of Ibadan, located in western Nigeria. Both Canada and Nigeria are Commonwealth entities. We have been legally married since 2015, a year after marriage equality was officially adopted here in the USA, our country of residence.
The both of us are confidently and proudly bare practitioners (SGL and naturist/nudist). We wear clothes when necessary but both of us prefer being without any garment whatsoever! As enthusiastic bare practitioner advocates, we are equally responsible for the theme of today’s post entry here.
Honest and simple advice!
We sincerely encourage all of you here today to join with us in nakedness and pride whenever possible!
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Bare Practitioners:
Bare practitioners!
As an integral component grouping of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer+ community and culture, bare practitioners often encounter awkward and discomforting situations not only because of our SGL status, but also due to our textile (clothing) – or our lack thereof. We are neither forcing nor intimidating anyone into our body and clothes freedom world, instead we are celebrating the enablement to just be ourselves: SGL and nakedness!
Progress Pride Flag body painted on himself!
Our man in the above photograph is very confident and proud of his bare practitioner identity. He has our SGL Progress Pride rainbow flag body painted on his nakedness while he’s participating in the London, UK, World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR)! His smile demonstrates his comfort and joy in being honest and open about his body freedom and his sexuality! Both Aaron and I salute his brotherhood, reality and sincerity! Take care and stay bare, our friend!
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Our Confidence Is Evident:
Bare under the bridge!
Our man in this series of pictures here is not only proud of his sexuality, he’s also assured and bold in sharing publicly his bare practitioner affiliation!
Submerged bare practitioner pride!
He combines his SGL nature and his body and clothes freedom preference and skinny dips (swims naked) without a care in the world!
His rainbow pride colours raised high!
He confidently flaunts both his bare body and his sexuality while posing and promoting his message: “I am my own man without guilt and/or shame!”
Bottoms-up! near the underwater bottom!
A philosophy that many of us who are bare practitioners endorse and proclaim wholeheartedly!
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Confidence and Pride!
Compatibility!
Being a bare practitioner isn’t an obligation to publicly reveal one’s personal character and identity. Each person determines their own comfort level in presenting themselves to others. The majority of us, bare practitioners or otherwise, are more amenable to others who we perceive as most like us and similar to ourselves. This is a human instinct that most of us believe, feel, nurture and share among ourselves.
Our bare practitioner affinity and appreciation aren’t based on or defined solely by our willingness to allow others to interpret or judge our nakedness and/or our sexuality. Our being what and who we are is determined completely by our private discretion, personal emotional capacity, and self-acceptance. If we need to confide in another, it is our choice, and we need to engage in the dialogue when we are comfortable. Otherwise, we await on our respective decision to proceed.
For everyone!
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Poetic Justice:
An important message inked on his genital area!
Reign is the stage name of our bare practitioner brother welcoming us here. Just above his pubic hairline, he has “unashamed” tattooed on his skin. His meaning is obviously visible for all. There is no embarrassment, guilt or shame associated with either his nakedness and/or his sexuality!
He prefers nakedness over clothing and has no issue in publicly endorsing both body and clothes freedom and his exclusive same gender loving sexuality. Reign is a very honest and open man who lives his life being himself and “unashamed!”
My Naked Life
by Roger Poladopoulos
I am naked and I am me.
I am the man the man I want to be.
When I am naked, I am nude,
Living life with a positive attitude.
I am naked and I am me.
I am the man I want to be.
When I am nude, I am also proud,
Whether alone or among a crowd.
I am naked and I am me.
I am the man I want to be.
When I am nude, I am living free,
I know that clothes are not for me.
I am naked and I am me.
I am the man I want to be.
When I am nude, I clear my mind,
Gone are the clothes that hide and bind.
I am naked and I am me.
I am the man I want to be.
The End. Composed on 5 July, 2011 at a clothes free beach.
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Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, June 9, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Swinging It All: Bat and Buttocks!”
ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers! 