The month of August begins with the letter “A.” So does the anatomical feature that our buttocks represent: “ass” also begins with the letter “A.” Finally, August is the final full (complete) month of the summer season here in the Northern Hemisphere, so we’re publishing aquatics – another “A” designation – as our theme. So have a very happy, safe and successful bottoms-up! day!
Baring himself to commemorate the occasion!
Our man above is incorporating his lake visit into his bottoms-up! commemoration of his clothes free and very visible ass honouring the monthly occasion to celebrate!
BUD = Bottoms-Up! Diversity!
All cultures, ethnicities and races are always welcome to bottoms-up! participation as we all admire each and every pair of buttocks presented!
Bottoms-up! vintage from the early 1960s!
Bottoms-Up! appreciation and expression isn’t a relatively new idea to our community and culture. In the vintage picture above, the hairstyles reflect the early 1960s time period.
Bottoms-up! multitude!
A collection of bottoms-up! in honour of the end of the month of August, 2024!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, September 2, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Labour Day!”
Today’s post entry here on ReNude Pride is the title of the most recent novel from Virginia-native author, David Baldacci. The first edition of ACalamityofSouls was published by Grand Central Publishing in April, 2024. For more than two decades, David Baldacci has been among my favourite contemporary authors. Up until Papa’s death in 2018, whenever a new hardback by Baldacci was released, I always purchased two copies: one for me and the other for Papa. Baldacci, like Aaron and myself, still resides in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Background on ACalamityofSouls:
In my twenty years of reading David Baldacci’s books, I was aware of his Virginia birth and residency but was totally clueless that he grew up in the City of Richmond during the 1960s and 1970s. When my parents and oldest brother emigrated from Greece in the early 1970s, they purchased our family home in the Stonewall neighborhood, located in south Richmond between Semmes Avenue and the James River. The neighborhood where we grew up in was a primarily African-American area and one of the few in Richmond that accepted arriving emigrants. In ACalamityofSouls Baldacci acknowledges that with a “foreign” surname (Italian), Richmond was not a very welcoming municipality. We share that similarity. Same city. Different timeframe.
Richmond, Virginia, has the distinction of being the capital city of the failed Confederacy during the American Civil War over the future of slavery. Up until the arrival of the 21st Century, this fact was blatantly obvious. The undertones of racial inequality and and segregation based on skin colour were broadcast rather than hidden. The inability of the Virginia lawyer, Jack Lee, in ACalamityofSouls to comprehend the extent of the bigotry and hatred evident in 1968 in understood through the experienced eyes of the author, David Baldacci, and through his personal life experiences.
Synopsis:
Set in the tumultuous year of 1968 in southern Virginia, a racially charged murder case sets a duo of Black and White lawyers against a deeply unfair legal system as they work to defend their wrongfully accused Black defendants in this courtroom drama. The two are professionally joined by chance without any prior legal connection.
Jack Lee is a White attorney from Freeman County, Virginia (fictional), who has never done anything to push back against racism until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with brutally killing an elderly and wealthy White couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his professional skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already piling up against both himself and his client. He soon recognizes that he is far removed not only from his expertise but also from his obligation to best portray his client as innocent from the verdict in a murder trial.
Desiree DuBose is a Black attorney from Chicago, Illinois, who has dedicated her professional focus in advancing the causes of equality and justice for everyone, no matter their gender and/or race. She comes to Freeman County in rural southwest Virginia and joins with Jack Lee in a fractious and unwieldly partnership in an escalating legal conflict with the best and popular prosecutor in the Commonwealth of Virginia: the duly elected Attorney General. DuBose is cognizant of the reality that powerful archconservative alliances outside the state are uniting to counter the achievements and progress attained by the civil rights movement.
Lee and DuBose are practically exact opposites. Neither one of them alone can halt the official prosecutorial direction towards a guilty verdict and the death penalty. Yet combining together they forge forth towards a balanced and fair trial with the ultimate goal of true justice.
One of my Hellenic (Greek) comrades, a noted NewYorkTimes bestselling author himself, offered this comment on Baldacci’s ACalamityofSouls: “An instant classic. Not just a great American crime story this is a great American novel.” ~ Alex Michaelides ~
I’ve read the entire book – twice; as has Aaron, my spouse. The second reading brought forth details not captured in the initial exploration of the book. Aaron insists that I add here that the ending of the novel is absolutely not the ending anticipated or expected!
One of the aspects of Baldacci’s writing that is very impressive is his use of the interactions of the two attorneys, Jack Lee and Desiree DuBose, to illustrate the subtle use of conversation and the two different views of racism inferred from the same dialogue. Bias and racism are based upon personal experience. Thus, the situation will present different connotations and meanings to all the individuals involved.
Summary:A fitting irony
In his opening Author’s Note, Baldacci writes briefly of Richmond’s infamous Monument Avenue where Confederate celebrities were featured statues. When Richmond native international tennis legend Arthur Ashe, an African-American, died from an AIDS transfusion, a major controversy erupted when plans were announced to erect a statue in his memory along Monument Avenue. The conflict focused that Monument Avenue memorials featured White Confederate images. Ashe was Black even though he was actually born and grew up inside of the City of Richmond! Evidently, he was too “coloured” for the Confederacy!
Following the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in early 2020, the City removed all the Confederate statuary. Today, Arthur Ashe’s statue is the only remaining one an all of Monument Avenue. A commitment to justice served! Obviously, the others were too White to be featured in the city!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Saturday,August31, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Bottoms-Up! August, 2024!”
PhoenixFellington, performance name of ReNude Pride’s celebrity openly gay spokes-model and acclaimed gay porn actor, gives us all a “visual treat” of his buttocks being served for admiration in a park setting on a picnic table! His birth name is TreLeronFenderson and he’s publicly proud to be not only same gender loving (SGL) but actively demonstrating and encouraging nakedness whenever and wherever possible! We’re all grateful and thrilled to have him as a part of our bare practitioner community and culture and a dynamic endorser of Team ReNude Pride!
“Some simple advice and thoughts on posing proudly as gay and naked in today’s chaotic and hectic world. Have fun and remember to smile!” ~ Phoenix Fellington ~ openly gay pornography actor and ReNudePride’s spokes-model
Surf’s up! Phoenix!
Before the departure of the Summer, 2024, season, Phoenix advocates everyone to take advantage of what remains of the comfortable weather for body and clothes freedom. Get comfortable: rid yourself of those burdensome clothes and get natural in nature! If you have friends who’ll join you, lead the way! Fun in the sun is good for everyone!
Phoenix, the leader of the hike along the Nature Trail – bottoms-up! first!
“I love being nude outside – all in the open!” ~ PhoenixFellington ~ openly gay pornography actor and ReNude Pride’s spokes-model
The former U.S. Marine is successful in his professional life because he has no “hang-ups” or reluctance to appear in his nakedness. He wants to waste as little time as possible wearing clothes or trying to cover his body. He is a firm believer that his nudity is nothing to deny or to hide. An attitude that we all, as bare practitioners, need to adopt and to follow!
Nakedness solo among his peers!
Others with him pose in gay porn industry studio attire to promote their studio. Phoenix poses naked solo in order to endorse both being gay and being naked with no concern over guilt, judgment and/or shame!
Phoenixat a clothing optional beach!
He champions posing naked as an ideal way to strengthen body self-image and to impress others with confidence and poise!
When a studio has our man under contract and is hosting a social event to encourage investors, he has no hesitation, misgivings or qualms about attending, stripping off his clothing and socializing completely and proudly nude, even if he’s the only one doing so! All of this without any of the studio executives asking him to do so! Phoenix is nothing short of being bare, bold, confident, decisive, determined and proud of being exactly what and who he is: gay and naked!
Embarrassment, guilt, modesty and shame hold nothing over our man and his nakedness and/or his sexuality!
His philosophy is that he’s already played that “game” earlier in his life and while he was a Marine. Now, leave him alone and he’ll proceed with integrity and pride while being same gender loving (SGL) and sensational in his nakedness!
PhoenixFellington, our porn-star and our friend!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, August 26, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “A Calamity of Souls!”
Obviously, the absence of or the presence of tan-lines is often seen as verifiable proof of our status as a bare practitioner. However, is it irrefutable as to our personal identification or merely a reflection of our access to the freedom and frequency of our nakedness? A very legitimate consideration before the rendering of a determination.
A vague tan-line!
As members of a primarily social species, can a single person be viewed as a bare practitioner based on the reality that he/she lacks the companionship of others who share the camaraderie and fellowship of nudity? Without the company of others, many may simply not possess the opportunity to express themselves clothes free and relaxed. Given the current obsession of the broader society for clothing and fashion, is this an equitable and fair criteria to use in deciding their social status?
Communally bare!
We all live in areas and regions that encompass a broad range of persons of different and varied heritages, including ethnicities and races. With these variations come our abilities to respond to the rays of sunlight exposure. Skin tones and their reaction to ultraviolet light are caused by our individual genetic traits and the amount of time that we are exposed to direct sunlight.
Another factor is the quality of sunscreen that we utilize. There is no “standard” or predetermined regulation of components for the manufacture of sunscreen that is universally recognized. The varying results of this lack of uniformity creates a spectrum of results within all humans. None of us are identical in the final analysis.
Laundry day!
My spouse, Aaron, and I have had discussions over the years of these topics (and others) regarding the frequency of tan-lines on display in photographic depictions of nudity. Admittedly, our earlier sharing of these causes focused on the absurdity of the images themselves. Why proudly allow pictures that suggest our endorsement of garments be published?
This question was almost immediately followed by others that ranged from respective comfort with nakedness to environmental and professional situations that were possible explanations for their existence. Interacting on this subject, we agreed that encompassing a post entry on this subject was worthy of publishing here on ReNude Pride.
Bare without shame!
It was while composing this brief publication on tan-lines that the idea occurred to me. Perhaps the reason for the existence of a tan-line was that the individual was exploring nudism for the very first time!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, August 12, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Aaron & Roger: 9!”
Personally, it feels as though this summertime has only just begun. Yesterday was the official “first day of summer,” and now here we are, the month of August is already upon us! Where did the month of July disappear? It was in the future, and now it is a memory. I readily admit to being somewhat sluggish at the end of June, but I honestly didn’t foresee taking a nap that would include the entire month of July!
A dreamland pillow!
This season has been enjoyable, exciting and productive – as most summers usually are – without the usual drama that happens when the heat affects the temper levels. Perhaps one of the reasons this season has been relatively “drama-free” is due to having restful and sufficient amounts of sleep. This may be attributed to the fact that living natural pillows, on which to lay our head, are remarkably available and many bare practitioners are taking advantage! A good night’s sleep gives amazing rewards for those who indulge!
Our couples featured above illustrate the modern marvel known as living natural pillows. They’re accommodating, flexible and are accompanied by a sincere desire to please. Of course, reciprocity is expected and that merely involves taking turns providing the headrest! Everything more than that depends on the compatibility of the couple engaged in dreamland!
Beach bedding!
Not everyone has the same sense of privacy that others hold, especially during the freedom that summer provides us. Many take to napping and slumber while in the rays from the sun. Stroll along any beach, waterfront or pool deck and countless persons will be lounging and sleeping while doing so. There’s no law against it so why not enjoy it?
It is also vitally important to ascertain that all of us understand that living natural pillows entail the use of the buttocks of one person as the living natural pillow of another person. I’ll qualify one of the requirements from my personal experience. I’ve never rested my weary head on the buttocks of anyone recently deceased. I’m not sure if I could ever bring myself to relax during an exchange such as involving a close encounter with a dead person. For that reason, “living” is an essential aspect of the human pillow!
Compliance?
An equally essential component of the living natural pillow experience is the agreement, compliance and/or understanding between the involved persons as to what specifically the participation actually includes. For some, the possibility of being a pillow for another person is repugnant. They only want to be the person with their head on someone else’s buttocks! Role-playing isn’t one of their stronger features.
My spouse, Aaron, offers that for some couples, the usual aspects of alternating roles of accommodation are determined to not be applicable. This decision is based on their personal preference and mutual consent. If this is agreeable to them, then they are free to follow whatever is satisfactory.
Comfort and tranquility!
Naked hugs and enjoy your pillow: whatever style you have!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, August 5, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Marvelous Monday!”
The first full month of the summer of 2024 is now coming to an end. Hopefully, it has been a month of fun with a multitude of bare “bottoms” available for us all to admire! Capture the moments as we all know, summer doesn’t last forever!
Bottoms-up! strolling!
Clothing optional beaches are among the best places to view bare buttocks! Either walking around taking inventory as to what is available or passively absorbing the rays from the sun, bare buttocks and the bodies they are attached to are always plentiful!
Bottoms-up! grille chef!
The beaches aren’t the only locales to inspect bottoms-up! compliance. Many chefs opt for the bare buttocks role when labouring over a hot grill, especially in the direct sunlight!
Buttocks with a tan-line!
Tan-line: the grim reality that not all of us enjoy the luxury of accessible nudity!
Bottoms-up! nature trail!
Bare practitioner hiking along nature trails provide us with many exceptional opportunities for bottoms-up! observations, as well as a healthier heart!
Hanging out the laundry!
Hygienic laundry hanging allows us the chance to enjoy the bottoms-up! experience, but simultaneously to share our pleasure with others looking to do the same!
Bare buttocks = bottoms-up!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, August 2, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “August Awakening!”
The “header” (opening image) of this post entry here on ReNude Pride today is of Reign, one of my current favorite actors. Yes, he is a “star” in pornography and yes (again) he is openly and proudly a same gender loving (SGL) exclusively gay man. Now, what captured my attention about him – before I ever watched him perform – is the fact that he has “unashamed” tattooed just above his pubic hairline.
I readily admit that any man who is that blatant, bold and brave will automatically capture my eye! I’ll also be the first to acknowledge that the person who showed me today’s header is my spouse, Aaron. This sharing happened a couple of years ago, before even he – Aaron – watched a Reign DVD. For any man to have an “unashamed” tattoo anywhere near his genital area will gain notoriety. No questions asked!
Needless to add here, with his comfort and proud nakedness and his sexuality, Reign has obviously earned his place in our bare practitioner community and culture! Welcome home from all of us, Reign! I am so glad to have your bare and unashamed body to post here today!
A riverfront pose!
My Bare Practitioner Day Plans:
This past weekend offered us bare practitioners back-to-back days to commemorate: International Skinny-Dipping Day on Saturday, July 13, (which was accomplished despite several different rain-showers) and Bare Practitioner’s Day on Sunday, July 14. Aaron’s older brother, Paul, and his partner, Sudhir, were with us for the International Skinny-Dipping Day outing that we undertook in Richmond, Virginia. Aaron had to work Sunday; Paul and Sudhir had plans for the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C., which left me solo and free for Bare Practitioner’s Day.
With everyone occupied, I decided to make Sunday a blogging excursion and let all know that I was going to a privately-owned waterfront cottage to compile my Monday posting for “Sex-on-The-Beach.” I’d already shared with everyone that “Sex-on-The-Beach” was the name of the cocktail I would feature as the Bare Beverage.
I settled into a calm and relaxed mood. With two couples sharing one condo for a busy weekend of nakedness, there was no tension. We spent Saturday bare and together and everyone had their own plans for Sunday, no matter if they were naked or clothed. By Sunday evening, we’d all four be bare again and together again! Family (even in-laws) can be fun!
Another July weekend, another summertime success! Who could ask for anything more?
A loving mother could and probably would!
The Scenario:
Aaron is my spouse and Paul is his older brother. Paul also knows my mother and she knows him. After I had left Sunday morning, she calls from Greece via my TTY (old school: teletype telephone for the Deaf) for some routine reason that mother’s are known for and Paul answers her call. They converse with pleasantries and she asks if I’m available. Paul responds with the reality that Aaron and I are both unavailable, I’m out at the waterfront and Aaron is at work.
She then asks if he knows where I am and Paul informs her that I’m at the riverfront working on “sex on the beach” at that Aaron is at his job. They talk a little longer and then end the connection.
Author’s Note:Knowing my mother as well as I do, English is not her first (nor her second) language. I’m positive that it took her between 30 minutes and a full hour to mentally absorb her conversation with Paul. Once that happened, she would need to communicate exclusively in Greek. The international repercussions of the earlier dialogue between her and Paul escalated disproportionally!
My bare buttocks!
About the time that I’m baring my buttocks on Bare Practitioner’s Day, I receive a text message from one of my older brothers, Leo. He’s frantic and very terse. Our mother called him upset because I was out having sex on some beach while Aaron was at work! Thankfully, all six of our brothers know that Alex (my identical twin) and I are both SGL and practice nakedness! This background knowledge eliminated more than half of a potentially lengthy detailed explanation necessary to placate Leo, of all my brothers, who also happens to be our most “less tolerant” sibling.
Author’s Note:Thank you, Reign, for your conveniently located tattoo, “unashamed!” Alex and I were both taught by our parents notto be ashamed of who we are! At long last, I am able to identify the purpose of you as the header (opening image) of today’s post entry!
Leo and I were able to share emoji laughter at the end of our texting exchange. He was confident about restoring calm and comprehension to our mother. I alerted Alex as to what had transpired so that he was prepared for any questions. When we shared online connections later that evening, all of us thoroughly enjoyed the “comedy of errors!” created by Paul and our beloved mother!
And Aaron? He is my beloved and my spouse. Paul is his older brother and my brother-in-law. After Sunday evening’s comedy review, none of us could welcome sleep. Families! What else should we expect?
And importantly to Reign! A toast to you and your inspirational and notorious tattoo: “unashamed!”
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, July 22, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “July’s Jewels!”
A suggested reference!
Author’s Recommendation: Michael, a fellow blogger here on wordpress publishes a site that I have followed ever since returning here. MySecretJourney is the title of his site which chronicles his life, his canines and his views. I urge everyone who is concerned about the November elections to read one of his recent posts: “M.A.G.A.” To visit the posting, please click here.
National Nude Recreation Week: July 8 – July 14, 2024!
The week in action with Phoenix Fellington!
ReNude Pride’s very own model-spokesperson, Phoenix Fellington, aptly takes the leadership role in our observation of this week-long observance of bare beautification and celebration! Let no one remain doubtful as to the happiness, joy and laughter that this occasion can offer to all of us, whether we’re fully committed bare practitioners or newcomers trying social nudity for the very first time. This is a week to remember as “something fun for everyone!”
This festival of body and clothes freedom activities is jointly co-sponsored by the American Association of Nude Recreation (AANR) and The Naturist Society (TNS). As every summer is the “season of fun in the sun” it is only logical that major national naturist/nudist advocacy organizations produce an event in honour of clean, healthy bare living. The recent tendency over the last several years is to observe this festivity during the week after the July 4 holiday.
Let the fun begin!
Nude Recreation Week involves an emphasis on the numerous activities, leisure services and past-times, both active and passive, that people may engage in or undertake while enjoying nakedness. In essence, identical to what can be done when wearing garments. This isn’t to imply this special week is the only time we bare our bodies for fun and games. We do that quite frequently! Not only during this week only, but all throughout the entire year!
The original agenda for what is now evolving into Nude Recreation Week was to encourage guests and persons with very limited experience with social nudity to visit facilities and properties that allowed clothing optional and/or nakedness in an effort to increase their audiences. The history of Nude Recreation Week is relatively recent with the earliest documented date of August 7, 1976, as being NudeBeachDay. It was first observed at Truro Beach in southern California and at Meadow Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Both sites were pleased with the public response at their facilities.
Boating bare together!
The success of the first NudeBeachDay guaranteed a repeat the following year. The repeated observance earned attention in the naked newsletters and periodicals and also gained increased participation from other clothes free destinations and resorts. The popularity of the event soon led to the expansion from a single day activity into NationalNudeWeekend.
As many naturist/nudist destinations and resorts weren’t located with convenient access to a clothing optional aquatic facility, beach availability, it was soon recognized that an additional expansion of the theme was necessary. It was at this time that the scheduling of the occasion was moved from the month of August to the month of July and the Nude Recreation Week timeline was adapted.
The emergence and evolution of Nude Recreation Week did not reflect the growth of same gender loving community adherents to the body and clothes freedom movement. In the aftermath of the Stonewall Inn Riots (SIR), the entrenchment of homophobia within the movement often increased. It remains even today although less blatant than before.
Happy Nude Recreation Week to all!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, July 12, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Skinny-Dipping Day/Bare Practitioner’s Day!”
The glorious season of Summer deserves exceptional recognition for being the primary time of the year where an overwhelming majority of us bare practitioners relish in the almost unlimited freedom of our nakedness and our same gender loving status. ReNude Pride’s celebrity spokes-model, Phoenix Fellington, once again takes the featured role in demonstrating his acknowledged fondness for and preference for his unofficial official designation as our bare practitioner’sbarepractitioner! Confused? Don’t be! He’s hereto honoured as our bare beach soul – and not based exclusively because of his race. He’s my “soul” because he boldly and proudly poses all around without a thread of concealment over his body!
Whether he’s playing in the sand (view above) or being honoured in the foliage of the forest, his oft quoted remark, I love being naked, outside, in nature! is the summary of us nakednessenthusiasts no matter where we live or our skin colour! A man’s man and entertainer combined into one for us all to emulate!
Phoenix Fellington, the bare tree!
Phoenix, a former U.S. Marine, has the strength and, most importantly, the physique, to support a tree unaided by it’s natural trunk! And believe me, this is one active same gender loving (gay) porn-star who has the body to prove that fact!
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Juneteenth Celebration vigil!
Juneteenth Holiday!
The official name for this occasion is the Juneteenth National Independence Day and it is a national holiday in the USA. It is celebrated annually here on June 19, commemorating the official and formal emancipation from slavery in the USA. The name for this most recent holiday is a combination of the words “June” and “nineteenth” because it was on the date of June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in all of Texas at the end of the American Civil War.
The initial celebrations of this event began in 1866, originating in church sponsored community gatherings in Texas and throughout the south among liberated slaves often featuring a community food festival. With the Great Migration of African-Americans (descendants of slaves), these observances quickly spread throughout the country.
The day was recognized as a federal (national) holiday in 2021, when President Joseph Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. It was first observed as a federal holiday that same year. The protocol is in place when this holiday falls on a Saturday, the Friday before is the date of the observance. If the date is a Sunday, then the following Monday is the official holiday.
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Phoenix Fellington, picnic table invitational!
Summer Commences!
For this year, Summer, 2024, officially comes into existence on Thursday, June 20, 2024, at 4:51 p.m., (local time). The fun begins and lasts until September 22! For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, if you haven’t already done so, make the seasonal adjustments necessary to ensure a happy, safe and successful summertime of family, friends and fun!
This year is one of the times when the equinox doesn’t occur on the traditional date of June 21. However, June 21, 2024, does mark the first official full day of 2024’s summertime. Extra time for fun and play!
Summer splash!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, June 21, 2024, and the proposed topic is: “Strip2Dip: Summer, 2024!”
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 RainbowPride 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!”
ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers! 