Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
Pitch Wyld’s “Hey Sailor” captures the exuberance of Pride. It is an homage to the “V-J Day in Times Square” shot when World War Two was finally over. A less-famous shot of those four pictures taken that day shows the woman punching the guy in the face for just grabbing her, but that is the past. Today this image celebrates Pride, a kind of V-B Day (Victory over Bigotry) and it is consensual. He also chose perfect mood music “I Am What I Am” with Gloria Gaynor.
Describing what Pride means to him, Pitch writes:
“I have found that being involved in Second Life has allowed me to safely explore different sides of my sexuality in such a way that I can then implement these ideas, concepts, feelings in a more meaningful way into my real life. I am given an arena that is largely non-judgmental, where I can play out different scenarios and think more deeply on who I am and how my sexuality expresses itself. Second life hits my scientific side where I can gather research in the ways that other folks engage in their sexuality. This allows me to be more knowledgeable and hopefully receptive as a loving and engaging partner.”
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Julio Plutonian Treves celebrates in front of a backdrop featuring the Church and Wellesley intersection in Toronto that is home to Toronto Pride. He writes, “Within Second Life I got to know a world of different possibilities and cultures, it helped me a lot in my self-acceptance and in my way of facing the world, celebrating pride here inside this wonderful world made me stronger than ever.” Then quotes the goddess, Aretha Franklin:
"There's a power that lives deep inside of me
Give me the strength
To carry on, always be strong
PRIDE! A DEEPER LOVE"
With “You’re Amazing Just the Way You Are,” Imogen Atheria captures the interior celebration of Pride and how many people celebrated and will celebrate Pride until we get enough people vaccinated.
She writes about how Pride has inspired her. “It WOULD be Pride that gets me back into being inspired for photos. The support of all of these creative talents in our little virtual world just amazes me, and I feel the need to showcase them, as they support me and others like me during this time. ♥"
Pride means different things to different people. Some even question its necessity any longer though that takes a lot of overlooking of the many anti-trans legislation passed and it also requires overlooking many other parts of the world. Some want Pride to be more respectable, though respectability politics has always been about assimilation, not Pride. Some decry the commercialization of Pride, though if advertising support for the LGBTIQA+ community is profitable, that means the community is winning the culture war.
See all of Cajsa's Choices here. Follow Cajsa on Flickr, on Twitter or on her blog
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