Innocence, So Fleeting, So Fragile

Outgoing postcard US-2529931 to Belarus was another postcard from Zumanity, the Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil at New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The scene on the postcard, with a tag line "Innocence, so fleeting, so fragile", reveals elegance and passion of women. The show is scheduled to undergo an overhaul early next year. The postcard was purchased at the show's gift shop. It was sent on November 28, 2013 and had since expired.

Tonight, the giant Viva Vision LED display canopy at the Fremont Street Experience lit up again for the 16th annual Las Vegas Pride Parade in downtown Las Vegas. A blog from Las Vegas Weekly explains why Las Vegas Pride matters for a largely dis-unified LGBT community. The pride festival will be held at the Clark County Government Center Amphitheater tomorrow from noon to 10:00 p.m. on September 6, 2014. As concluded in that blog, we will be there "not because we want to see more people impersonating Britney Spears, but because we want to see us."

Color Our World with Pride

Member of Balloon Magic Marches in the 42th SF Pride Parade on June 24, 2012.

The 44th Annual San Francisco Pride Parade kicked off at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday June 29, 2014.  attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators and participants to this one of the largest LGBT gatherings in the nation. The theme of this year's parade was "Color Our World With Pride."

Balloon Magic marches along the Market Street in 2014 (Screen capture from livestream)

Adding a splash of colors to the parade, the group Balloon Magic has been a staple over the years and one of my favorites. They have usually been marching between the leading Dykes on Bikes and Cheer San Francisco. The featured postcard was made from one of my photos taken on June 24, 2012.

Balloon Magic in the 43 the Pride Parade on June 30, 2013 (Screen capture from livestream)

Pride + Joy: One Year After Historic Supreme Court Ruling

One year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two landmark rulings on June 26, 2013: one striking down part of the the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that denied federal recognition to same-sex marriages and the other allowing same-sex couples to marry legally in California.

Since then, huge advances for the same-sex marriage have brought pride and joy to many couples who could not marry before. Before the rulings, same sex couples could marry in only 10 states and the District of Columbia; today, that number has almost doubled to 19 states and the District of Columbia, covering near 44% population of the country.

Most recently on Wednesday June 25, 2014, a federal judge struck down same-sex marriage ban in Indiana. Meanwhile, a 2-1 decision from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, the first issued at the level of the federal appellate courts, ruled that the same-sex marriage ban in Utah was unconstitutional. Marriage-equality lawsuits are now pending in all 31 states where same-sex couples are still barred from marrying.

Postcard US-2333973 to Indiana, which was sent on July 25, 2013 and has since expired, was made out of a hand fan distributed by Macy's during the 2012 Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Parade in San Francisco. The 2014 Parade, themed "Color Our World with Pride," will start at Market & Beale and end at Market & 8th Street in downtown San Francisco at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday June 29, 2014.

Hallmark Made First Father's Day ECard for Two Dads

In this Father's Day, Hallmark, the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States, has made its first ECard dedicated to two dads. Titled "I'll Take Two," the ECard was created by transgender artist Kylie Summer Wu, showing a girl shopping for Father's Day gift for her dad and pop.

Meanwhile, President Obama honored fathers, gay or straight, inclusively in his presidential proclamation for Father's Day. Advocate also had an article featuring 33 Famous Gay Dads for Father's Day. 

Based in Kansas City, Missouri and founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark first introduced same-sex themed wedding cards in 2008. It later added its first-ever Mother's Day cards for lesbian moms and Valentine's cards for same-sex couples. You can see more of the spectrum collections, part of the company's "Love is..." design series, here in honor of LGBT Pride Month.

Badlands

I got this postcard from a Capital Pride Festival in Washington D.C. more than 10 years ago, showing Badlands that was located near the Dupont Circle and first opened in 1983. Once billed as Washington D.C.’s most progressive and longest running gay dance club, it later changed its name to Apex and was abruptly shutdown on July 5, 2011 after 28 years. The space, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Codman Carriage House and Stable, is now occupied by Phase One of Dupont, a 21+ lesbian venue.

Today, for the first time in the Annual Capital Pride Parade's 39-year history, the U.S. Armed Forces color guards marched along with the rainbow flag. An eight-member color guard team from the U.S. Army Military District of Washington led off the parade, started at 4:30 pm on June 7, 2014. It is the same team that presents the flags at congressional and White House events. The Department of Defense authorized the participation. Celebrations continue tomorrow at the Capital Pride Festival from 12:00 pm to 7:00 pm on June 8, 2014.

If Not Now, Then When?

June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, as declared in a proclamation by President Barack Obama on May 30, 2014, calling on Americans to eliminate prejudice “everywhere it exists.”

Presented by Human Rights Campaign, UNLV Spectrum, LGBT Bar Association and Freedom Nevada, a special preview screening of the HBO Documentary "The Case Against 8" was held at the Student Union Theater, University of Nevada, Las Vegas at 2 p.m. today. The film offered a behind-the-scenes look inside the historic case to overturn California Proposition 8 that bans same-sex marriage in the state. It highlights that "battles are won because they are fought!" The documentary will premiere in theaters on June 6, 2014 and debuts on HBO on June 23, 2014.

The postcard to Taiwan, one of several from the Cirque du Soilei show Zumanity, depicts a scene where "the lovers dance a tumultuous tango. Through their fierce choreography, a passionate story of love and anger unfolds. Again and again they attract and repel in intense conflict until the magnetic energy between them becomes more than they can bear."

Las Vegas Pride Parade

Las Vegas Pride Parade is one of the few, if not the only one, Pride Parades held at night. The 15th Annual Las Vegas Pride Parade will march up the 4th Street from West Charleston Blvd to Ogden Avenue starting at 8 pm on September 6, 2013 in downtown Las Vegas. The 2013 parade, presented by the MGM Resorts International and led by Grand Marshal Edward Padilla and Celebrity Grand Marshals from the cast of Divas Las Vegas, brings together the gay and straight business community, nonprofit organizations, LGBT service agencies, civic groups, and churches for a big celebration.

The postcard shows the banner of Las Vegas Pride projected on the giant Viva Vision LED display canopy at the Fremont Street Experience on April 30, 2010. The parade was changed to be held in September since.

The Parade is Coming

San Francisco's Pride Celebration and Parade is the largest LGBT gathering in the nation, taken place over the last weekend in June each year. About one million people attended the event last year in 2012. My postcard US-2246692 to Netherlands shows a group of young men climbing onto a pole in anticipation of the incoming parade on June 24, 2012. 

In less than 12 hours, the 43rd annual San Francisco Pride Parade will start marching on the Market Street at 10:30 am on June 30, 2013. More people are expected this year due to the Supreme Court rulings last week. The theme for this year is "Embrace, Encourage, Empower". House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other elected officials will be in the event.

View SF Pride Parade Route in a larger map 

 

Girls in Wonderland, Orlando

Girls in Wonderland, Orlando

I sent out this card US-2218310 to Finland on May 9, 2013. The card is an advertisement card for Girls in Wonderland, Orlando, part of the week long celebration of  Gay Days at Walt Disney World.

The recipient would like her PostCrossing senders to pick one of the five YouTube videos listed on her profile and write down what the senders think after listening on their postcards. The video I picked was "Somewhere Around Nothing" by Apocalyptica. The music gave me the sense of urgency to fulfill one's purpose of life. I was amazed that a cello can sounded so metal. If a cello can be transformed into a person, it certainly shows an other wise mellow guy can be powerful when determined.