Second Pride Members:

There is some misinformation being passed around and I apologize for the confusion. Normally I would not address such things directly, but this time it seems prudent.

First, there is NO intention to close Second Pride. There never has been. Second Pride’s 19th season is kicking off and Second Pride 2024 will be held June 7th to 16th, and we are looking forward to our 20th anniversary next year! Please read to the end to see how YOU can help.

The persons who you may have received messages from today are not concerned with what is best for Second Pride. I do not know what their actual motives are. They did in fact reach out asking for my resignation a few weeks ago…not a “succession plan” as they called it in today’s message. One of those persons has been trying for several months to gaslight me into resigning, via private messages and asking me to have a sit down meeting with him about my “exit strategy”. Bear in mind, this person is a performer, never having been in any leadership role with us. I don’t know why they felt this “task” was theirs to undertake.

That being said, if I did resign today, or get hit by a bus, the “two member” clause in the Bylaws would take effect. The same would happen if Tootsie or Petr resigned or became incapacitated. What that clause says is simply that we must fill at least a third seat within 90 days. We are not in danger of that happening, and I’m quite certain that a third Board member would be found before the time ran out. We have candidates in mind already for the two seats that are available, but granted, it is difficult to find people with the time and ability to commit to fill these seats. In fact, two of the people attacking Second Pride right now were either asked or were under heavy consideration for seats on the Board.

As far as finances, everything is tracked and double tracked. We keep copies of the transaction logs AND the kiosk logs, which is why all donations go through the kiosks. Those records are freely available to anyone that wants to request to see them. Sending funds to the charities is handled by Virtual Hope. This is a requirement from Linden Lab and Tilia. Virtual Hope also provides the same function for the American Cancer Society and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for all of the official fundraisers for those charities held in Second Life.

Now with that aside, I want you to see what you have done for the last several years. Since 2021, you, our members have raised the following:

Ali Forney Center – $ 4,515 (USD)
ILGA Europe – $ 6,540 (USD)
Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS – $ 9,393 (USD)
LGBTA Freedom Fund – $ 4,813 (USD)
It Gets Better Project – $9,013 (USD)

Were donations down in 2023 from 2022? Yes, they were. Remember, no one was getting pandemic money anymore. Everyone was under financial strain. We also have not had a dedicated person or team reaching out to vendors and sponsors for some time. Without that, donations are going to be down. We need to go into June with at least 500,000L already raised from stores, etc. before the event even starts. We can’t achieve that without help.

Do you believe in Second Pride? If not, then feel free to stop here. That’s fine. We get it. We’re still going to keep doing what we’ve been doing for 19 years. Throwing big parties and raising funds for great causes. You’re still welcome to come to the parties. Everyone is welcome!

If yes, then are you willing to help? We need people to spread the word about us and what we do, to talk to store owners and designers, to reach out to club and community owners, to encourage them to put up posters and kiosks. We need to form a new Ambassador team, which we unfortunately lost in this strange situation. If you can help, contact me, or Tootsie Nootan, or Petr Vanbeeck. Understand, these aren’t fun jobs. They are difficult, tedious, and time-consuming, with little (no) glory or fame included.

You can also join our Discord to contact us, which is the best way. The link is: https://discord.gg/PPPt3n28sm

I am available to have a one-on-one discussion about all this with anyone that would like to. Just let me know.

Thank you for your time and Happy Pride!
Lee McKay

This message, our Bylaws, and other information about Second Pride are available on our website: http://second-pride.com…