Second Life is celebrating it's fifth birthday on June 23 (SL5B). As usual the residents were planning it. Then Linden Lab stepped in.

You guessed it, they then did something monumentally stupid.

The other day they made an announcement: kid avatars would not be allowed to contribute to the festivities. Applications from kid groups would not be accepted. Who cares that the kid exhibits were the most popular ones in previous years and that Linden Lab's official policy is to support kids unless they do something wrong.

Oops. The blogosphere literally exploded with discussions. A friend of mine is trying to maintain a list of some of them in her post and there is a JIRA that everyone should vote on here.

Us kids are not sitting still though. We did a lot of work yesterday (I was only there for 13 hours of it) to kick things off for KIDS5B. We have the land. We have the resources. We have a plan. We have designers/builders in Second Life dropping SL5B like a brick and throwing their energies into KIDS5B instead. The main thing working against us right now is time: we have 3 weeks to put together a build that will have people talking.

Oh, the title of this blog post. M is the new CEO of Linden Lab .... he is having a great 2nd week so far. :)

The following is not written by me but is making the rounds. Please copy/paste the below or write about the subject on your own blog.

I am Kathleen.

No, that’s not my literal name. That’s the rallying cry for all bloggers
and vloggers who care about the freedom to blog or vlog. That’s my way of
seizing our freedom back–yours, mine, everyone’s.

The most precious tool that a blogger has is not something you can see,
hear, or feel. It’s not a computer or blogging software or a nifty pay-pal
arrangement. It’s called “Freedom of Speech.” Without it, we all might as
well demolish our blog sites. Well, that freedom of speech is under attack
for all of us everywhere–regardless of gender and gender-identity, race,
sexual orientation, disability (or lack thereof), country, cultural
background, religion, or what have you.

In case you hadn’t already read about it, one particular blogger, Kathleen
Seidel, recently committed the shocking offense of having an opinion.
Specifically, she made some comments on a particular multi-million dollar
law suit. No, she has no special, inside knowledge of the legal case.
She’s simply a one-person journalistic blogging operation who did her
homework. Meaning, she looked up the public facts of the case in the same
way that any other public citizen could have done. The difference being,
she had the audacity to actually share what she found with the public via
her blog and included her opinion criticizing the basis of the case. This
was in late March 2008.

Somebody must not have liked what she said because within four hours, she
was served a subpoena requiring her to show up in court and turn over
absurdly excessive and burdensome amounts of information in just about
every sphere of her life, whether or not it has a plausible connection
with the case. As just one small example, they want records of every
single email correspondence or verbal conversation she has had with every
single blogger in her blog roll for the past umpteen years. These bloggers
number more than 100, and most of them have written nothing about the
legal case at hand. And that’s just the start.

Now, a supoena by itself is not inherently evil. It’s simply a tool for
gathering information that could shed important light on a court case but
that might otherwise not be made available. It can be put to a great many
positive uses, including setting innocent people free or seeing justice
done.

But in this case, Kathleen Seidel knows nothing special about this case
that the lawyers couldn’t have gathered on their own far more easily. Both
lawyers and lay people who have read through the subpoena agree that its
primary purpose–perhaps its sole purpose–is to intimidate and silence
Kathleen. In other words, it was served not to turn up valuable
information but because Kathleen Seidel expressed an opinion that was
inconvenient to one of the parties in the legal case.

I won’t even tell you who because, frankly, I think that’s irrelevant. In
any case, you can look that up on your own via the links I provide further
below. What matters more is that this is an attempt to make one blogger
afraid to exercise her freedom of speech.

Well, Kathleen is not giving in to these pressure tactics. And neither
should any of us who care about one of the most basic freedoms any human
being can have. Because if Kathleen could be attacked, then so could you;
so could I; so could any person with an opinion and the courage to make it
public.

Don’t believe me? Well, try this: Kathleen is not even alone. One blogger
has collected examples of several cases from around the world in which
attempts have been made to suppress the views of bloggers.

An attack on Kathleen or any other blogger is an attack on all of us. That
means we all need to stand together on this–including those of us who
might ordinarily disagree with vehemence at other times. Only with freedom
of speech can we be truly free to disagree.

We can respond by sending a message loud and clear to anyone who might try
to gag our mouths or bind our hands; who might try to take away our
keyboards and lock up our computers; who might try to make us so afraid
that we lock our own chains ourselves. That message must be, “An attack on
the fundamental freedoms of any one of us is an attack on all of us. And
we will not stand by. We are all Kathleen.”

Throw away the chains. Free yourselves.

How can we do this? Blog about what happened to Kathleen Seidel. Or, pick
some other blogger who has been under attack and blog about them instead.
And encourage others to do the same.

First, Research the Case:
Don’t just take my word for it. Do your homework, like Kathleen Seidel did.

If you’re blogging about Kathleen Seidel, then read the subpoena itself at:


http://www.neurodiversity.com/weblog/article/150

Not a lawyer? Read the analysis of someone who is:


http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2008/04/vaccine-lawyer-subpoenas-kathl.php

Read what other bloggers have been saying about the case–here’s a running
list at:

http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2008/04/kathleen-seidel.html

Read about other bloggers around the world who have been under legal
attacks, then google them for more details.

http://elder-abuse-cyberray.blogspot.com/2008/04/war-on-bloggers-comes-home-to-america.html

I’m sure these are not the only cases of bloggers under attack. There are
probably more out there who simply haven’t received the same amount of
public attention. See if you can dig up more names of bloggers who have
been similarly pressured to stop speaking out. Then research them. Help
bring their cases to light, whether or not you necessarily like them or
agree with their opinions.

Don’t restrict yourself to bloggers in your own country. Bloggers must
stand together across national boundaries. An attack in any one country
is an attack on all people in all countries who value free speech–whether
or not they have been allowed to enjoy that right.

Blog about it:
As it says. See if you can include the phrase “I am Kathleen” or some
variant thereof. Let’s make that the catch phrase of the bloggers’
freedom-of-speech movement.

Consider making a commitment to yourself to blog about this or a similar
case once a year, or whatever time table feels most comfortable for you.

Tell Liz Ditz:
If you blog about Kathleen Seidel, then make it easy for other people who
care about this case to find your blog post. Go to Liz Ditz’s running list
of blog posts on the Kathleen Seidel situation and leave a comment there
with your URL. Then she can link to you.
http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2008/04/kathleen-seidel.html

Encourage other bloggers to do the same:
Do you have some favorite blogs where you regularly leave comments and are
known to the blogger? Please make sure they’re aware of these attacks on
our freedoms. (Please don’t annoy them unncessarily. First, double-check
that they haven’t already blogged about it!) Encourage them to research it
and blog about it.

No time to blog?
Cheat. Normally I don’t AT ALL condone plagiarism, especially when it’s
done to me. But in this case I’ll make an exception: if you have no time
to research and write a blog post of your own about this case, go ahead
and copy/paste this one into your blog. And tell the world, “I am
Kathleen.”

Just don’t copy/paste any of the OTHER posts at this blog that were
written by me. Or any other blog post at any other blog site you find.
If you like something you see, the usual etiquette is to provide your
readers with a SHORT quote and a link back to the original. Please don’t
steal. Thank you.

Don’t have a blog at all?
You can still bring attention to the case. Copy/paste this post into your
email for circulation. Or, if you prefer, you can link to one of the many
other pages about the Kathleen Seidel case, or you can link to the page
about attacks on bloggers in general. Consider incorporating the link you
choose into your email signature for the next few weeks. And tell people
you know, “I am Kathleen.”

Check the date!

I don’t want to be guilty of creating one of those many unfortunate email
or blog memes that keeps going around for decades after all the parties
referenced have gone on to other things. Please check all the web
addresses (links) listed in this post. Make sure they still work and that
the information in this text is not too hopelessly out of date. If it is,
then please update it before passing it on. For example, if the
particular case or cases referenced here seem to be long since over (which
it might be, if you’re already reading this too far beyond 2008!), see if
you can find a similar, more current case that you can reference instead.

For the record, this text was last revised on April 10, 2008. (Revise
this date as appropriate, but only if you have carefully verified and
up-dated the information in this post.) It’s making the rounds. If it
still seems current, then please circulate further.

And tell the world, “I am Kathleen.”

(No, I have no idea where this essay is going to end up. Or even why I am writing it or what it will be about for that matter.)

Communities. Intentional families. The more I use Second Life the more I realize that is what it is constructed on. It is why I spend as much time there as possible and never want to leave it, even if that means going from one place I have access to it to another. It is also why I get depressed that so many people I know in Real Life will not join me there (they either see it as a game or a waste of time and money). One friend characterizes people in Second Life as Immersionalists and Augmentalists, I think I would clearly fall in the former category!

Communities? Did I say communities? Perhaps the word community would be more fitting. Last night I was at a memorial service and, while I realized several of the people there would know other people I was completely blown away by how much interconnection there was. This even extended to later going to an unrelated party which included people (or people connected to them) I or my alter-ego (more on her later) had met previously. In order for this ramble to make sense though, I will use the plural form of community.

Let's see, where was I? Oh yes, my alter-ego. Like many people in Second Life I have several characters that I use. Two are most prevalent though. As I explained in another blog post, it gets tricky to decide which is the main one. One was the sole one I used last year (and the account I pay for). The other is the more active this year. Some people know one or the other, some both. Some people know both but primarily interact with one of them. Like I said, telling which is the main one and which is the alt tends to be a tricky concept. This led to a tricky question though. Which one to send to the memorial yesterday since the person who told me about it knows both characters. One is more apt for a solemn occasion like that but was not the one the invitation was sent to. In the end though, I went with the one she knew better.

Two months ago the character that was my primary one last year wound up in a dispute with a group in a community I was in. Essentially, they wanted to exclude another community I was a part of with my other self. Solely on irrational biases about how they looked, acted, and a fear of "how it would look" These were very dear friends but I knew they were in the wrong and could not let them continue that mistake. I tried to get them to listen to reason and be educated on the topic. I guess they never realized 'I Won't Back Down' is practically my theme song. When I tried to make peace between them and another group they recently dissociated themselves from (in the same community as them) I wound up being voted out of the administration in their group and generally made to feel unwelcome. Now they want to bury the hatchet and I have reciprocated. Still though, my other character is unwelcome unless she disavows the community she is in, which is one also vulnerable and often on the fringes of acceptance. It is for this reason that, while my original character can interact with them again, I feel like an outsider looking in as they refuse to allow my other character to also be welcome in their group.

Interestingly though, at pretty much the same time as I was on the outside of one group, I found myself on the inside of another group in the same community and also in several new communities. Some other communities I was not in, but was friends with people in them. Going back to the links again, I was taken completely by surprise at most of them. Especially so when communities that had absolutely nothing in common (although sometimes individuals in them were part of another shared community) would be oblivious to their differences and work together.

So, I may as well start wrapping this up. What have I learned from all of this? That even though we think we are separate communities, in a way we are all the same community. There are so many links between them and similar struggles that any differences are purely arbitrary. Yes, there are events which can split one group from another, but that happens with any family. While all of our paths may appear wildly different, all of them are just different ways to head towards the same fundamental goal (and, no, I have absolutely no idea what that is).

Well, I certainly have touched on more topics than I intended to all while trying to talk about one idea. So, who do I send this to? Is it just for myself? People in the various communities I am a part of in Second Life? People I only know in Real Life? People I know in both Real Life and Second Life? Oh, I know, the person who introduced me to Second Life? Maybe a blog post? Only one answer is possible based on the above paragraph: all of them. As separate letters though, because, as I have learned, I have no idea where the connections are.

[somewhat out of character in parts of this but considering the subject hard not to do so]

A few weeks ago I created another Second Life account and realized I wanted to play her as a child. In order to simplify a lot of things, I adopted her from my main Second Life account.

I then slipped up by having both accounts go with me to a location that does not like child avatars (see this entry). No, not an adult location, but they have a strong phobia about kid avatars.

I am one of the admins there and we just had the meeting. This account was given the boot from being an admin there (but not from being a regular member).

Meanwhile, the child account is having fun at camp.

So this brings me back to my original question, which one is the alt?

Uggh, politics.

Ever since I became actively involved with Second Life (SL) I have spent most of my time there at the Transgender Resource Center (TRC). I have been actively involved with it, including being one of the volunteers (admins/helpers) there. Now in a short time it has gone to where very some good friends who I would never dream of being opposed to me range from treating me coldly to refusing to talk to me. Going there often feels like an obligation.

So, how did all this happen?

The issue I have with them centers around child avatars. While the rest of the world would probably go “what is the problem?” in SL they have become the center of a controversy. While the reasons for people having them are usually innocent ones (reliving youth, having a childhood they wished they had, etc.) the common perception in SL is that people have child avatars for sexual reasons. Even the language has some myths about it as uninformed people in SL refer to it as ‘ageplay’, which on SL has sexual connotations.

The TRC’s rules ban child avatars and refer to it as ‘ageplay’. While banning child avatars may or may not be valid (after all, you need to be over 18 to be on SL) the language always bugged me since I have friends playing child characters. I learned to live with the policy though and just chalked it up to being written by someone uninformed about the issue. That is, until I created an alternate character who was a child. At that point my feelings towards the wording of the policy were taken to a whole new level.

As they were unwilling to completely eliminate the policy (and as I said, there may be valid reasons for keeping it) I made what I thought was a reasonable request. That we lead the way by showing how enlightened we were and rephrasing the rule’s language into something which was not inflammatory.

From the reaction you would think I had asked them to completely change it! This was the point where people started to avoid me.

Oh, and the administrative meeting where my proposal to change the wording was formally voted on? It passed unanimously when the facts of what I was asking were separated from the hysteria. Not that that changed any opinions towards me though.

Last night, as usual, I was at the Transgender Resource center at Pavonia (33, 18, 101). Two other people were there: a new person and a furry. I think the new person did not have a good first impression of the TRC ... the other two of us were jumping in the air and doing somersaults.

Well, after the offer of a free designer skin I went and did it ... my character on Second Life is now a neko. Amusingly, the house I just put together is very neko-friendly .... lots of grass and windows. It only has a few pieces of furniture so far too, so guess what type of things I am looking for?

My lawn is interestingly set up too. I am a Wiccan and it is set up to do rituals. Witches and cats .... a perfect match.