Rainbow Awards Update
Although the Rainbow Awards for the month of Aug. will not be available until after this issue goes to press, the 26 July winners continue to occupy the winner's circle at www.gayamerica.com/awards/winners.htm.
In the past 18 months 629 Web sites have acquired this prestigious award. Not only do they continue to be databased as winners, these sites also go into the 40 different directories that comprise gayamerica.com.
When we first began granting the Rainbow Award in 1996, most submissions were sites created by and for Gay men. Not any more. As the three Lesbian sites awarded for July attest, the Lesbian presence on the World Wide Web is growing denser and richer every day.
The k.d. lang Museum (http://kdlangmuseum.webjump.com) is by far the most professional and richest of the three sites. Designed by "Froggie," it contains a gallery of original artwork that incorporates the Canadian singer in either computer-driven art, paintings or pencil sketches. There is a playroom with a Java applet game, an audio and video room that incorporate Real Audio and Video, a chat lounge, goodies to buy, a desktop theme and screen saver you can download, a discography, news and reviews, an E postcard and of course many links.
Another well-designed site is Butch-Femme.Com (www.butch-femme.com), designed by Rhon, which contains all manner of communicating facilitators from chat and a billboard to mailing lists, an etiquette list, a community poll, rants, erotica, poetry and thoughts on gender, just to list a few of the many pages that make up this in-your-face site.
On the other hand, Marcelina Martin's site, Lesbian Sacred Sexuality & Arts (www.wildheartsranch.com) is a site full of her own erotic photography heavily influenced by years of Zen study. Let's not forget that this is a "com" site; therefore, all the photos exhibited are for sale.
Not only did the site make it into the Lesbian directory but it is also found in the Arts and Literature directories since its photography is used to illuminate other writers like poetess Elsa Gidlow. There is a page dedicated to the singer/songwriter Jennifer Berezan with samples of her folksy rock music, a page dedicated to sacred (female) art, and even E-postcards fabricated from Ms. Martin's photography.
Check out all our winners. You can't lose.
GLAAD Honors PlanetOut & Geocities
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) announced on July 22 that David Bohnett, President & Founder of GeoCities, and Megan Smith, CEO of PlanetOut, will receive special awards at GLAAD's Salute to Interactive Media. This event, the first to honor progress in Lesbian and Gay online media, will take place on Aug. 20 at Ralston Hall Mansion in Belmont, CA.
GLAAD's Salute to Interactive Media was created as an extension of the highly successful New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies, to honor individuals and projects in interactive media for their balanced and accurate representations of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.
David Bohnett, President & Founder of GeoCities, will receive GLAAD's Internet Visionary Award. The award is given to an individual who has created and maintained unique online resources for the prosperity, well being and growth of a global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. GeoCities, founded by Bohnett six years ago and recently acquired by Yahoo!, has become one of the most innovative and largest Internet community providers in the U.S.. Through the creation of the "West Hollywood" and "Castro" online "neighborhoods," GeoCities has fostered a unique worldwide communication within the community.
GLAAD's Internet Leadership Award will be presented to Megan Smith, CEO of PlanetOut. PlanetOut is one of the largest Gay sites on the Internet. The award is presented to an individual who has shown outstanding dedication to supporting the fair and equal treatment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people on the Internet. Smith was appointed CEO of PlanetOut in 1998 and is responsible for sales, operations, management, strategy, business development, distribution, marketing and finance.
"These honorees exemplify the powerful impact Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender individuals have had online through their talent, vision and commitment to a more inclusive world," said Will Doherty, GLAAD Director of Online Community Development.
GLAAD has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Kansas City, New York and Washington, DC. Founded in 1985, GLAAD effectively mobilizes public response to media coverage and educates media professionals on the community's issues and concerns.
For ticket information, call GLAAD at 415.861.2244 or visit GLAAD Online at www.glaad.org.
Independent Gay Forum Website
Broadens Gay Debate
The Independent Gay Forum, a new association of writers and thinkers seeking to broaden the debate about homosexuality by giving voice to centrist, conservative and libertarian ideas, has unveiled its new Web site at www.indeGayforum.org.
"This new site brings together some of the most challenging and articulate voices in Gay and Lesbian America - representing viewpoints that too often go unheard or underrepresented," said Jonathan Rauch, an openly Gay writer who serves as the IGF's vice president. "We think a lot of Gays and Lesbians who don't buy into the dogmas of either the left or the right will find a worldview they can relate to. We're trying to create a smart, safe home for them."
The site - recently referenced in the Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" column (July 16) and a Slate Magazine debate on homosexuality ("Book Club," June 30) - includes published articles by a rich variety of Gay writers and thinkers. Among the subjects discussed are guns, anti-discrimination laws, marriage, religion, capitalism, books and culture. New articles are posted regularly, and the IGF offers a newsletter and can make its authors available for speeches and public engagements.
"This site is a discussion, not an orthodoxy," said Paul Varnell, a Windy City Times columnist who edits the site. "Above all, we look for essays and ideas of absolutely top quality - the best writing and thinking out there.
"Our writers all support full legal equality and social respect for Gays and Lesbians, and they also embrace the American traditions of market economics, unfettered debate and limited government. Within those boundaries, though, there's a lot of disagreement. What unites us is the feeling that the old debate between Gay leftists and anti-Gay rightists is exhausted. We think the ideas we're exploring will be the basis for the next stage of the debate."
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