For Queer Mice
by BROWWWSER
June Is Busting Out All Over - With Pride!
ne of the best times of the year for us is
June and Pride. Rainbow flags, pink triangles, and helium-filled condoms line the sky
above the parades across the country. It’s a time to show our community pride and
diversity to the rest of the world, even if it’s just for one weekend in June. Now
however queers are taking the web by force, making every day a celebration of who we are
and who we love. Every day is Pride Day on the net. Visit any web site like Rainbow Links at http://www.concentric.net/~rnbwlink/rnbwlnks.htm
for thousands of links to prideful pages, from AIDS/HIV resources to Youth. Take a look at
just a few of these fabulous sites that are literally bursting with pride.
The beautiful Rainbow Icon Archive is a must-see for any queer creating their
own pride-filled pages. Jase Wells has gathered a collection of downloadable images for
you to use: rainbow flags, gender signs, pink triangles, lambdas, leather pride, red
ribbons, and other miscellaneous symbols. Learn the history of each symbol (did you know
the rainbow flag used to have pink and turquoise stripes?), and link to his page to be
"Powered by Pride" at http://www.enqueue.com/ria/.
This big and breathtaking site by the FunkyDiva at http://www.spiritone.com/~sappho is full of
rainbows, pride, and attitude. Get some free funky web page backgrounds, cruise the
FunkyLinks or the Java chat room, read the "Diva Knows Best" advice column, and
admit you like disco ("disco dykes unite!"). Browse and submit to the womyns
literary webzine, Sapphrodite, for womyn’s fiction, poetry, essays, and erotica. So
c’mon get funky with FunkyDiva!
Dave at http://geocities.datacellar.net/WestHollywood/6007/
has created a new and expanding service for the gay community titled Gay Pride Online. Grab some gay pride graphics (bullets, icons,
backgrounds, & animated GIFs) for you to use on your queer web page. Peruse poems
submitted by visitors (and send your own), a list of gay films and must-have CDs, a link
list of out & proud people on the net (add yours!), and a sensual male couples
gallery. Not only do these individuals show their own queer pride, but they’re
helping us show ours as well.
Some of our friends and family want in on this queer pride stuff, too! Wayne’s mom
at http://www.i2.i-2000.com/~ckossman/
has created a fabulous website about Gay Resources.
The site is full of links from the ACLU to Q World, family photos, poems, and letters, and
supporting words for lesbians, gays, and their parents just coming to grips with
homosexuality. She’s the mother we wish we had! Go mom!
Many lesbians and gay men are
starting their own families these days. Out At Home is
"dedicated to promoting acceptance of all gay and lesbian families with children
though visibility, information, and network resources." Visit their online family
album at http://www.OutAtHome.org and see how to
include your family here. They have a news resource including magazine columns and
newsletters about gay parenting, a book resource for adults and children, and many links
to queer family resources around the world. Like any family they’re still growing,
but they’ll help all our families grow up.
Did you know that an estimated 40% of street kids are lesbian or gay, and queer youth
account for 1/3 of all teen suicide? Not happy statistics, but the new website We Are Family hopes to change that by providing youth services
and education. This site at http://www.pridemail.com/wearefam/index.html
was created by "informed straight and gay people who love and support our gay
relatives and friends by working to spread truth about homosexuality." It’s nice
to know that someone is looking out for us.
Some queers aren’t waiting to grow up before coming out!
Youth Arts West is a virtual "museum/library of
creative works of young lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered, and questioning young
people" at http://queer.qcc.org/yap/. Browse
exhibits of photography, poetry, fiction, essays, editorials, fine arts, and fashion all
imagined by young LGBTs (the hyperfiction Cylanders is really interesting), and
submit your own work for publication. Youth Arts helps kids learn about the web and about
themselves at the same time. Youth Arts was cofounded by Patricia Nell Warren (author of The
Front Runner and other great books) who is our Honorary Parade Grand Marshal in the
St. Louis Pride Parade this year. Don’t miss her at the Pride Festival Saturday June
28 at 12:30pm and Sunday the 29th at 2:15pm.
The National Coalition for GLB Youth, !OutProud!,
has lots of info for queer youth at http://www.outproud.org/.
!OutProud! publishes QueerAmerica, a lesbigay resource database. Their site has school
resources (facts and articles for high school through college), a message board forum,
brochures for queer kids and their parents, and lots of links. You can also make a
donation online to help give these kids a better future to be out and proud in.
Let’s face it: one of the best things about Pride Fest is all the groovy t-
shirts! Outburst at http://www.lambda.net/~outburst/ has clothes
about gay humor, Girlz Club, and Cybergay tees that you can order by phone, fax, or form.
So whether you’re a "Go-go Slut" or just "Too Butch For Boys"
make an Outburst of pride!
Have a wonderful, happy, and safe Pride Weekend. Keep the pride going by creating your
own web page. Or design web pages for nonprofit LGBT groups to which you belong. Pride
doesn’t have to be limited to June. Make it all-year round.
