For Queer Mice
by BROWWWSER
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
f
you've been living under a rock for the last few months, you might not know that
homosexuality is a hot-button issue in the news and politics again. This round started in
June when that blowhard from Mississippi, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, said
homosexuality is a sin and then compared it to "problems" like alcoholism and
kleptomania. Next he stalled a vote on openly gay James Hormel’s nomination as
ambassador to Luxembourg. In Texas the Log Cabin Republicans were denied booth space at
the GOP convention. Republicans tried to pass the Hefley Amendment to rescind
Clinton’s executive order of a non-discrimination policy for sexual orientation for
federal workers (defeated!). Next came the full-page newspaper ads from right-wing groups
claiming gays and lesbians could be "cured" and "converted." Then
there was the Riggs Amendment, same-sex marriage debates in Hawaii, a ban on gay couples
adopting in Washington D.C., and lots of other foul-smelling anti-gay rhetoric flying
through the air looking for a fan to hit.
On
the bright side, there are seven openly gay candidates running for the U.S. House of
Representatives, and several have won their primaries already. But they need support from
the community. This is a great time to crawl out from under that rock and get informed
about what’s going on in the world. With the Internet you can get the latest queer
news now. The best way to stay informed is to subscribe to Channel
Q News. Hop over to www.channelq.com to
sign up for their public service rebroadcasts of the latest news from GLAAD, NGLTF, HRC,
PFLAG, and many more. Every day you’ll get e-mail on news affecting queers
everywhere. Choose to get the news as it’s released or in daily digest form.
It’s truly the best way to be in the know. Plus it’s a fantastic source for bar
conversation.
Several national and local
queer magazines and newspapers have branched out into the World Wide Web. The
award-winning Advocate newsmagazine can be found at www.advocate.com, full of headlines from the latest
print issue plus the online Advocate Poll, Forum chat room, and Idea Exchange message
boards. When I last visited there were ad banners for Alamo, Saturn, and IBM soliciting
our gay dollars. Not too shabby, huh? Geared more for women, www.lesbiannews.com is an extension of The Lesbian News magazine. Besides previewing the print
magazine, they invite you to read selected past excerpts and online features, relax in the
VIP Lounge (message boards and free personals), peruse the Market Place and classifieds,
and more. One of my favorite sources for news is the Washington
Blade Online at www.washblade.com.
Besides queer D.C. news, they have excellent national articles as well, plus World Briefs,
health news, readers forum, and especially the comics. Okay, so I usually read the comics
first!
PlanetOut
is part of a growing number of queer mega-sites that have a news section. Theirs is called
NewsPlanet and at www.planetout.com/pno/news/ catch the latest
headlines, entertainment news, travel articles, financial planning and investments, and
more. Then for fun find out your horoscope by Tara & Chrystallah in either text form
or download your video or audio future. Not to be outdone the Datalounge
has a weekly news recap at their newly-revamped site. Also at www.datalounge.com you can browse their issue
forums, read some juicy gossip, and take a survey or two (or eighteen). Another feisty
site at gaytoday.badpuppy.com is full of
current news and much more. Besides their top story, Gay Today
offers interviews, viewpoints, reviews, health advice, people and entertainment stories,
and a cute logo of a dog sniffing another dog’s butt. Then finally even though I
mentioned GayPlace in my last column, their site at gayplace.com is a great resource for news and many other
features (including a new Queer Crossword designed by moi). So I’m mentioning them
again, since it’s been ages since I wrote a column!
There are a few
other sites I want to mention before signing off. If you’re the aural type, head over
to www.planetout.com/radio/ to listen to the
Daily Dose Evening News from PlanetOut Radio (formerly
GloRadio) using the RealAudio player (free to download). Also notable here is the fabulous
This Way Out program and excerpts from the 1998 Gay Games in Amsterdam. Next the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association is
working from "within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of
lesbian and gay issues" at www.nlgja.org.
They’ll be holding their 7th annual convention in October in Las Vegas
with special guests Lesley Stahl, Virginia Apuzzo, and more. For a listing of queer
publication websites, visit Johney at www.gaynewsusa.com.
Finally the Gay/Lesbian International News Network has
grown quite a bit at www.glinn.com. Besides current
news, GLINN offers gay long distance, shopping mall, BBS list, media database, and more.
But you’ll have to go there yourself to read all about it.
There’s a lot going on out there, and there’s a
lot at stake in our community. We’ve got to stay informed of what’s happening so
we can fight back or give support as needed. You don’t want to be the one saying
"That’s news to me…"
