The Gay Blogosphere
When you absolutely, positively, need to know what happened on American Idol last night; or what Britney ordered when she just barely negotiated the Taco Bell drive through; or what’s wrong with Paris (city and person) this week, only the most hardened technophobe would reach for a newspaper and expect to find the answer. For today’s tuned-in and turned-on LGBT, the Internet is a one-stop shopping destination for the three major impulses that keep us going: sex, gossip and sex. But who would have thought this brave, bitchy, horny new world would also revolutionize the way we share information, bare our souls, and rage against whatever particular machine is pissing us off this week?
For those who crave something more than the shameful joy of infotainment, the blog -- that diary without a lock that begs the world to open, read and discuss -- can be more than rants, raves and gossip. Edge proudly presents six bloggers whose unique takes on parenting, advocacy and the arts deserves your attention. Here’s the true story of what they were doing before the Internet, why they blog and what it means to be out, gay, online and opinionated.
Meet the Bloggers
Dana Rudolph is the founder and publisher of Mombian: Sustenance for Lesbian Moms, a blog and resource directory for LGBT parents. She’s also a parenting columnist for several LGBT papers around the country. (pictured, upper left.)
"My blogging combines opinion, journalism, advocacy, and entertainment," said Rudolph. "Part of the beauty of blogging is that one doesn’t have to fit into a specific mold. The trick, though, is to be clear about fact versus opinion, or risk losing credibility."
John R. Selig (www.johnselig.com) recently began to blog for the blog Family Equality Council -- which supports LGBT parents and their families.
"It was the first organization that I turned to when I came out in 1990," Selig explained. "My son lived with me and he was 12 at the time." Since July 2007, he has also been producing and hosting "John Selig Outspoken" -- a podcast featuring interviews with LGBT role models and opinion leaders as well as commentaries that "almost always include some action steps that listeners can take." Selig considers himself "first and foremost a human rights advocate concentrating on LGBT issues; but when I find other groups facing discrimination and hatred, I feel a need to come to their assistance as well. I do consider myself to be a journalist in that I disseminate information that folks may not receive from other sources.
Mary Lou Fuller blogs about her relationship and recent civil union with Kay Amsden on their website Two Outrageous Older Women. Fuller, who thinks of herself as "both an author and an Outrageous Older Woman from Concord, New Hampshire," runs a publishing company with Amsden. The author of several books, Fuller sees blogging as "being an opinion piece and advocacy medium for my chosen lifestyle." Quick to embrace new technology, Fuller believes "the very essence of all that’s new, exciting and enervating lives in cyberspace in one way or another; and at my age I’m pleased I’ve been able to find my way and take my place in the same world as my two 40-something children."
Based in Los Angeles, Robbie Daw is the creator and main writer for ChartRigger.com, a pop music site. Daw also serves as Managing Editor of Instinct Magazine (the "#1 gay men’s lifestyle publication in the U.S.") and does a weekly music column for Towleroad. For Chart Rigger, "I definitely consider it opinion above all else, combined with news and trivia." . (pictured, upper right.)
Nina Smith is the founder of Queercents, a personal finance blog she describes as "a combination of opinion and advocacy. We share our financial quests in a public forum where readers are able to comment and add to the conversation... kind of like group therapy." . (pictured, lower left.)
"Uncle Paulie" toils daily in the field of corporate communications for an international publishing house. Although he’s written for small newspapers (in English and Spanish), Paulie prefers to be seen "more as a columnist rather than a journalist. I’m not so delusional that I don’t know that I write fluff. Fluff is fun and people like reading it." Uncle Paulie began his blog (Uncle Paulie’s World) to alleviate the disgust he felt "by the fact that hugely talented people, who find the strength to hang in there and follow their bliss are, for the most part, unable to make a living." . (pictured, lower right.)
Uncle Paulie’s World seeks to amend that injustice by encouraging amateurs "to create art in order to beautify and enrich their lives. Nothing would give me more pleasure than knowing I had a hand in helping hardworking, professional artists gain more visibility on the Net, resulting in more patronage for them."
