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GAY/LESBIAN WEB NEWS

What's Happening on World Wide Web Gay and Lesbian Sites

If you are the sysop/admin of a gay/lesbian web site, submit news about your site to info@glinn.com. Attn: Gay Web News. Please submit news, not just promotional blurbs. Thank you.

Online Gays Become a Market for Advertisers

Since the very earliest days of the online revolution, gays have known
that a modem could help them to reach out, even if they didn't come out. But
these days, trying to bring that community under one online roof – and
delivering the prosperous gay market to advertisers – is the name of the game.
Two major players are vying to become the Internet's gay brand name:
Gay.com Network and PlanetOut.
By the hyperbolic standards of today's Internet stocks, the new Gay.com
Network is fairly small potatoes. It was formed in March when two privately
held companies joined forces. Although they haven't disclosed the value of
the merger deal, you can bet it doesn't come close to the US$645 million
that bookseller Amazon.com recently paid for three online companies.
Small, yes, but Gay.com nonetheless estimates that close to 1.25 million
visitors hit the site each month. And using a different standard, PlanetOut
– which is partly owned by America Online's investment arm – receives about
500,000 monthly visitors, according to chief executive Megan J. Smith, noting
that lesbians make up 36 percent of her service's registered membership.
On many gay sites, "women are an afterthought," Smith said. "We've
always tried to have parity." PlanetOut has attracted advertisers including
Alamo Rent a Car Inc., Starbucks Corp., E-Trade Group Inc., US West Inc.,
Virgin Records and Amazon.com Inc.
Andrew Cramer, who founded the company called Online Partners that
merged with Gay.com in March, said his immediate goal for the combined
company was simple: to make money by bringing advertisers and the emerging
gay market together. In general, he said, "advertisers have no idea of the
market, except that they're affluent and influential." Cramer also brought
in a large gay and lesbian community on America Online.
Both Gay.com and PlanetOut say they can help marketers solve what
PlanetOut calls the "Closet Paradox:" reaching gays who might still be in
the closet and might never go to a bar or rally – or even subscribe to a gay
publication – but who might look for information or conversation from the
privacy that a modem affords.
The prospect of creating a one-stop shop for advertisers wanting to
reach a defined audience could be an important model for electronic commerce,
said Donna Hoffman, a professor of business at Vanderbilt University who
studies marketing on the World Wide Web. With "community" becoming one of
the most overworked buzzwords in Internet commerce, Hoffman said a site that
offers something like a real community – people who share common interests –
could actually be more valuable to advertisers than the bloated yet ephemeral
"communities" currently built around free Web pages and a slew of online
services.
"I'd say this should be a very closely watched experiment," Hoffman
said. "There could be a lesson for other e-business models."
Both sites offer a dizzying array of services and contacts. Gay.com
features news and information from Gay.com's own newsroom, along with news
feeds from more than 60 gay and lesbian publications such as the 32-year-old
standard of gay journalism, the Advocate. The site offers local news and
tips for eight cities, including San Francisco, London and Dallas-Fort Worth.
Both sites provide gay-themed features on finance, travel, arts and
entertainment, health and nutrition, shopping and more.
What neither site offers is sex. On the original Gay.net site, Cramer
experimented with offering erotica – but ultimately decided "that's not the
business we're going to be in. We're in the business of community, news" and
other services.
Like many other Web sites nowadays, both major sites boast extensive
live chat areas where people can socialize, hold forth, argue or trade jokes.
On Gay.com, the range of round-the-clock conversation is spectacular, taking
place in 50 countries and seven languages. Hundreds of volunteer discussion
monitors keep things rolling and enforce the online rules of conduct.
Gil, a 49-year-old in Birmingham, Ala., said in an online interview that
the site "fills a need." As a gay man who only recently came out, he's not
interested in meeting people in bars – "I don't get out much" – and finds the
online world a more congenial place to get to know people. He has dated some
of the people he met on Gay.com, but said he's mostly looking for
conversation and companionship.
Cramer, too, knows the value of meeting people online. Soon after his
original service launched, the workaholic began receiving regular notes from
a member in Boston, Al Farmer, criticizing the site and making technical
suggestions about how to improve it. Over time, the conversation became more
civil, and then more intimate; Cramer and Farmer now live together in San
Francisco and have gone through a ceremony formalizing their relationship.
Will the online community draw advertisers? Gay.com cites a survey by
Simmons Research that suggests more than 80 percent of gay consumers would be
more likely to purchase a product advertised on a gay site than one that was
not. Another survey suggests that more than 70 percent of the Gay.com
audience had already purchased products or services online.
Gay.com is already a hit with some advertisers: pharmaceutical giant
SmithKline Beecham bought ads to promote its online education site about
Hepatitis A, (boymeetsboy.com). The site promotes the company's vaccine,
Havrix. "They've been a terrific partner," said SmithKline's Frank Dzvonik,
product manager for Havrix. "They've exceeded expectations in driving
traffic to our site."
Online Partners polls its members and sometimes uses that information to
help advertisers reach them. But Cramer said the companies know that privacy
is important to their members, and don't supply information that can be used
to identify them to advertisers. Advertisers on PlanetOut include Procter &
Gamble Co., International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Virgin
Records.
Once he brought together the online community, Cramer, 50, felt a need
to do more with it than sell ads – he said he's hoping the site can become a
center for gay and lesbian activism as well. "The feeling of crisis over
AIDS has subsided somewhat, but it's going to allow people to refocus on
many, many other priorities," he said. "Think of the Matthew Shepard murder
. . . we have not, in this country, come to an end of violence or hate
crimes."
The first big test of the power of the virtual community to act in the
real world will come next April with the Millennium March on Washington
(www.mmow.com), a follow-up to the 1993 gay march on the nation's capital.
PlanetOut has said it will be a major sponsor of the event, working to boost
attendance and provide a live "Webcast" for those who can't make the trip.
"This is going to happen with or without the Internet," Cramer admitted,
but added, "with the Internet, it could go over the top."

Something which you may not know about ...

QAnnounce is an Australasian mailing list and website which focusses on
information of local interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT)
people and community groups. As well, QAnnounce carries major news or
information from overseas and sometimes entertainment.

The mailing list includes news clippings, press releases, letters,
announcements, event notices and other items of interest to GLBT people and
community groups. It's produced by activists for activists.

QAnnounce is archived so each posting to the list is accessible for research. We
started in June last year.

The list is produced in two versions, lite and Full-On. Lite is the digest
version, it comes out about once a day, and gives you all the clippings and
announcements for that day direct in your email Inbox. Full-On gives you all the
posts to the list in your inbox - please note that some days can have lots of
posts, so if you're subscribd to QAnnounce Full-On and feeling overburdened
switch to QAnnounce lite.

If you don't want to subscribe - but you want to stay in touch with Australasian
GLBT news - bookmark the web site and check the latest posts for current GLBT
Australasian news. Or you can use the search engine to find information of
particular interest in the extensive archives.

Visit the QAnnounce homepage @ http://announce.queer.org.au for more info on the
list and how to subscribe.

QAnnounce is part of the Australian Queer Resources Directory, a community-run
resource for all GLBT Australians.

Acknowledgments: Rainbow.Net; Chris Albone and Wayne Brooks, AusQRD Maintainers;
Graham Underhill, contributor

SOURCE: PRNewswire
30-APR-99

Planetout Gay Lesbian Internet Service Sponsors Millennium March on
Washington for Equality April 30, 2000

WASHINGTON, April 30 /PRNewswire/ – PlanetOut Corporation
(www.planetout.com) announced today that it will be the presenting sponsor
for the Millennium March on Washington, to be held one year from today on
Sunday, April 30, 2000. As part of that sponsorship, PlanetOut opened today
the official March website at www.mmow.org. Participate in person, or at home

PlanetOut, the world's largest and best know gay, lesbian, bi and trans
Internet site, with over 500,000 unique monthly visitors, announced plans to
make it easy for people all over the world to participate, even if they
cannot attend the event in person. For one year leading up to the march,
PlanetOut will offer MMOW website visitors chat, news, information, and
special online events to March supporters. In addition, people will be able
to offer and find community housing for the event, and offer and find rides
to the event. Live Cybercast of the March

During the actual live event, PlanetOut will cybercast the audio and video
of the event over the Internet, using Real.com's RealPlayer technology. The
audio will be available with simultaneous translation and commentary in
Spanish, Chinese and French, among other languages. In addition, PlanetOut
plans to host large scale chat events all day, so that online participants
can talk directly with the leaders and celebrities who appear on stage. Free
Discount Card, Sweepstakes for Trip for Two to D.C.

One goal of the MMOW is to get supporters to register in advance for the
march, by signing up for free on its website. As an incentive, PlanetOut
will offer anyone who signs up for the March on Washington a free,
personalized MMOW souvenir discount affinity card, along with coupons for
discounts of up to US$100 on travel to the March.

The affinity card program, from PlanetOut Access (formerly Access Alliance),
normally retails for US$20 per year, and includes discounts on travel;
dining; entertainment; home, car, and life insurance; financial planning and
legal services. There is no charge to register for the march, and even those
not able to come to D.C. are encouraged to register and be counted.

"PlanetOut wants to make it easy to save money on getting to the March on
Washington, a life-changing experience that no lesbian, gay, bi or trans
person should miss. If you can't go, at least you can participate fully via
the website and cybercast," said Tom Rielly, founder and chairman of
PlanetOut. Sign Up and Be Counted

"This is a historic opportunity for ordinary lesbian, gay, bi and trans
people to be counted," said Robin Tyler, executive producer of the MMOW. "We
have the opportunity to influence the outcome of the November 2000
presidential election, and make real change in Congress and in society. This
is the first time a March on Washington can take advantage of the Internet.
I urge every LGBT person, and their family and friends to register."
Accessibility Issues

PlanetOut is well aware that not all LGBT people have access to a personal
computer and modem at home. PlanetOut encourages interested people to access
and use the March website from a friend's house, public school or
university, public library, or internet cafe. PlanetOut will make materials
available on the March site that community organizers can print, post, and
distribute in their neighborhoods and community centers. In addition, these
documents can be faxed or mailed conventionally.

"Not everyone can afford a personal computer or Internet access. However, we
believe that computers are sufficiently ubiquitous that finding free or
low-cost access to the March website is not unduly burdensome," Rielly
stated. "In addition, the website can be used as a backbone for traditional
media access."

• Privacy Protection

All registrants for the March have the option to have their name and address
kept confidential, and the MMOW site's online privacy policies comply with
PlanetOut's privacy policies, which have been certified by TRUSTe. For
additional information regarding PlanetOut Access, contact
access@planetout.com. For more information on the MMOW, contact
info@mmow.org. About PlanetOut

PlanetOut Corporation, founded in 1995, is the number one online community
of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people worldwide. Based in San
Francisco, and with offices around the U.S. and in Canada, PlanetOut offers
chat, message boards, personals, news, entertainment, travel, personal
finance, shopping, directories, and membership discount cards to its
audience of 500,000 unique monthly visitors. Find PlanetOut at
www.planetout.com or AOL Keyword: PlanetOut.

PlanetOut is privately held by its employees, prominent Silicon Valley angel
investors, and America Online's venture arm, AOL Investments.

PlanetOut's distribution partners include America Online, AOL.com, Netscape,
Yahoo!, NBC/Snap!, Real.com, and iSyndicate/Geocities.

Advertisers include IBM, Saturn Cars, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks,
barnesandnoble.com, CDNow, Microsoft, American Airlines, E*TRADE,
Smith-Klein Beecham, and many others.

PlanetOut and PNO are registered trademarks of PlanetOut Corporation.
PlanetOut Access is a servicemark of PlanetOut Corp. Access Alliance is a
trademark of Access Alliance, LLC. All other trademarks belong to their
holders.

SOURCE: PRNewswire
28-APR-99

Planetout Gay Lesbian Internet Service Acquires Access Alliance to Offer
Group Discounts and Services to Gay And...

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 /PRNewswire/ – PlanetOut Corporation
(www.planetout.com) announced today that it signed a letter of agreement to
acquire a controlling interest in Access Alliance, a privately held issuer
of lesbian and gay affinity cards and services. Terms were not disclosed,
and the deal is expected to close by June, 1999. Access Alliance's
membership card will be relaunched later this year as PlanetOut Access.
Giving Members More

"PlanetOut's 225,000 (and growing) registered members and their partners
will save time and money on services not available anywhere else," said
Megan Smith, president and CEO of PlanetOut. "Gay and lesbian couples often
can't take advantage of the same services at the same prices available to
straight couples. Access Alliance has negotiated with corporations to offer
truly lesbian and gay sensitive services that provide equivalent discounts
that heterosexual couples routinely enjoy, and acknowledge and validate our
members' primary relationships."

• Member Benefits

A basic one year membership in Access Alliance currently costs $20, and
comes with a personalized plastic membership card and online access to many
benefits. Customers may sign up online at www.planetout.com/access or at
1-800-693-2349. PlanetOut will announce specific promotional offers to
existing and new customers shortly. Card holders of PlanetOut Access receive
discounts on domestic partner insurance, substantial discounts on legal
services for lesbian and gay-related and non-gay matters, travel savings on
nearly all travel purchases (including an airline discount coupon worth
$25-$100). Other benefits include 20% dining discounts at a wide range of
12,000 establishments (gay, friendly, and general) as well as many other
discounted services.

• Partnerships With Leading Corporations

Currently card holders have access to group rated products and services
from lesbian and gay friendly Fortune 500 companies, such as The Hartford,
Aetna Retirement Services, Unum, National Car Rental, and other leading
brands.

• Business Opportunity

With this acquisition, PlanetOut dramatically enhances its e-commerce
strategy by adding member revenues to its existing business model of
advertising and sponsorships, and licensing. PlanetOut Access makes money
from memberships and from commissions paid by the participating vendors when
members use their PlanetOut Access services. PlanetOut also greatly
increases its brand visibility through presence in members' wallets.

• PlanetOut Strengthens Team With New Executives

As part of the transaction, Access Alliance founder and President Sandy
Casey joins PlanetOut as vice president, premium services; Bill Foote IV
becomes director of operations, premium services; and gay travel industry
veteran John D'Alessandro joins the PlanetOut Access team as director of
travel and business development. Reaching a Wider Audience "Through our
merger with PlanetOut, we can provide our discounted products and services
to a much greater audience than ever before, " said Sandy Casey, PlanetOut
vice-president and founder and former president of Access Alliance. "Nowhere
else can the gay and lesbian consumer buy travel, domestic partner insurance
policies, or legal services with gay friendly corporations, agencies, or
attorneys at a discount online or offline."

• Transition Plans

Existing Access Alliance customers will continue to receive their benefits
without interruption. Over time, the Access Alliance website will be
redesigned as PlanetOut Access, and integrated into that of PlanetOut; and
new services will be added. The Access Alliance brand name will persist for
private label cards for other organizations and communities of interest.

• About Access Alliance

Access Alliance, LLC, founded in 1996, is the only affinity membership
organization for gays and lesbians specifically founded to give gay
consumers benefits, discounts, and equal treatment from Fortune 500 and
other companies that understand and respect their needs.

• About PlanetOut

PlanetOut Corporation, founded in 1995, is the number one online community
of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people worldwide. Based in San
Francisco, and with offices around the U.S. and in Canada, PlanetOut offers
news, entertainment, travel, personal finance, shopping, directories, chat,
message boards, and personals to its audience of 500,000 unique monthly
visitors. Find PlanetOut at www.planetout.com or AOL Keyword: PlanetOut.
PlanetOut is privately held by its employees, prominent Silicon Valley angel
investors, and America Online's venture arm, AOL Investments. PlanetOut's
distribution partners include America Online, AOL.com, Netscape, Yahoo!,
NBC/Snap!, Real.com, and iSyndicate/Geocities. Advertisers include IBM,
Saturn Cars, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, barnesandnoble.com, CDNow,
Microsoft, American Airlines, E*TRADE, Smith-Klein Beecham, and many others.

In January, 1999, PlanetOut received the Best Community Site Award from
Yahoo! Internet Life magazine, in their cover story: The Best of the Best
'98. PlanetOut has also received Webby People's VoiceAmerica Online's
Members' Choice Award, Microsoft Network's Outstanding Independent Content
Provider, and a Smithsonian Institution medal for outstanding achievement in
information technology. PlanetOut and PNO are registered trademarks of
PlanetOut Corporation. PlanetOut Access is a servicemark of PlanetOut Corp.
Access Alliance is a trademark of Access Alliance, LLC. All other trademarks
belong to their holders. "Now we can REALLY say that we're card-carrying
homosexuals."

PRNewswire
09-FEB-99

Gfn.com, the Gay Financial Network Launches First Daily Financial News
Coverage for Gays and Lesbians

NEW YORK, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ – gfn.com, The Gay Financial Network
(www.gfn.com), today became the first financial site on the Internet to
offer online daily financial news tailored to the unique needs of the Gay
and Lesbian community. gfn.com has expanded its weekly financial coverage of
30-plus stories to include daily reporting on financial issues pertinent to
Gays and Lesbians. In addition, gfn.com now offers two new columns and a
forums area where members can discuss the financial issues of the day.

"With the introduction of daily online financial coverage, gfn.com is now
the definitive financial resource for Gays and Lesbians," said Jeffrey L.
Newman, president of gfn.com. "The financial needs of Gays and Lesbians are
different from their heterosexual counterparts. In everything from buying a
house, purchasing life insurance or opening a joint checking account, Gays
and Lesbians face singular challenges. gfn.com's goal is to empower Gays and
Lesbians to make informed financial decisions by providing them with
information from a source sensitive to their needs."

gfn.com also announced today that it is partnering with GAYBC Radio Network
(www.gaybc.com) to produce the GFN Market Wrap, a daily financial radio show
that will provide listeners with a Gay and Lesbian perspective on Wall
Street. With a debut slated for March 1, 1999, the program will be produced
and hosted by Jeffrey Newman. On the 10 minute program, Newman will deliver
highlights from gfn.com's daily content and columns. Produced in gfn.com's
New York offices, the GFN Market Wrap will be updated daily at 6:00 P.M. EST.

"Jeffrey Newman and the editorial team at GFN make our partnership extremely
valuable by broadening the scope of information available to our audiences
each day," said John McMullen, Chairman & President of GAYBC Radio Network.
"GFN Market Wrap is a one-of-a-kind program that provides our listeners with
the resources to make more informed financial decisions."

gfn.com's expanded coverage will include the addition of weekly columns by
Deb Price and Kathy Kristof that will address the special financial
interests and needs of Gays and Lesbians. Price is an openly gay,
award-winning, journalist for the Detroit Free Press. Her weekly column
dealing with issues of importance to the Gay and Lesbian community will
appear each Monday on gfn.com. Kathy Kristof is the author of "Kathy
Kristof's Complete Book of Dollars and Sense" and a financial issues
columnist with The Los Angeles Times. Her personal finance column will
appear twice a week on gfn.com.

The GAYBC Radio Network is a division of Seattle-based GLOradio Corporation,
the award-winning pioneer in broadcasting news, information, talk and
entertainment radio programs on a daily and weekly basis to a global
audience of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender people via the World
Wide Web. The closely held company was founded in March, 1997, and is used
by more than 75,000 listeners on the Web. All of GAYBC Radio's programming
is free of charge and is distributed exclusively in RealAudio, the streaming
media technology used by more than 50 million people worldwide. The GAYBC
Radio Network is accessible on the Web at www.gaybc.com and through AOL at
keyword: gaybc.

Launched in 1998, gfn.com, The Gay Financial Network, is the leading online
resource devoted solely to the unique financial needs of the Gay and Lesbian
community. The site exclusively provides free comprehensive financial news
and information, as well as a variety of specially tailored financial and
investment services. The company's headquarters are located in New York City.

Tinky Winky Designated Orlando Gay Days Mascot!

GayDays.com (www.gaydays.com), a Web site devoted to event information and trip
planning resources for the annual Gay Days celebration in Orlando, FL, has
designated the Teletubby Tinky Winky as its mascot for the 1999 travel season.

Recently "outed" by the Reverend Jerry Falwell, Tinky Winky needs all the
friends he (or is it she?) can get. "We just wanted to demonstrate our
solidarity with a fellow member of the community," said Chris Alexander,
Executive Director of the Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Community Center of Central
Florida, a not-for-profit organization which benefits from the Web site. "We
pride ourselves on our high tolerance for diversity," said Alexander, "Tinky
Winky's purse will hardly raise an eyebrow among the revelers expected to
attend this year's events."

To show their support and insure Tinky Winky's visibility, the Web site's
developers have had a special tee-shirt created for Tinky Winky to wear to this
year's Gay Days festivities in Orlando, June 2 - 6, 1999. Center Director
Alexander, "Wearing red tee-shirts is traditional at the unofficial event which
takes place at the Magic Kingdom the first week of June every year." Last year
promoters estimated the crowds at 80,000 and anticipate as many as 150,000
people will descend on Orlando this year for 5 days of fun and festivities.
The tee-shirts are available on the Web site at http://www.gaydays.com

GayDays.com, produced by Active Mind, Inc., (Orlando, FL) was launched October
31, 1998, with the express purpose of providing in-depth travel information and
travel services for the upcoming Gay Days celebration in Orlando, FL. Offering
a virtual "one-stop-shop," the site allows visitors to book accommodations in
gay-friendly hotels, purchase tickets to major theme parks at discounted rates,
and book specially-planned excursions to other attractions such as the Kennedy
Space Center and Busch Gardens.

Other features planned for the site include an interactive trip planner to help
visitors choose among the many events competing for their attention, and a
location finder featuring a dynamic map with directions to all the event sites
and venues.

"The whole Gay Days idea began 10 years ago at what was then just called The
Center," says GLBCC Executive Director Chris Alexander. "A member of our board
of directors, Doug Swallow, began sending information through computer bulletin
boards, and other board members made use of more traditional grapevines. Soon,
thousands of gays and lesbians were descending on the Magic Kingdom every
year."

The event has grown by leaps and bounds. This year, events connected with the
celebration will last from June 3 through June 7,1999 and visitor numbers are
expected to top 150,000. More than 50 events aimed at gay, lesbian, and
bisexual visitors are planned for the 1999 celebration.

Center Director Alexander: "Unfortunately, Orlando's Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual
Community Center never benefited from the millions of gay dollars pouring into
Orlando every year."

"This year, GayDays.com has made it possible for us to tap into the les-bi-gay
community's desire to benefit their brothers and sisters while at the same time
enjoying the best the world has to offer in fun and entertainment," notes
Alexander, "And, we'd like to share that benefit with community centers around
the country."

Non-profit gay and lesbian social centers can benefit from travel-related sales
at the site by promoting GayDays.com to their members and communities. When
booking travel or excursions through the GayDays.com site, members will be able
to designate their local centers as recipients of a portion of the proceeds of
their transactions.

The Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Community Center of Central Florida is a 12-year
old not-for-profit community organization serving the entire Central Florida
community. According to its mission statement: "We are a social service
organization offering referral services, social and support groups, counseling,
crisis intervention, and social activities. On an annual basis, over 17,000
visitors walk through our front doors. In addition, our volunteers field over
19,000 phone calls." Its Web site is www.glbcc.org.

Active Mind, Inc., is a privately-owned Orlando-area Internet development
company founded in 1994. Located at 1011 Virginia Drive, Suite 101, Orlando,
FL, the company has provided free Web site services to GLBCC and many other
Orlando-area not-for-profit organizations. Its Web site is www.activemind.net.

For More Information:

Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Community Center of Central Florida and
The GayDays.com Affiliate Program
Contact: Chris Alexander, Executive Director
Phone: 407-425-4527
FAX: 407-423-9904
Web site: www.gaydays.com
Email: chris@glbcc.org

Active Mind, Inc.
Contact: Tommy Manley, President
Phone: 407-896-4638
FAX: 407-897-1187
Web site: www.activemind.net
Email: tommy@activemind.net

• AMERICA ONLINE & MERRIAM-WEBSTER TAKE DOWN ONLINE THESAURUS OVER ANTI-GAY
SLURS

• Advocates Say Merriam-Webster Still Doesn't Get It

Washington, DC - Just twenty-four hours after GAYBC Radio Network
broke the news that America Online's (AOL)
Merriam-Webster thesaurus described Gay people as pederasts (child
molesters), faggots, and fruits, the thesaurus is nowhere to be found on
the Internet, according to Wired Strategies, a political Internet
consulting firm in Washington, DC.

In the late hours of January 15, America Online, the world's largest
Internet provider, made the thesaurus "temporarily unavailable" to its 16
million users (AOL KEYWORD: thesaurus). At the same time, Merriam-Webster,
America's self-proclaimed "foremost publisher of language-related reference
works," removed the thesaurus from its own Web site .
(Copies of the full list of defamatory synonyms in the thesaurus can still
be found at ).

In a statement released late January 15, after considerable public outcry,
Merriam-Webster apologized for not including a warning label of sorts
alongside the homophobic synonyms and related words, and promised to review
"policies regarding inclusion of words that are offensive or
inappropriate." The company then seemed to shift the blame to society at
large, arguing that the thesaurus "does not prescribe which words a person
should use." The statement concluded: "In order to change the words found
in references such as thesauruses and dictionaries, our language must
change." (Full statement attached below). America Online did not release a
public statement."Merriam-Webster just doesn't get it," said John Aravosis,
president of Wired Strategies. "We don't need a change of policy, we need a
consistent policy," he said. "Merriam-Webster excludes slurs against other
minority groups from its thesaurus, but finds nothing wrong with calling
Gays 'faggot.' Gays and Lesbians should be treated the same as other
minorities in the guide, and they're not," Aravosis said.

"I find it hard to believe that a corporation such as Merriam-Webster would
block access to their thesaurus simply because of an omission of what
amounts to a word legend," said Charlie Dyer, Vice President of Programming
at GAYBC. "Taking such an extreme action is an implicit admission of a far
deeper guilt," he concluded.

Aravosis also stressed that this is not an issue of censorship or political
correctness, but one of accuracy. "We don't need warning labels, we need
correct synonyms," Aravosis continued. "Describing Gay people as child
molesters isn't just obscene, it's inaccurate. No policy review or warning
will change the fact that Merriam-Webster screwed up - their thesaurus is
wrong and needs to be fixed."

"America Online deserves our praise for doing the right thing," said
GAYBC's president John McMullen. "The onus is now on AOL to keep
Merriam-Webster off their service until the publisher stops discriminating
and defaming Gays and Lesbians."

McMullen, who also hosts the Network's issue-oriented talkshow Hangin'OUT,
says the message is coming in loud and clear from listeners around the
country. "They're saying it's a cop-out by Merriam-Webster to put the
burden on the rest of society to quit using these words, and that the
publisher should lead by example. It's not a matter of wanting them to
remove the word faggot. It's a fact of life that it's used commonly,
whether we like it or not. But, they are not applying the editorial
standards consistently when you see blatantly defamatory words for
homosexual which could just as easily apply to the word heterosexual. Some
of our listeners' feedback is calling for a boycott until both electronic
andprint editions are corrected."

Merriam-Webster can be reached at , and AOL at
.

********************

[STATEMENT OF MERRIAM-WEBSTER ON HOMOPHOBIC SLURS]
Merriam-Webster Inc.
Statement
January 15, 1999

Meriiam-Webster has begun a review of its editorial policies regarding the
treatment of offensive words in its publication Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Thesaurus. We have just learned that Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Thesaurus, at www.m-w.com and on America Online, does not carry
any explanation of the symbols used to indicate terms that are considered
inappropriate for regular use. We were unaware of this omission and are
very sorry for it. We are taking immediate steps to correct the situation.
Additionally, we are reviewing policies regarding inclusion of words that
are offensive or inappropriate.

The immediate changes that Merriam-Webster is in the process of making is
the addition of a "Thesaurus Symbol Key" – brief explanation at the end of
every thesaurus results screen. Included in this key is a symbol that is
used to indicate synonyms or related words that have restricted usage,
including usage restricted because words may be considered offensive.
Additionally, we are adding a "Thesaurus Symbol Guide" containing a more
detailed explanation, to our on-line resource. This tells readers that "the
thesaurus user should consult a dictionary if he or she is in doubt about
the...appropriateness of the work."

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus is a reference tool that contains
the general vocabulary of the English language. It does not prescribe which
words a person should use; rather, it simply makes lists of words available
to the reader. The reader is encouraged, through the symbols, to obtain
further information before deciding to use a certain term. In addition,
readers are instructed in each entry as to whether a word is a synonym or
merely a related word. This, too, should help thesaurus users choose their
words wisely.

The thesaurus is not a political tool, but rather is a reflection of the
language used in our society. The thesaurus doesn't attempt to label any
segment of society in either positive or negative ways. In order to change
the words found in references such as thesauruses and dictionaries, our
language must change.

What can be done? We can choose our own words responsibily and protest the
use of inappropriate words by those around us and by influential people in
the media, the entertainment industry, and elsewhere. If we as a society
hope to be successful in our opposition to the use of negative words and
labels, this is where we should put our efforts.

**INTRODUCING THE WORLD'S LARGEST NON-PROFIT NETWORK FOR GAY
ASIANS AND INTERESTED NON-ASIANS**

We like to introduce you to LONG YANG CLUB (LYC), the world's largest
voluntary social/support organization for gay Asians and interested non-Asians.

There are now an international network of LYC chapters in over 26 cities in
10 countries worldwide.

The organization is named after "Lord Long Yang" ,a gay Chinese War Lord
who was mentioned in the book of Legends, "Dream of the Red Mansions".

NEW LONG YANG CLUB DOMAIN SITE

Our NEW DOMAIN SITE is located at:

http:// www.longyangclub.org

The site provides:

*Gay Asian news, articles, Asian agony Uncle, world directory.
*FAQ about our Organization including the LYC World Directory
*FREE Personal ads for gay Asians and non-Asians.
*Links to pages of all LYC chapters around the world

It's free for you to drop in to our site , so why not pay us a visit. You
will that we are a very friendly but well-managed organization, and our
site is
fun to visit (and very informative too about the gay Asian world!)

For more details about us, you could also write to: "silklink@longyangclub.org"

With regards

BILLY WONG
(International Coordinator
LYC International)

Philadelphia Gay News
29 November

Column: Drag ’Net

By Robert DiGiacomo

’Net vital for South African gay-rights efforts

Gays and lesbians were not forgotten when South Africa adopted its new
post-apartheid constitution in 1994: Article Nine of the new governing
document
forbids discrimination in any form, including "sexual orientation,"
according to
Martin Nel, editor of q-online (http://www.q.co.za), that country’s first
gay and
lesbian news and information Web site.

However, after living under the dark cloud of apartheid for so many years,
the
gay and lesbian community has yet to coalesce. Many gay and lesbian South
Africans still live in fear — not trusting that their rights will be
protected by the
new government. As in the United States, the queer community is also often
divided along racial lines, with black South Africans taking the lead in the
fight
for gay equality.

"Many people are in a state of disbelief — and don’t trust the government
fully
yet — that a country can change from a fascist state into a social
democracy,
and in less than five years," Nel said, in an e-mail interview.

He sees the Internet — and q-online — playing a vital role in "connecting"
South
African gays and lesbians with their counterparts on the rest of the
continent and
around the world.

"At the moment, [the Internet] is not that important yet, partly because of
infrastructure," said Nel, who formerly worked at Exit, South Africa’s
oldest gay
print publication. "The minister of telecommunications is, however, very
keen on
getting South Africa connected via telephone and the Internet, and it is
likely that
the Internet will play an important future role in Africa as a resource."

The site — an initiative of The Electronic Mail & Guardian, an on-line
version of
a veteran, anti-apartheid publication — offers news articles, opinion
pieces,
resources, personal ads, links to organizations and a chat room. Q-online
has
reported on the fight against sodomy laws by Zambian gays and lesbians, and
run opinion pieces on whether South Africa needs a gay political party and
"Why
women don’t cruise like George Michael does."

"We must forge a close relationship with our not-so-fortunate gay and
lesbian
neighbors," said Nel, who launched q-online last month. "This is where the
Internet comes in....Q-online must become an ‘umbrella’ site for gay and
lesbian
Africa."

There is also a need for building awareness within Nel’s own country, he
said.
Many gays and lesbians are unaware of the protections afforded them by
Article
Nine, and the fight for additional rights, such as gay and lesbian marriage
and
domestic-partnership benefits, is being led by blacks — with little support
from
whites.

According to Nel, the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality, whose
majority is black, has racked up major victories — successfully lobbying for
the
repeal of the apartheid sodomy law; taking the government to court to
enforce
Article Nine; fighting for gay marriage; and winning medical benefits for a
lesbian
couple from a conservative health insurance agency, Police Medical Aid.

"White gays and lesbians on the whole are not part of the ‘activist
culture,’ and
so have not really been participating," Nel said. "White gays and lesbians,
especially in more rural areas, are still very racist, which is, ironically,
contrary to
the spirit of the constitution and the reconstruction period we are now in.
The
racial divide is slowly closing, but on the whole, white gays and lesbians
are still
in a privileged position, and their black counterparts are not. This
situation has
sad consequences when it comes to fighting AIDS and the like."

While the focus of q-online is on South Africa and its surrounding
countries, Nel
says interest in American and British gay and lesbian culture and news is
also
high. This has been fueled, in part, by publications like The Advocate and
the
(London) Gay Times, which became available only after the collapse of
apartheid.

"There will always be an intense interest in what is happening in the
northern
Anglophone countries, and trends in the U.S. and the U.K. will top the list
for
some time to come," Nel said. "I would even go so far as to say that, had it
not
been for American and British gay-liberation movements, I doubt very much
that
homosexuality would have been decriminalized here now ... And the reason for
this may very well be that the anti-apartheid struggle was very visible in
those
two countries, quite apart from the fact that those two dominate the media."

Robert DiGiacomo is a Philadelphia-based writer. "Drag ’Net" appears
biweekly. Send comments to mailto:dragnetpgn@aol.com; PGN Web site:
http://www.epgn.com

The QAnnounce website has now been updated.
It includes some direct links to online GLBT audio news, GLBT media links
locally and internationally and a list of other relevant mailing lists. As
well as the archives of course (and you can s*bscribe from the website to
announce-fullon and announce-digest).
Additions still welcome from list-members and comment (to list-owner
please).
And if the list-owner might make a one-off commercial plug ... ;/
I'm open to offers for design + other online work, let me know what you're
looking for.

cheers
Paul Canning
--
|: Paul Canning canning@rainbow.net.au
http://www.rainbow.net.au/~canning
Queers for Reconciliation http://reconciliation.queer.org.au
*PoliticalGoo http://www.rainbow.net.au/~canning/politicalgoo

Perth pride site has finally put up this years photo's.
But I feel they could have surely put more, especially as the thumbnails
seem to load quickly. Many floats/groups were missed out, yet in some cases
there are two shots of the one person.
I guess they here just looking for someones idea of what is photogenic.

http://www.pridewa.asn.au/

http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/dhap.htm

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - NCHSTP-
Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention Web site has been redesigned
to include:

* More information just a few clicks away from the home page
* Faster display of information
* More efficient use of the "viewing space"
* A consistent interface (look and feel) throughout the site
* Interactivity
* Branch specific home pages
* Pop-up windows to notify users when they are selecting a link
outside of our site
* A navigation scheme for the general public and not for CDC
management

Some of the general topics now accessible from the home page are:

* Basic Statistics
http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/bscience.htm
* Surveillance
http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/surveillance.htm
* Prevention Research
http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/prevresearch.htm
* Vaccine Research
http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/vaccine.htm
* Prevention Tools
http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/prevtools.htm
* Treatment http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/treatment.htm
* Funding http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/funding.htm
* Testing http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/testing.htm
* Evaluation http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/eval.htm
* Software http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/software.htm
* Training http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/Training.htm
* Basic Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/stats.htm
* Brochures http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/pubs/brochure.htm
* Conferences http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/conferen.htm
* Fact Sheets http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/pubs/facts.htm
* FAQs http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/pubs/faqs.htm
* HIV/AIDS FAX System
http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/hivinfo/cdcfax.htm
* HIV/AIDS Information
http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/hivinfo.htm
* Links to Other Sites
http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/wwwlinks.htm
* Media/Campaigns http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/media.htm
* Publications http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/pubs.htm
* Slide Sets http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/graphics.htm

The Australian newspaper.

Angry ISPs challenge easymail
By IAN GRAYSON

3nov98

Telstra could face a class action by 40 ISPs over an e-mail service it began
testing in Tasmania yesterday.

The service, easymail, allows users to send and receive multiple e-mails for
the cost of a local telephone call from anywhere in Australia.

There is no need for the user to have an ISP account, and there are no other
charges to pay.

As many as 10 messages can be sent.

Tasmanian ISPs argue that easymail is anti-competitive, as they are unable
to offer a similar service for a similar cost.

Details of the complaint have been lodged with the Australian Competition
and Consumer Commission.

Microtech director John VanPeelen said he had received indications of
support from 39 other ISPs, and a class action could be mounted to stop
easymail.

Once the month-long Tasmanian trial has been completed, Telstra plans to
make the service available all over Australia.

Telstra Internet service enablers manager Tony Richardson said easymail had
been designed to encourage the thousands of Australian PC owners not
connected to the Internet into the world of online communications.

"At the moment, there are between 600,000 and 800,000 Australians with
Internet access through traditional ISPs," Mr Richardson said at the
announcement of easymail last month.

"We expect to have achieved these sort of figures within a few years."

It is this projected growth that concerns Tasmanian ISPs, who believe they
will lose business to Telstra.

"There are no ISPs in Australia that can provide a similar service for 25c,"
Mr VanPeelen said.

"Telstra appears to be using the service to undermine the businesses of ISPs."

Mr VanPeelen said Telstra was comparing easymail with Microsoft's HotMail
service, but was "forgetting to mention that you need an ISP account to
access HotMail."

Tas Access managing director Ken Morrison said it appeared Telstra was
planning to use easymail as a loss leader to encourage more people to use
its services.

"It's another example of Telstra trying to boost its own services at the
expense of ISPs," Mr Morrison said.

Tasmanian Internet Association president Chris Daly said his organisation
had been trying to obtain more details from Telstra about the service, but
had received no response.

"It does look like an attempt by Telstra to change the shape of the
industry," Mr Daly said.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman would be monitoring the easymail
trial closely and would decide whether further action was warranted, he said.

But not all Tasmanian ISPs are concerned about easymail.

A spokesman for Southern Internet Services said anyone could set up a
similar service if they could attract the support of enough advertisers.

"Telstra is supporting its service with advertising, and there's nothing
stopping anyone else doing the same thing," he said.

No Telstra easymail spokesman was available to comment on the issue.

ENDS.

'VIRTUAL VIGIL' HAS PHOTOS AND QUOTES FROM DC CANDLELIGHT EVENT
http://www.wiredstrategies.com/shepard.html

Wired Strategies has posted online a large number of photos and quotes from
tonight's candlelight vigil at the US Capitol building, so that those who
could not attend in person can still participate via a "virtual vigil."
The photographs can be reached versus the Matthew Shepard Online Resources
home page by simply clicking on the sub-title at the top of the page
.

Photos include Ellen Degeneres, Betty Degeneres, Anne Heche, Senator
Kennedy, Elizabeth Birch, Joan Garry, Kerri Lobel, Rep. Barney Frank, Rea
Carey, Rep. Dick Gephardt, Senator Alan Simpson, actress Kristen Johnston
and more. In addition, you can read a first-hand account of the event,
with quotes from numerous speakers, on the home page as well.

LAMBDA MIDWEST WEB RING DEBUTS!!!

The Lambda Midwest Web Ring located at URL: http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Stonewall/2178/webring.html The HTML was uploaded today. I hope that people with web sites from the states of: Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Colorado, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Oklahoma and Arkansas. While you're there check out our Queer Midwest Links to sites, our link the Lambda Midwest Message Board, information about the Lambda Midwest Email List and our Queer File Archive (Slated to be moved shortly to a new site).

Please distribute far and wide!!!

Rodney Allen Bell, II, B.A.
"The spirit of love" "History is a nightmare, from which I am trying to awake."
--- James Joyce
P.O. Box 45357, Kansas City, MO 64171 (816) 931-6829 Voice/Fax
lovespirit@earthlink.net lovespirit@juno.com
Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/6986/index.html
Pages Developed: http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Stonewall/2178/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/2840/index.html http://members.spree.com/lovespirit/default.asp
Online Shopping: http://members.spree.com/lovespirit/default.asp?x=lovespirit
If you're going to buy a real computer, don't buy a Compaq Presario, they're a lemon!!! Trust me. http://members.aol.com/cclass450

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 1, 1998

Carl Pritzkat at Mediapolis (212) 377-3333

Kim Mills at HRC (202) 216-1534

Kathleen DeBold at Victory Fund (202) 842-8679

LESBIAN AND GAY ELECTION WEBSITE LAUNCHED www.gayvote98.com

As Lesbian & Gay Candidates Make History, Groups Provide Information
Source

WASHINGTON, DC - The Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Victory
Fund announced today that they will partner to provide specialized
coverage of lesbian and gay issues and races beginning in October. The
site, www.gayvote98.com, will be presented by Mediapolis, a leading
developer of Internet sites for corporations and non-profit organizations.

The site debuts just as lesbian and gay candidates are hitting the
hustings in unprecedented numbers. Three open lesbian candidates for the
House of Representatives are just some of the reasons behind offering
online election information, news updates, and candidate scorecards.

"This is a critical election season for our people, our issues, and our
candidates," said HRC's Executive Director, Elizabeth Birch. "The
Internet is our best bet in providing essential information to voters
about candidates."

"We know that this partnership will ensure that the lesbian and gay
community will be informed as to how their races and issues are being
played out across the nation," said Brian Bond, Executive Director of the
Victory Fund. "Our issues are, and will be, front and center this year."

"We're proud to provide the technology and manpower for this important
project," said Carl Pritzkat, a principal in Mediapolis. "We've collected
all of information that lesbian and gay voters will need on November 3 and
put it into one simple, easy to navigate site. It's an honor to help the
HRC and Victory Fund get this information out to the entire lesbian/gay
online community."

# # #

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian and gay political
organization, with members throughout the country, effectively lobbies
Congress, provides campaign support, and educates the public to ensure
that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest, and safe at home, at
work, and in the community.

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund is the only national organization whose
sole mission is to increase the number of qualified openly gay and lesbian
public officials. The country's 14th largest non-connected PAC, the
Victory Fund has generated almost $2 million for qualified openly gay and
lesbian candidates since its inception in 1991. All Victory Fund
applicants undergo rigorous screening to prove they are viable candidates
and fully qualified for the offices they seek.

Mediapolis is a Web design and technology company whose clients include
Sony Music, BMG Entertainment, and Time Warner. Mediapolis also operates
the Data Lounge Network (www.datalounge.net), a lesbian/gay online
community which presents daily news and opinion and hosts the Web sites
for the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, GLSEN, and other
community organizations.

The web site for the "Queer Theories" conference is finally up and
running.

The conference is to be held on October 10 - 11 at the University of
Nevada, Reno (UNR). This is the first conference of its kind in Nevada;
it is truly a pioneering venture, which is highlighted by the support and
presence of the State of Nevada Attorney General, Frankie Sue Del Papa,
UNR's President, along with nationally recognized speakers and researchers
on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender issues. (A comprehensive
workshop schedule may be viewed in the attached Excel file.)

The conference is open to the public and 100% free--there are not any
admission or registration fees.

To register for the conference, or for more information, please contact
or visit the following web site:

http://www.unr.edu/gsa/Qtheories

Feel free to share this new web site with others.

Thanks!

FIRST "ADULT EDUTAINMENT" WEB SITE TO BENEFIT HIV/AIDS PROGRAMS -
NEW NON-PROFIT CORPORATION GETS "AGGRESSIVE" ON PREVENTION FRONT

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Sep 01 - Aggressive AIDS Prevention, Inc. announced
it's launch today as a California non-profit public benefit corporation
that will provide HIV/AIDS prevention education, encourage HIV antibody
testing, and promote HIV Negative maintenance through media.

It's first venture into HIV prevention kicks off with a timely and
targeted media strategy that embraces the technology, information, and
entertainment appetites of today's sexually-active adult.

With its new website, the organization is the first of its kind to offer
a new medium of HIV/AIDS Prevention messaging through "Adult
Edutainment". The adult content area of the site contains tagged sexual
images that are put into galleries based on HIV/AIDS infection risk.
Visitors to the site experience HIV/AIDS risk behaviors categorized into
high, medium, and low risk galleries.

"The website meets a global demand on the web for Adult Entertainment
and also offers the benefit of repeated, repackaged, and evolving
HIV/AIDS prevention communication" says Devin KORDT, founding director
and president of the non-profit. "It's the HIV/AIDS sexuality class you
never had but should have. Our visitors are entertained and informed
simultaneously in such a way that the experience is one of education on
sight".

The website, found at WWW.AGGRESSIVE.ORG, offers both free and
membership-based services. All funds generated from memberships to the
site will be used for the development of public service media to prevent
HIV/AIDS. Says Kordt, "With Federal funding cutbacks on prevention
programs, non-profits have to get creative with self-sufficient
alternatives".

Apart from prevention information and visual appeal, the site also
provides a news clipping service, advice column, HIV antibody test and
needle exchange referrals, and an interactive discussion board to
address the most current HIV/AIDS issues.

Kordt reminds us that "17 years into the epidemic is not time for
business-as-usual. Aggressive AIDS Prevention is still our best defense
against new infections."

CONTACT:
media@aggressive.org
http://www.aggressive.org

###
Excerpts from Camille Paglia's regular Salon colum ... found at:

http://www.salonmagazine.com/col/pagl/1998/09/01pagl.html

Dear Camille:

Recently, the governor of Utah mused during a press conference that
polygamy, which has been outlawed there since 1890, might actually be
protected in a religious context by the First Amendment. He caught hell for
this from the local establishment, including the (nowadays) virulently
anti-polygamist Mormon Church. Although I am not a polygamist, my
great-great grandfather, one of the early Mormon pioneers, had at least
eight wives. Polygamy was banned by federal law in the 1880s, and was
prohibited in Utah by the Mormon Church after 1890. Nowadays, the
politico-religious establishment in Utah has nothing but disdain for the
few thousand excommunicated Mormons who practice polygamy.

However, I have come to like the idea of polygamy. It enables an alpha
male to have sexual variety without violating the sanctity of marriage. It
permits multiple women to share the resources of a wealthy man. Contrary to
popular belief, the wives of polygamists usually become close friends, and
have been known to propose to nubile young women to bring them into the
marriage. The wives look after each other and after each other's children,
eliminating the need for day care. The list of advantages goes on and on.
Yet everyone with whom I discuss the subject seems repulsed by the idea.

-- Pro-polygamy

Dear Curious and Pro-polygamy:

A close friend of mine was one of the first gays in the United States to
challenge the institutional hostility to gay adoptions. After several years
of frustrating delay and struggle, when it seemed he might have no other
recourse than to file a career-endangering lawsuit, he succeeded (in the
early '80s) in adopting a child from abroad.

Adoption should be a global strategy for the care of the orphaned or
indigent. If gays can give lifelong emotional and material support to a
needy child, I fail to see how government agencies may legitimately oppose
it. On the other hand, private or religious adoption organizations have the
right to refuse gay clients, and government should not intrude with its own
liberal agenda.

Every child should ideally have (here I depart from most gay activists)
both a mother and a father, who make distinct and perhaps irreplaceable
contributions to psychological development. But that ideal is not always
possible, and nostalgia should not cloud our sense of children's urgent
needs. For most of human history, in fact, it was not the nuclear but the
extended family that did the child-rearing. In large families even today,
older siblings assume much of the parental role.

We don't really know whether the great social experiment of gay parenting
will work in the long run or not. At least another generation will be
needed to assess the results. But heterosexual-headed families are
themselves in turmoil, with many young people visibly suffering anomie and
depression and medicating themselves with mind-numbing drugs. In the 200
years since the industrial revolution, Western culture has been slowly
evolving toward new forms of social affiliation that have weakened the
traditional bonds of family and clan. Is this utopian growth or decadent
disintegration?

Gay activists who call for the legal recognition of gay marriage have been
remarkably silent or prudish about polygamy, an ancient practice that I
wholeheartedly support. The Mormon Church, under pressure during Utah's
19th century campaign for statehood, regrettably abandoned its endorsement
of polygamy, which was ultimately grounded in biblical chronicles of the
tribal Hebrew patriarchs. As with gay adoption or gay unions (I avoid the
inflammatory term "marriage"), I think that civil government has no
intrinsic right to define or police the quantity and kind of consensual
private relationships.

Polygamy may indeed be a rational and humane answer to the increasing
problems of aging women, who are often discarded at midlife by their still
procreatively potent husbands. In this era of quickie divorce and sexual
instability and isolation, polygamy could reconstruct the community of the
old extended family in ways that directly benefit children as well as the
elderly. Let's give it a shot!

___FTC Charges GeoCities With Internet Privacy Violations___
The Federal Trade Commission yesterday embarked on its first
Internet privacy case, charging GeoCities with improperly
collecting personal information from customers. GeoCities
is a popular Internet site that hosts personal home pages
and provides E-mail services. The FTC claims the Web site
misrepresented the reason given to subscribers for
collecting personal information from adults and children.

GeoCities denied the charges but said in order to settle the
complaint quickly, it agreed to post a prominent privacy
notice on its Web site, outlining for consumers the specific
information that it collects, the purpose for doing so, and
how consumers can access and remove the information. "Our
visitors are very important to us and are the primary reason
GeoCities has developed and implemented privacy safeguards,"
said Thomas Evans, GeoCities president and CEO, in a
statement.

"GeoCities misled its customers by not telling the truth
about how it was using their personal information," said
Jodie Bernstein, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer
Protection. "This case is a message to all Internet
marketers that statements about their information collection
practices must be accurate and complete."

GeoCities requires potential subscribers to complete an
online application that includes mandatory and optional
information. The optional information is not supposed to be
released without the members' agreement. The FTC alleges
that GeoCities released the optional information to third
parties without subscriber permission. This information
includes education level, income, marital status,
occupation, and personal interests. --Mary E. Thyfault

WILLIAM HIGGINS INTERVIEW

William Higgins One of the gay worlds most popular and respected film
makers has agreed to be interviewed exclusively on GAYSPY on the 17th of
July ,the interview will be shown on a special preview screen at <
http://www.meetbill.com
that it will be free for all to see.Bill has been making gay films for many
years and over this time has always maintained a very high standard both in
quality and the type of guys he uses in the films, he does not give
interviews lightly so it is something that must not be missed.
For more info or if you would like to ask him a question e-mail
me .
for the interview on 17th July,the interview will
be repeated on this site regularly,This URL will be up and running in a few
days,so,do not worry if you get nothing at the present time if you click on
it.

Fox News Reuters Ltd.

Groups battle over who owns "Hate'' on the Internet
June 5, 1998

SAN FRANCISCO (Wired) — The trademarked name of a respected online watchdog
organization, HateWatch, is at the crux of a heated dispute between two Web
sites with similar Net addresses, nearly identical front-page graphics and
very different outlooks.

The original HateWatch site - at http://www/hatewatch.org — tracks
intolerance online by serving up an index of more than 200 groups dedicated
to racial and national bigotry, from the Aryan Dating Page to the Nation of
Islam home page.

The first URL listed in the HateWatch directory of ''anti-gay'' sites is Don
Ellis' American Guardian, and it's Ellis — one of the most vociferous
opponents of abortion and homosexual rights on Web — who has launched a
lookalike site, called HateWatch of America, at http://www.hatewatch.com and
http://www.hatewatch.net.

The original HateWatch founder David Goldman says he is preparing to go to
court to defend his brand.

A chilling portrait of a Ku Klux Klan member in a white hood delivering the
Sieg Heil salute adorns both sites, an image that Goldman says he has
exclusive rights to. Like the original site, HateWatch of America offers an
index of sites broken down by category.

You won't find the NAACP or the Disney corporation listed on the original
site, however, as they are on Ellis'.

The NAACP is tagged as a "racist'' group there, while Disney is slammed as
"anti-children'' for publishing a book called "Growing Up Gay'' through its
subsidiary, Hyperion, and for hosting "gay days'' at Disneyland.

The American Civil Liberties Union, People for the American Way, and the
Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network are lumped in the same category
with North American Man-Boy Love Association and a chat page for pedophiles,
while the original HateWatch site is condemned as "anti-Christian.''

Ellis, an auto-body mechanic from Star City, Arkansas, doesn't dispute that
his site causes confusion among those who simply type "hatewatch'' into
their browser window and land in his domain. He even created a feedback
address, "comments (at sign) hatewatch.com,'' that mirrors the one on
Goldman's site. "I get lots of his mail. People don't even think about
.org,'' he says. "I got email from this one girl who told me she'd been to
hatewatch.org and said, 'Your content has completely changed. My God, you've
listed the Anti-Defamation League!' So I emailed her back and said, 'We're
Christian-based.' And I gave her the other address.''

Goldman trademarked the name HateWatch in Massachusetts, and has applied
with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a federal trademark. Ellis,
however, has also trademarked HateWatch-in Arkansas.

"We got lawyers, and we know enough about copyright to make our case,''
Ellis says. "We get all kinds of lawsuit threats, and my attorney just
laughs at them. 'HateWatch' is a trademark of the American Guardian now.''

At issue, Ellis says, is who gets to decide what is bigotry on the Net.

"(Goldman) sits up there in his office, and he goes to somebody's site and
says, 'That's a hate site,' and it's so,'' Ellis observes. "You start
condemning, and pretty soon people believe you. That's a tactic that was
used by Hitler. To me, the KKK is no different than the NAACP.''

Ellis finds Goldman's complaint that HateWatch of America is using the
graphic of the Klansman particularly ironic.

"Look at his site. He used my picture and my text to call me a hate site. He
uses everybody's pictures and texts,'' Ellis points out.

—-

Goldman's site launched in May 1995, as a page of links to sites promoting
racial supremacy, such as Stormfront. Goldman, who was a researcher at the
Harvard Law School Library when he put the project on a university computer,
says he was surprised when the page suddenly started getting lots of traffic.

"This subject matter was a niche that was not being dealt with,'' Goldman
recalls. "The Wiesenthal Center and the Jewish Defense League were keeping
an eye on those groups for their own constituencies, but no one was doing it
for the online constituency, which was growing.''

A year and a half later, HateWatch incorporated as an independent
organization and moved to its own computer server. Now, the site has grown
into an online multimedia center, offering text, audio, and video on such
topics as the treatment of the Roma people in contemporary Europe, the
slaughter of Armenians in 1922, and an interview with Gabi Clayton, whose
17-year-old son committed suicide in 1995 after being attacked for being gay.

Goldman insists that HateWatch is free of any agenda other than its stated
mission, which is "combating and containing online bigotry.'' For adding the
Jewish Defense League to his hate index, Goldman was branded "Pig of the
Month'' by a JDL chapter in Florida.

"A bigot is a bigot,'' Goldman says.

Ellis doesn't dispute that he's no friend of gay people. A guest editorial
on his site depicts San Francisco as a city where photographs of children
are displayed in store windows as an indication that kids are for sale for
sex inside.

And the Net, he says, has been "a huge success'' for homosexuals. "Before,
they didn't know whose leg they could rub on.''

Besides, homosexuals themselves spew hatred, he declares: ''Do you know what
they call pregnant women? Breeders.''

There are other forms of prejudice that Ellis doesn't abide. For a long
time, Ellis has supported his friend Patrick Blakely — infamous on Usenet
computer bulletin boards and Internet Relay Chat as RevWhite — in his online
harassment campaigns against suspected pedophiles and defenders of gays, but
Ellis takes credit for convincing Blakely to take down a viciously racist
site of his own called the Negroid Research Institute.

"I'm just an old country boy from a town of 2000 in the Bible Belt,'' Ellis
explains. "Down here in Dixie, 37 percent of the people are black.''

Precedent would suggest that Ellis might be able to keep his URLs if the
case goes to court. Milton Mueller, author of a study that will be published
in July called "Trademarks and Domain Names: Property Rights'' and
"Institutional Evolution in Cyberspace,'' says that when domain names
disputes go to trial, the findings have been two to one in favor of the
current holder of the domain.

Mueller also says, however, that a case like this-where part of Ellis'
intent is to create a decoy site to confuse unwary netsurfers-is "precisely
what trademark laws are for.''

Ringling Brothers recently compelled People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals to take down its Web site at ringlingbrothers.com by filing a
"deceptive trademark'' suit. The PETA site-critical of the treatment of
animals in the circus-was dismantled after Ringling Brothers agreed to drop
the suit.

Goldman says that if Ellis had launched a site called ''Monitoring
HateWatch,'' he would have had no problem with it.

"I invite people to refute our stance,'' he says. "But I have a question
when someone tries to convince people that they are the site that we spent
two years building.''

Adelaide GT Growing Strong - New WWW Site.

http://www.adelaidegt.com.au
E-mail (for the moment):
gt@box.net.au

Due to the adoption of our new format and excellent work done by all our
staff, we are proud to announce an increase in circulation of over 13
percent in the last twelve months.

After six years of production Adelaide GT's circulation is at an all time high.

We have reaffirmed our commitment to business through such initiatives as
the Tourist Map, Business Directory and Adelaide Lesbian and Gay Cultural
Festival - Feast.

Now we are proud to announce the commencement of our new Adelaide GT website
this Friday.

Our website can be found at - http://www.adelaidegt.com.au

This hot new site will incorporate important and current information such as
The 1998 Lesbian and Gay Business Directory, Gay and Lesbian Adelaide Map,
coming events, community listings and links to other sites.

Just a quick note to advise people that with the commencement of our new
website, our e-mail address will be changing.

We will inform you of our new e-mail address in the near future when the
almighty Cyber Gods bestow this revelation upon us.