ready point Click! - gay and lesbian Web sites

THERE'S LOTS OF G00D WORK TO BE DONE AND A LOT OF GREAT FANTASIES TO BE HAD IN THE WORLD TODAY--THE CYBERWORLD, THAT IS

WHETHER YOU HAVE a political cause your friends are tired of hearing about or a fantasy you've never told them, rest assured that someone in cyberspace has created a Web site just for you. Following are some of the best sites to hone your activism and fan the flames of your daydreams. If your personal quirks seem to be missing from this list, try an Internet search (http://www.yahoo.com or http://www,dogpile.com) or check out the book Gay & Lesbian Online from Alyson Publications.

1) NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORTE

http:://www.ngltf.org/

The national resource for grassroots organizing and advocacy since 1973. Its "Fight the Right" Action Kit is the strategic primer for defending gay rights. The group is now organizing a week of activism at state capitols set for March 21-27.

2) TREATMENT ACTION GROUP

http://www.thebody.com/tag/ tagpage.html

Leave your ego at the door as you listen to TAG's whip-smart insider reports on the latest in AIDS treatment research. Check out the supporting cast--the platinum A-list of gay power brokers.

3) ALLTOGETHER.COM

http://www.alltogether.com/

Excellent unfiltered firsthand accounts of how people of all races, religions, and careers navigate being their queer selves in today's world. The Zap Panel holds thousands of answers to common questions and allows you to ask questions in your own words.

4) UNITED IN ANGER

http://www.panix.com/~bytsura/ index.shtml

A photo documentary of AIDS activists from Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin as well as the United States and Puerto Rico--men and women whose eyes burn with a fire to match their message.

5) CITIZENS AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA

http://www.actwin.com/cahp/index.htm

One-stop (free) shopping for punchy media campaigns zap ping homophobia with wit and scientific fact: "If you go out of your way to pick on gays, psychiatrists have a name for you: latent homosexual."

6) DIGITAL QUEERS

http://www.dq.orq/

When the queer activist history of the '90s is written, DQ's stamp will be all over it. DQ helped design and launch Web sites for such gay rights groups as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum; Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, with whom it has now merged [see GLAAD listing on next page].

7)TURNOUT

http://www.turnlefT.com/out/

An amazingly comprehensive links list to online activist groups fighting for civil rights (at the national and local level), including marriage, military, immigration, health, workplace, violence, and youth.

8) GAY AND LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION

http://www.qlaad.org/

Cultural watchdogs whose successes include persuading Hallmark Cards to delete lesbian from its list of banned words. GLAAD's merger with Digital Queers, announced in January, will connect online community activists with Inter net industry professionals for cyber training, archival research, and other projects.

9) TIM MCVEIGH

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/ 9241/INFO.HTML

The home page of the naval officer whose online profile nearly cost him his naval career under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

10) BRINGDOWN

http://www.bringdown.com/

For a scalding dose of queer consumer cynicism, annoy yourself into awareness with these rants (with black-and-white cartoons) on gay life today. "Come in and dirty your mental diapers!"

11) GAY AND LESBIAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRING PERSONS

http://www.gaylesbianretiring.org/

AARP with an attitude and an agenda, Its ultimate goal? Gay retirement centers. "We think gay-owned, gay-run communities will be more attractive to our aging community. Isn't it about time?"

12) HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

http://www.hrc.org

Washington's largest lesbian and gay lobbying group offers updates on political issues (the military, elections), advice on activism, coming-out resources, and the opportunity to purchase your very own Equality Bear.

1) THE DAVID DUCHOVNY PAGE OF LUST

http://come.to/david.duchovny

Hungry for more of one of The Advocate's 25 coolest straight people? Then check out this great site! It has 81 hot photographs, five sound bites from the X-Files hunk himself, five mini-movies, career stats, and updates, plus links to even more sites where you can drool over David. Between his gloriousness and The X-Files, there's no limit to the fantasies.

2) SIBILANCE

http://www.tripnet.com/sibilance/

Ever wanted to be an out queer rock star? Plug into Sibilance, a quarterly queer audio magazine. It's an hour-long sonic roller-coaster ride into next century's rock-and-roll hall of fame, with groups such as the Subconscious Can Can Cult, Boffo Santana-Jones, and Strapfkernerator, the boys from Norway who weld industrial sound to classical.

3) OUT & ABOUT

http://www.outandabout.com/

An excellent travel site packed with in-depth information for gay and lesbian travelers with a yen for the exotic (like Cuba, Fiji, and Tibet) or something closer to home (Boston and Miami). Lots of practical advice--rental companies that don't penalize you for being gay--plus excellent award-winning travel journalism.

4) POPCORNQ

http://planetout.com/pno/popcornq/

The mother lode for queer cineasts is PopcornQ at PlanetOut. It offers the scoop on recent releases, plus reviews, clips, interviews with actors and directors, and reports on gay and lesbian film festivals around the world. Use the search engine to sift through the film library by theme.

5) GAY VAMPIRES

http://www-users.cs.umn. edu/~doyle/Qvamp/vampire.html

"I have a small obsession with vampires," the site's operator notes. "Sad was I to discover how few pages there were out there dealing with queer vampires, so here I am to help fill that void." A tantalizing feast for those of a sanguinary bent.

6) SILVER SCREEN SIREN SITE

http://users.deltanet,com/users/ dstickne/

Veronica Lake, Lauren Bacall, Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich ... If your heart flutters for yesteryear's Hollywood goddesses, spritz, gargle, and straighten your dinner jacket for a visit to this shrine to silver-screen glamour. (And, yes, true aficionados, Lizabeth Scott is here too.)

7) INTERNATIONAL GAY RODED ASSOCIATI0N

http://www.igra.com/

The first gay rodeo was held in Nevada in 1976. Local ranchers weren't keen on lending livestock back then, but now gay rodeos are an institution. Get on over to IGRA to check out hot and hunky cowpokes (girls and guys) roping, bull riding, racing, and generally whooping it up at a rodeo for "our family."

8) GAYS IN COMICS

http://members.aol.com/ GayOLeague/comics.html

This is fantasy's adult version, featuring superpowered titans and everyday heroes `living the large life through the illustrations of breakthrough comic-book artists such as Howard Cruse ("Wendel," "Barefootz," "Stuck Rubber Baby") and Chris Cooper, former Marvel editor and nominee for GLAAD's 1999 Media Awards for his "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" coming-out story.

9) GAY COMEDY/QUEER PERFORMANCE

http://www.hanksite.com/gaycomedy/

What's so funny? Plenty of gay and lesbian stand-up comics and performance artists. At this site you can find performers' profiles, information on their shows, and links to sites of artists such as Karen Williams, Justin Chin, and Suzy Berger. You'll also read a discussion of gay TV comedy post-Ellen.

10) NUDE MALE CELEBRITIES

http://www.gorgeousquys. com/nude/male/celebs/home.htm

Trashy and Enquirer-esque, but there are no computerized enhancements of "candid" photos of Mark Wahlberg (a.k.a Marky Mark), Antonio Sabato Jr., Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Joey Stefano, and Leo (where did he get that?) DiCaprio.

11) PARTERRE BOX

http://www.parterre.com/

Sharp, witty, and militantly in love with opera, the Web home of Parterre Box, "the gay opera 'zine," is "about remembering when opera was queer and dangerous and exciting and making it that way again." Drop in for the latest gossip, the most harrowing reviews, and the homage to Maria Callas, la Divina. This is an online aria no opera queen can live without.

12) HOMOBASE

http://www.homebase.com/

An activist site with a touch of romance, this is the place to meet and start a fire in your heart--and under the Pentagon's butt. Read the reports, get a sense of life in the barracks, join the chat among men and women in the military, and link to personals. If nothing inspires you like a guy or a gal in uniform, this is the place to go.

Dawson is the author of Gay & Lesbian Online from Alyson Books.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Liberation Publications, Inc.
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