For Queer Mice

by BROWWWSER

You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

I t's an incredible night! All the stars are out tonight for the first annual Web Award Awards. There's Tom Rielly from PlanetOut wearing a fabulous Todd Oldham suit. Amy Goodloe from Lesbian.org looks divine in Donna Karan. QRD founder Ron Buckmire is just pulling up in a limo. Oh, this is too exciting! Tonight's gala event will honor those lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) websites that in turn give out awards to other LGBT websites. Now the lights are dimming and the crowd hushes as host Patricia Nell Warren steps on-stage. She pulls out the first envelope. And the winner is...

yelmouse.gif Grand Prize: The Freedom Awards at http://freedom.co.uk/. The original queer web award and still the best. Based in England, they honor sites with good content that shares information to others. Rainbows abound at this modern site as you use Freedom Search to explore by category or country. This award and others recognized tonight originally began when many so-called "Best-of-the-Web" awards were reluctant or refused to distinguish excellent queer web pages. Now we have our own awards, so use them to search the Internet and submit your queer web page to see if you win an award.

1st Runner Up: The Rainbow Award at http://www.gayamerica.com/awards/. This pretty site with a crushed velvet-like background presents awards for LGBT excellence on the web. Pages with exceptional content, design, creativity, presentation, concept, and contributes to the community may win this monthly award started in September '96. Both commercial and personal pages who win can display the Rainbow Award logo, a rainbow Earth preceding a pink triangle. But the night is still young...

Lambda Award: Totally Cool Queer Site Awards at /westhollywood/5616/. Creator FagBoy has created a well-designed site that showcases LGBT pages with lots of queer pride and terrific design. The difference is that YOU vote on the nominees in nine categories. See previously honored sites with a brief description of each, and vote now on the August nominees. The award itself is a Ring, so click on the award to go to the next winning site. Speaking of the next award...

yelcomp1.gif Best of Show: The Del Rubio Triplets Wonderland at /westhollywood/3331/. This kitschy, campy, happy, fun, animated site is the home of Milly, Elena, & Eadie Del Rubio, the fabulous triplets with miniskirts, go-go boots, and big blonde hair who have been entertaining people with their guitars and singing for over 50 years. They give out the 3 Rubies Award to a few select sites. Click on the sparkling rubies to visit past winners. Or browse their biography and discography, download audio and video from their Pee Wee's Playhouse visits, and much more. A must-see site!

Best Special Effects: Pride! Award at http://www.beproud.com/prideaward.htm. Nominate your favorite site for a Pride! Award by Alternatives, who sell pride merchandise like jewelry, T-shirts, flags, accessories, home fashions, and more. Their homepage features a hunky gay superhero in a black skintight costume jumping right at you (thus winning the special effect award!). Shop away or skim their links.

Best Interview: Phenomenal Women of the Web at http://www.spydersempire.com/women_o.htm. Spyder gives out her seal to women on the Internet with outstanding pages of excellence and honor, some 650 so far. Her lovely site is a must-bookmark for women web weavers. She receives the Best Interview Award for the Phenomenal Women of the Web Creed, which will empower women and scare the crap out of most men!

Miss Congeniality: Made With Dyke Pride at http://www.txdirect.net/~sassyfem/dykepride.html. If you're a woman who loves other women who's created your own web page, tell the world your site is Made With Dyke Pride. Swipe the logo and add it to yours - no messy nominations, no catfights. That's why it wins Miss Congeniality. Also visit SassyFemme's other lipstick-flavored pages.

People's Choice Award: Queer Living Family Choice Award at /~neurotaz. Just a few sites have won this award for fine web design and quality the whole family can enjoy. Nominate a site or see Neurotaz's other delights like "Dinner and a Movie", music links, her "Ellen" page, and more.

Most Empowering: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgendered Disabled Veterans Award at /westhollywood/Heights/1751/. Besides the esteemed GLBTDVA Award, these excellent pages has tons of info for GLBTDVs: membership and veteran info, political issues, employment and networking resources, and their own webring. A compelling site.

The Goddess Award: Athena's Goddess of Wisdom Award at http://www.qworld.org/staff/athena. An award given to personal or commercial websites with strong content and impact for lesbians and all women. Her collection of winning sites is an A-list of lesbian web pages.

E-mail me! Most Creative: Wit's End Literary Cyberzine at /westhollywood/4128/. This colorful intelligent e-zine features artists, writers, poetry, editorials, writing tips, contest, previews, and a special guest. Their Creativity Award is bestowed to entertaining websites with good writing, presentation, and creativity. Not your usual award site!

Most Likely To Succeed: FunkyDiva's Award of Excellence at http://www.spiritone.com/~sappho. Visit her fabulously funky site with beautiful graphics and click on "getaward" to see her award she grants to LesBiGays "who's web pages reflect excellence in both form and content and are a positive resource for us."

Miss Cellaneous: Just kidding! Well, that wraps up this Award of Award shows. The winners are aglow and the losers are calling their agents. The crowd disperses, heading to the hip new dance club or home for some late-night web chatting. Wherever you go, drive safe and play safe! This is Browwwser, signing off.

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"For Queer Mice" appears in SLAM Magazine, the alternative bar rag for St. Louis. For more links, please visit my GAYDAR site (always under construction!). Know some good queer web sites? Please e-mail them to me! Thanks, and happy browwwsing!

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