I plan to do some advertising to get OutNotes going again starting in January 2006. In the meantime I am on the hunt for some folks to contribute to OutNotes News (a.k.a. the blog you are currently reading). I would like to recruit 2+ people to contribute 2-20 postings per week on anything related to OutNotes. This could include any GLBT information or news, or anything else that might interest OutNotes visitors. No prior experience is required. If you are interested or have any questions use the contact form. I want to get a couple people going before the advertising starts so that new visitors see an active news section. So, if you stay up to date on GLBT news, events, laws, and/or information, or just want to share your thoughts with an open-minded audience this is a good opportunity to express yourself and inform your community.

Update 10/28: Maybe the bar should be lowered slightly…I’m willing to give you a login and provide technical support if you can contribute at least one entry per month, although I would still prefer 1+ per week. We may have our first columnist ready to start soon, a bisexual 20-something woman from California…I’ll keep you updated.

The first of the press releases are off (an edited version will be sent out more later), so we’ll see how that goes. OutNotes is one of the featured sites on the Yahoo! directory; I imagine that will bring big traffic when people start to wake up!

Here is the rough draft for the site launch press release, crticism and suggestions are welcome:

New Web Site Launched, OutNotes.com, a Place to Share ‘coming out’ Letters

A new resource for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual communities launched yesterday. OutNotes.com consists of a collection of letters that people have written to friends, family, and loved ones to ‘come out.’ The site is already receiving letters of appreciation from people who have come out, and others who are still struggling to come out:

These letters brought tears to my eyes because I understand that these people are bearing their souls at the expense of everything they hold dear. I wish them all well and only hope that they have an easier time of it than I did.

OutNotes.com is beginning to grow in size; as letters have begin to pour in since yesterday’s launch. The letters vary considerably: from short and to the point, to heart-wrenchingly said, to humorous and witty.

Most people would never assume I am the way I am. You see me and I look all-american. I look like the girl next door, who’s gonna fall in love with Prince Charming and go on to start a family with one golden retriever and 2.5 children.

Well I am that girl. But I won’t be falling in love with Prince Charming. You see I’ve already fallen in love, with PrinceSS Charming. I’m a lesbian. I always have been.

The site also has a ‘news’ section for site related information and news from the GLBT community; allowing for further interaction with a comment enabled weblog style. The sites ‘about’ section sums up the purpose of the site, and points out the struggles that gay rights advocates face:

this site is about you. it is about your friends. it is about your family. it is about your loved ones. chances are you or someone you love has struggled with their sexuality. this site is about these people breaking out of the shackles of an oppressive society and reaching out to the ones they love. it is a collection of letters written in search of acceptance. if you have come out, are struggling to come out, or had someone come out to you; this site is about you. if you aren’t in any of these groups, chances are that someone is struggling with coming out to you or your community; and this site is about you.

gay rights are currently a major civil rights issue around the world. everyday gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people struggle against a bigoted society. if the letters on this site can reach out to even one person and help them realize that these are real people looking for their acceptance, then it has succeeded. if it can give inspiration to one person who is struggling with their sexuality, then it has succeeded.

http://outnotes.com

I whipped up a couple little buttons; guess I’ll have to create a ‘promote’ page for the site, but they can live here for now. Feel free to create your own OutNotes buttons; let me know and I will add them to the site to share with everyone.

You can paste the following code into your site if you want to use one of these buttons:

<a href="http://outnotes.com/"> <img src="http://outnotes.com/outnotes-100×32.gif" border="0">< /a>

or

<a href="http://outnotes.com/"> <img src="http://outnotes.com/outnotescom-100×32.gif" border="0"> </a>

The password protection is gone, next comes the announcements and press release. So spread the word: outnotes.com is live!

If you have a web site we would love for you to link to Outnotes. We’ll have some buttons ready soon for you to use on your site. For now, if you want to add a text link you can paste one of the following bits code into your site:

<a href="http://outnotes.com/">I ♥ outnotes.com</a>

<a href="http://outnotes.com/">Out Notes</a>

<a href="http://outnotes.com/">Support OutNotes</a>

<a href="http://outnotes.com/">Share Out Notes</a>

<a href="http://outnotes.com/">OutNotes: Share the Love</a>