Austin Chronicle Article About the SXSW Panel

Fausto Fernós in his podcasting studio in Chicago. Photo by JasonSmith.com

Fausto Fernós

Many a late night was spent AltaVistaing, typing in letters, words, phrases. What was I searching for? Resonance? Connection? Community? Luv? Similar seekers in the ether? “Lesbian Web pages.” “Dyke Austin.” “Queer Texas.”

Two important things happened in the mid-Nineties: I came out, and so did the Internet.

As Web ubiquity and gay cultural acceptance have each evolved in the 16 years hence, their realities, in my mind, are forever interfused. The rise of the Internet kick-started a coalescence of worldwide queer community. My personal coming out experience was certainly enhanced by the emergence of online communities – as were the experiences, connections, livelihoods, and survival of queers across the globe. And that’s still true for so many people.

“There are still places that exist where you can be fired for being gay. It boggles my mind,” says Trish Bendix, 26, Chicago freelance writer, blog editor of Logo/MTV’s AfterEllen.com, and panel moderator for SXSW Interactive’s Engaging the Queer Community, the first concertedly LGBT-themed panel ever at SXSW Interactive.

–Read the Rest

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