I know there is already an about page for the website, but I wanted to provide some history and context up front so every know where I am coming from.
I started a website in the long-ago time of 2004 a site called (redacted) focusing on all things pop culture, comics, movies novels and music. We had a dedicated following and even at times grew to a staff of about 8 people we were not newsarama but I was proud of it. Then as time progressed my life turned darker and it was harder to keep up with. Then my father died, and all bets were off. I stopped pretty much everything. A couple of years passed by, I start examining everything about my life , got into counseling and started on a journey of exploration covering my work, my orientations, my gender identity who and what I wanted to be.
One of the things I missed was the site, so I decided to re-create it and start a second site called JustcallmeJaime as a personal blog. Then one night while watching Gaycation with Ellen Paige I was like the world does not need another small site covering the marvel movies it needs more sites spotlighting diverse community of talented creators who don’t get enough press. I also took a hard look at reactions to LGBT people on twitter and figured sharing all of personal feeling might be a dangerous thing to give to the trolls. (Though they might return behind a Patron paywall). So, I scrapped everything and started from scratch.
This is a questionable decision. Not because of what I hope to accomplish but the fact that I am still in the closet to most people in my life. Do I even have a right to try and do this kind of thing? The second being that I went from a guy with 1000 friends on Facebook, 500+ on linked, etc. etc. to starting over on social media.
But if the community will allow me to proceed on my journey at my own pace. I have a few simple goals I wish to accomplish.
- I wish to provide a place to spotlight a diverse group of creators so that everyone has a better chance of success.
- Provide a place where people can come to get a better understanding of the community, as well as showcase resources and places where people can pitch in
- Establish connections and hopefully friendships that will allow me to grow as a person and creator.
UPDATE
I am now out to the my family, and my work, for the most part it well. At the moment I am working on furthering my medical, social and legal transition and hope to grow the site and my creative projects to a full time job.