Amy Goodloe
Born1967 or 1968 (age 55–56)[1]
Atlanta, Georgia
Known forCreating and maintaining web-based discussion spaces and resources geared toward lesbians
Websiteamygoodloe.com

Amy Goodloe is the creator of the websites Women Online and Lesbian.org, a non-profit organization focused on documenting activities and work by lesbians on the web.[2] She also initiated and maintained mailing lists that served as online discussion spaces for LGBTQ communities. She was a professor of writing in the Women and Gender Studies department at the University of Colorado-Boulder.[3]

Career

In the 1990s, Goodloe was responsible for starting and maintaining Usenet mailing lists for lesbians.[4] She is considered to be a leading figure in creating online spaces that allowed lesbians to easily interact with each other.[5][6] Goodloe has contended that participation in these spaces represents a form of activism.[7]

By 1997, there were 46 e-mail lists available for lesbian audiences. Goodloe notes that many of these lists retained policies that restricted participation to women only, but discussion participants would frequently disagree over whether transgender or bisexual individuals should be included in these spaces.[8] Goodloe created the website repository Lesbian.org between 1994-1995[4][9] to both provide a platform for lesbians and to demonstrate their increasing presence online.[1] The website included resources such as literary journals, noticeboards, business listings, and information about art exhibitions featuring work by or about lesbians.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "Generation Q: Science and Technology". The Advocate. Hare Publishing: 76. 19 August 1997. ISSN 0001-8996.
  2. ^ Calvert, Melodie; Terry, Jennifer (2005). Processed Lives: Gender and Technology in Everyday Life. Routledge. p. 41. ISBN 1134824432.
  3. ^ "Amy Townsend Goodloe". www.colorado.edu. University of Colorado. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  4. ^ a b Auerbach, David (20 August 2014). "The First Gay Space on the Internet". Slate. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  5. ^ Haggerty, George; Zimmerman, Bonnie (2003). Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures. Taylor & Francis. p. 201. ISBN 1135578702.
  6. ^ Wakeford, Nina (2007). "Cyberqueer". In Bell, David (ed.). The Cybercultures Reader (Repr. ed.). London [u.a.]: Routledge. p. 405. ISBN 978-0415183796.
  7. ^ Wakeford 2002, p. 135.
  8. ^ Auerbach, David (21 August 2014). "When AOL Was GayOL". Slate. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  9. ^ Wakeford, Nina (2002). "New Technologies and 'Cyber-queer' Research". In Richardson, Diane; Seidman, Steven (eds.). Handbook of lesbian and gay studies. London: SAGE. p. 120. ISBN 1847876722.
  10. ^ Senjen, Rye; Guthrey, Jane (1996). The Internet for women (Reprinted ed.). North Melbourne: Spinifex Press. p. 36. ISBN 1875559523.
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