Surfing to Lesbos

[May 22nd, 2002] The Portland-based web port known as TechnoDyke.com caters to girl-loving gals (it strives to include bi and trans sisters/brothers as well). And since its inception two years ago, this Internet isle for lesbos has come to play an important part in the lives of many Sapphic community members--which comes as a bit of a surprise to its creator, a 27-year-old Web designer and decade-long Portlander named Stacy Bias.

"It started as a hobby," says Bias. "I was on the verge of losing a job at Egghead.com. I had three months of work with nothing to do. I thought I'd make a podunk home page."

Far from being podunk, this Mom-and-no-Pop op is the second most viewed lesbian-specific site on the Web, just behind the mega-popular, mega-funded, LesbiaNation.com--judging by the number of unique visitors it sees each month (around 40,000).

So why does Stacy think her site has clicked into the hearts and minds of lesbians everywhere?

"A lot of LesbiaNation's content comes from syndicated columnists who contribute their pieces to different websites," says Stacy about the much more mainstream web-catcher. TechnoDyke's content may not be as polished, but it maintains original voices. And it's a place to talk to the people who accept you about the people who don't."

It also veers away from more naughty websites.

"We're more about the woman, and less about the vagina," says Stacy about her website's hip, tip-filled content. But that doesn't mean that the girls who gather here don't talk about sex.

"We're not that wholesome," says Stacy. "We are very sex-positive. We just talk about sex in more progressive terms, and we don't have a lot of naked pictures."

Alongside respectful smut talk, TechnoDyke offers an easy-to-access list of updated daily features including astrology, personals, free email, message boards and tons of interviews with queer celebs like Amy Ray, Kate Clinton and Pat Califia (who came out on this site as transgendered). Two of the more thought-provoking and popular columns are Fat Girl Speaks and a new drag forum where readers find stories on everything from packing their "packages" to how to pass as a man.

But it hasn't been easy. And the future of TechnoDyke seems to be uncertain. SuperStacy has help from a handful of volunteers and writers she pays out of her own pocket, but essentially she's a staff of one.

"I've been working 80 hours a week for the last two years," says Stacy, who's now on the verge of losing another day job that she's not allowed to talk about. "It's always been hand-to-mouth."

While Stacy refuses to give up, she also refuses to charge a fee for the site , which means there's not a whole lot of cash rolling in.

"I'm not in it for the money," says Stacy. "There are a million other things I could be doing, but every time I think about quitting, something wonderful happens. Like when I got a letter from a young woman who finally found the courage to come out after getting support on the message board. It all gives me the strength to put in another 80-hour week."