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Major Freak Sites
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The following sites have a wealth of information on specific subsets of the freak community; if you’re interested in just one group, one of these sites can help you get acquainted with that particular bunch. Many of them have useful introductory information that helps you get acquainted with that group’s particular issues.
Paganism
- Covenant of the Goddess: A nationwide Wiccan organization, with useful introductory information about witchcraft.
- Isaac Bonewits’ Site: Bonewits has been active in Neopaganism for over 30 years; his site has many useful essays. (His name is pronounced “BONN-eh-wits”, not “bone-wits”.)
- The Witches’ Voice: A prominent Wiccan and Neopagan news and networking site, including Pagan essays on various topics.
Alternative Sexualities
- AltSex: General resource site for alternative sexualities, including BDSM, bisexuality, homosexuality, polyamory, and transgenderism. Includes articles, introductory material, columns and links.
- Polyamory.org: Good introductory resource on polyamory — there’s a lot more to it than just “swinging”.
- bisexual.org: The official web site of the Bisexual Foundation.
- BiNetUSA: The oldest bisexual organization in the US; a non-profit umbrella organization the promotes bisexual visibility and community.
- Society of Janus: A venerable BDSM organization; their site has articles and resources that may be helpful.
- GLAAD: The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is dedicated to promoting fair and accurate representation in the media.
- The Alternatives to Marriage Project: An advocacy group for people exploring (or practicing) any of a wide range of relationship options, including domestic partnership, common-law marriage, and just remaining single.
- Loving More: Initially a polyamory magazine, now a national resource organization for people following a poly lifestyle. (And they still publish a magazine.)
Role-Playing and Gaming
Major Game Manufacturers
- Wizards of the Coast: Known to gamers as WotC (pronounced “WOT-see”), they created the CCG genre with M:tG, and now include the venerable TSR, makers of Dungeons & Dragons.
- White Wolf: Makers of the popular World of Darkness (“WoD”) system.
- Steve Jackson: Maker of classics like Car Wars and the Generic Universal Role Playing System (GURPS).
- Chaosium: Makers of Call of Cthulhu, based on the horror works of H.P. Lovecraft.
Gothic, Punk, and Industrial
- Gothic.Net: A long-running gothic webzine, specializing in horror fiction and occasional editorials.
- GothPunk.com(Munity): A webzine with articles, poetry, and occasional news and DIY pieces. Run by some of the same people that run this site.
- The Religious Tolerance Project has a good essay on the gothic subculture, which forms a useful starting point for exploration.
Geek/Hacker Sites
- Slashdot: You’ve probably heard of this one already; it’s pretty well-known.
- The Jargon File: Also known as “the hacker’s dictionary”, this site is maintained by Open Source Initiative President Eric Raymond, also known as the author of The Cathedral and the Bazaar, the essay that was instrumental in convincing Netscape to move their browser to an open-source development model (thus creating the Mozilla and Firefox browsers).
- The Open Source Initiative: Not visited by geeks all that often, since we already know what’s there. However, their FAQ document has a lot of useful information for you about what open source is all about.
Miscellaneous/Other
- Otherkin.net: A central community site for people who feel that they’re not entirely human. Sort of a cross between mystics and the transgendered.
- A ConLang FAQ: A good introduction to constructed languages, a hobby taken up by a fair number of fans and the occasional geek. Klingon, Elvish, and Esperanto are just the tip of the iceberg.
