Jan 04, 2008  |  By: Rebecca Armendariz  | COMMENTS     

With more than 50 contributors from all walks of life, the Bilerico Project, a blog that grew from a simple domain name and some basic HTML, has evolved quickly from its earliest incarnation.

Bil Browning, editor of the site, combined his name with his best friend Eri’s, to create his blog. He purchased bilerico.com nine years ago and the web site initially focused on gay issues in Bloomington, Ind.

Three years ago, Browning and his partner, Jeremy, changed the blog program so that multiple users could post their work to the site. After reaching out to gay leaders in Indiana, the idea spread nationally and today boasts 15 to 20 posts per day by a variety of correspondents.

The site features a video section and advice columns as well as the writing of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of various races and backgrounds.

The content varies — one day, a serious post about ENDA will be sandwiched between “The Best Gay Books of 2007” and a feature on a freshly outed sexy celebrity.

The Bilerico Project was re-launched in July. Since then, Browning said the site has received 388,000 unique page views. He did not have updated numbers on daily visitors to the site, but said Bilerico takes in a modest $500 per month in advertising — an amount he says is growing. One of Browning’s goals for 2008 is to generate enough revenue to pay some of the associate editors and contributors.

“It goes to show that it’s really not all about the money, but that it’s about creating this great space to hash out the political and social issues that are happening right now,” said Michael Crawford, associate editor of the site.

Browning has built his list of contributors, including presidential candidate Bill Richardson and gay Rep. Barney Frank, over a short period.

“I’m really surprised by the power of a polite e-mail,” he said.

Browning and his managing editor, Alex Blaze, handpicked their fellow bloggers. They made a list of the top people they’d like to work with and set out to get them.

“I think content is always key to a blog, and we have really good content,” Browning said. “We go from very, very far left to more centrist … there’s something there for just about everybody.”

The blog allows for people like Steve Ralls, director of communications for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, to write about Madonna instead of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” for a change.

“SLDN isn’t going to be able to put out a press release about Madonna,” Browning said.

Sometimes prominent bloggers will give the Bilerico Project priority over print media. For example, writer Rev. Irene Monroe will sometimes give her pieces to Bilerico up to three days before the Advocate gets them.

Rebecca Juro is one of the more visible transgender contributors to the site.

“There’s actually a place for trans political writers to take a bigger stage than we’ve really been offered up until this point,” she said of Bilerico. She is now an associate editor.

Juro touts the diverse staff as Bilerico’s main selling point.

“You can read stuff like me, the radical activist … then we have authors, political people, Barney Frank, even, who come and post to us. People appreciate the diversity that they get from us,” she said.

Juro is based in New Jersey, Browning blogs from Indianapolis, and writer Michael Crawford, who also runs Bloggernista, lives in D.C. Many Bilerico bloggers have never met each other in person but communicate on a daily basis.

Crawford started Bloggernista about 13 months ago. E-mailing a posting he wrote in July led him to Browning, who made him a contributor and then an associate editor.

Crawford still keeps Bloggernista running because some of his thoughts don’t get a lot of traffic on Bilerico. He points to a post he wrote about the gayest sport ever as a recent example.

“Bilerico’s more of an LGBT Huffington Post,” he said.

Though he’s not getting paid, Crawford spends a few hours a day on the Bilerico Project. For 2008, he’s hoping to write more about pop culture, increase the blog’s coverage of HIV/AIDS issues and appeal to younger gays.

Juro likes the do-it-yourself aspect of blogs.

“When I was young, I was a punk rocker — black leather and studs — before I transitioned,” she said. “Zines — those things were treasures. These blogs have an underground flavor, like that.”