Introducing OutInUruguay.com. Pablo and I have been working on several Web projects and this is the launch of our first big one. I’ve worked in technology for around 20 years but becoming a Web developer/publisher required learning a whole new set of skills — and I’m the first to admit that I have a lot more to learn! The cool thing is I’m enjoying the work. It allows for much more creativity than being a systems engineer.

About OutInUruguay.com. This site came about as the offspring of one of our not-yet-ready-for-prime-time projects. I was taking too much time learning new skills — content management systems, programming languages (HTML isn’t what it used to be — where the hell did CSS come from?), SEO, SEF URLs, Web hosting, etc. Since I’m the tech side of the team Pablo was getting anxious to sink his teeth into a project so he thought up OutInUruguay.com. When he pitched the idea to me I liked it. It works well with our yet-to-be-developed larger project and the subject matter is something we both know and love — Uruguay.

The original idea for OutInUruguay.com was to make a gay and lesbian community / portal for Uruguayans and immigrants/expats. It’s something that is definitely lacking here. The more we worked on it the less I liked the idea of creating a “gay”site. One of the problems the gay community faces in many countries is a self-imposed segregation. Many of my closest friends are straight and almost all of my friends here in Uruguay are straight. I don’t like segregation. Pablo agreed. OutInUruguay.com will not be a segregated community. The result is a community / portal site that stresses human rights and sexual minority rights in particular. Sexuality is only a part of what makes us all human. It’s a part that shouldn’t be forced into a closet but it’s still only a part of the whole. So if you’re straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, pan-sexual, asexual, none-of-my-business sexual, or just confused, you’re welcome at OutInUruguay.com. It doesn’t matter if you’re in or out (of the closet) you can participate in the community at whatever level you’re comfortable with. We have over 30 members already (we were beta testing in April) and, as far as I know, most of them are straight. I think the straight people I know who don’t have an issue with other people being gay are some of the coolest people I’ve ever met.

Please check out the site (OutInUruguay.com). I’m still finishing up some formatting things so if you stumble across light gray text on a white background here and there, don’t worry, I’m on top of it. Also, for some odd reason I can’t get the personal messaging system to allow you to upload a photo. Damn technology!

Hopefully by now you’re no longer reading this blog and you’re already over at OutInUruguay.com. For those of you still reading this, after you check out the site, please let us know what you like and what needs improvement. Be gentle though—we know we have a lot of work yet to do.