Queerly Wed is a new wedding directory geared to the LGBTQ community. Launched in August, 2009, Queerly Wed provides queer-friendly businesses and resources to same-sex couples who are planning their wedding.

As more areas within the United States legalize same-sex marriages (it is legal in currently five states), same-sex couples are in need of a resource to help them find quality and respectful services for their wedding. Regardless of legality, many couples plan the event just the same and they need the same services as any other couple planning their wedding. Queerly Wed actively searches for those businesses to be included in their directory.

“In planning my own wedding, my partner, Stacy, and I saw a need for a service like ours. We want to ensure that couples are treated respectfully and receive the best service they deserve for their big day”, said Melissa Johns, Co-Founder and Director of Advertising and Sales.

In addition to the vendor directory, Queerly Wed also features couples who have already walked down the aisle in a weekly interview, Planning Tips, Relationship Advice, Legal Information and more.

“We have a great team of experts to help same-sex couples find queer-friendly information when planning their big day!” said Stacy Jill Jacobs, Co-Founder and Director of Marketing and Content.

Queerly Wed currently lists queer-friendly wedding vendors throughout the United States, and Canada. The owners plan to include international listings by 2011.

Click here to check out the great folks at Queerly Wed and vendors>>

Searching for new female artists? Tired of corporate radio stations playing the same few artists? Look no further than Rubyfruit Radio a music podcast devoted to playing only the best in female indie artists.

Heather Smith is a 30 something lesbian living in Atlanta, created Rubyfruit Radio with the mission to showcase female indie artists who are not getting the recognition they deserve on corporate radio.

Heather has a background in radio as a dj and a producer and used the podcast to get back into music broadcasting. The first episode of Rubyfruit Radio was in November of 2005 and has aired over 175 shows since.

“I have a great love of music and in particular female artists. Female artists don’t typically get as much exposure as their male counterparts even among podcasts and internet radio,” said RubyFruit Radio Founder Heather Smith. “When I decided to do a podcast, I chose to feature only female artists and female fronted bands because there was not another show doing that at the time. Many of the artists I play say that the show has helped them increase their fan base and sell more of their music. The bottom line is that there are a lot of great artists out there and they deserve to be heard.”

Rubyfruit Radio is a wonderful resource to learn about artists from all around the world and a great way to support indie artists. Check it out now, visit: www.rubyfruitradio.com

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Artists to reach out to get your song put onto an episode, email: rubyfruitradio@gmail.com

We are delighted to present the second of several installments featuring the “Brides & Prejudice” series by Kirsten Ott Palladino from The Sunday Paper.

Kirsten is the Life & Food Editor for The Sunday Paper, a popular weekly newspaper. In her “Brides & Prejudice” series she openly shares the happiness and heartbreak that she and her then-fiancée (now wife) experienced in planning a same-sex wedding in Georgia. While reporting from the frontlines, Kirsten also shares advice on wedding-planning topics from wording invitations to floral arrangements. She and her wife recently wed in an intimate ceremony at the Mary Gay House in Decatur.

Choosing a venue, a day and a photographer
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Planning a gay wedding is no easy feat. Maria and I will tie the knot in June, and we’ve had plenty of hurdles to leap—many of which were outlined in my cover story in the March 15 issue of The Sunday Paper. The first challenge we had to contend with was the where. Deciding the venue is of the utmost importance. It usually determines the when, as well as the theme, if any. We knew we wanted a spring or summer wedding, and we wanted to get married in Atlanta. Because we’re a same-sex couple, choosing some remote setting wasn’t plausible. Our top priority in planning our wedding has always been to find people who will treat us with the decency and respect that we deserve, and that usually means working with vendors inside the Perimeter. Of course, some gay-friendly wedding spots do exist beyond the walls of Atlanta proper.

For example, Serenbe in Palmetto, Ga., offers an extraordinary setting for vow exchanges out in a beautiful meadow overlooking a serene lake. However, Maria and I definitely wanted an in-town affair with close access to a bevy of posh hotels for our guests and very accessible for all of our vendors.

We also wanted metropolitan-minded folks who wouldn’t snub our guests. Since we’re both fans of the arts, we looked at the High Museum of Art as a venue. But we didn’t want to be on display for museum-goers. (You know how people stare at something they don’t see every day.) I’m a bit of a vintage girl, with an appreciation for antiques and history, so we chose an antebellum home just outside of Atlanta, but still within the Perimeter. It’s a smaller venue, perfect for our 75 guests. The home is already decked out in Federal Period furnishings, which sets the theme of romance. And the perfectly proportioned brick patio is ideal for a late spring wedding.

Since the venue is of prime importance for so many other key decisions-you can’t confirm other vendors until this one is settled-we did this first. Our venue had so many open dates when we booked that we had the struggle of having too many Saturdays to choose from. We whittled down the days by conferring with family members. Maria has a niece graduating from high school on June 6, so that was out. Mother’s Day weekend wasn’t ideal, nor was Memorial Day weekend, as so many people travel during that time. April made us choke-much too soon! Early May is my father and stepmother’s wedding anniversary. The end of June is much too hot for me, and I get really cranky in the heat. My late father settled the matter when he picked June 13. I asked him if he didn’t think that was an unlucky date. “Not at all,” he replied. “It’s never unlucky when two people in love get married.”

Yes, lucky in love is how I see Maria and myself. We’ve had the normal challenges any couple faces-gay or straight-but all in all, we’ve gotten through the first five years unscathed. We had a terrific get-to-know-each-other stage-Atlanta really is the perfect place for that, with all its fantastic restaurants. We’ve successfully bought and sold houses together in this rotten housing market. Maria gave me a whirlwind romantic proposal in Central Park. She was-and still is-my rock while I grieve my father. No matter how cheesy it sounds, I proudly admit that she’s my soul mate, through and through.

Hence, it was very important that we hire a photographer who could capture this on film. Gone are the days of still shots of the entire wedding party looking directly at the camera, saying, “Cheese!” Now, wedding photography is part photojournalism and very artistic. Upshots of the happy couple on a balcony, a close-up of the shiny wedding rings, the gown hanging on a door, the mother of the bride misty-eyed as she places her knowing hand on her daughter’s shoulder, a quickly snapped shot of the attendants clapping with glee. This art form certainly isn’t cheap, but it’s well worth it. So parents and grandparents sometimes suffer sticker shock, thinking the photography should be less costly. But it can sometimes be just as much as catering. It all depends on what your priorities are when planning your wedding day. For us, photography and catering were most important.

We got quotes from tons of photographers. In every e-mail I sent out, I started it with, “My girlfriend and I are getting married.” If they didn’t respond, I knew immediately they wouldn’t be ideal for shooting our wedding. Others wrote back but were hesitant in their wording or something just wasn’t jibing. In my business, I’m familiar with so many photographers, and so I already knew of Our Labor of Love photography. But I didn’t think we could afford them at first. A husband-and-wife team, Jesse and Whitney Chamberlin moved to Atlanta from California about six years ago. They’re hip, fresh and really cool. Their photography is almost ethereal, as they’re quite the masters of light. Maria and I explored their Web site and were hooked. Once we saw that they’d recently photographed other lesbian weddings, we knew they would be kind to us. It only took one meeting to confirm this, so we booked them right away. Our engagement photo session took place one chilly afternoon in November all over Decatur, with an industrial background setting the stage for a modern-day romance. The Chamberlins were so good about putting us at ease, too.

One of the many challenges of being a gay couple is that Maria and I are always hypersensitive to being snubbed in public when we’re even remotely affectionate. So to have a straight couple encouraging us to hold each other and open up in front of them was liberating. And once we got our photos back, we knew they were going to knock it out of the park on our wedding day. SP

Read the third installment of “Brides and Prejudice” in the next LegalOut newsletter.

More about Kirsten Ott Palladino Covering a diverse array of topics ranging from travel, weddings, the GLBT community, art, fashion and beauty to food, wine, design and luxury living, Kirsten contributes to a myriad of publications, including Art & Antiques, The Atlantan Brides, ARTnews, Atlanta, Executive Traveler, Southern Voice, Steinway & Sons, Rolls-Royce Owners Club Desk Diary and The Sunday Paper. Kirsten believes that community is all about continuity. In addition to her benevolent service history at homeless shelters, soup kitchens and other outreach programs, Kirsten is committed to providing up-and-coming journalists and media specialists with an honest and trusted mentor. She is a frequent guest lecturer at her alma mater, Kennesaw State University. For more on Kirsten Ott Palladino, visit www.kirstenott.com

As part of our mission to support the GLBT community, LegalOut is proud to  donate a percentage of our profits to the Point Foundation (Point).

Recently Point announced its 2009 Scholar Class. Point Foundation (Point), the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students of merit, announces its 2009 Scholar Class, bringing the total number of individuals supported by the seven and a half year old organization to over 140 individuals.

“We started almost 8 years ago supporting just 8 scholars,” said Point Co-founder Bruce Lindstrom. “I am thrilled of our progress and overwhelmed that we have had the opportunity to have helped nearly 150 students today.

Point received a record-breaking amount of applications this year: 2,463 submitted applications. Over the six month selections process, which includes an online application, submission of supplemental materials, a phone interview and an in-person interview in San Francisco, Point selected the new scholar class and is excited for the valuable contributions this year’s diverse group of 11 undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate Point Scholarship recipients will bring to its Point Scholar community.

“We were impressed by the variety of backgrounds, achievements and accomplishments among the applicant pool, which undoubtedly represents the performance and quality of LGBT students nationwide,” said Scholar Relations & Selections Program Director Vincent Garcia. “Once again, we are pleased with the diverse representation of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation and race and ethnicity among our new scholars and within our entire Point Scholar class.

Additionally, new geographic regions are represented by our new scholars in this scholar class.”

“In the last two years, we have received a number of calls from college admissions officers verifying individuals’ status as a Point Scholarship Finalist in their admissions applications.

This alone speaks to the nature of our highly competitive scholarships and the prestige associated with becoming a Point Scholar,” commented Executive Director & CEO Jorge Valencia. “We are proud of all our scholars and equally proud of those individuals who make it to the finals, representing the top 2% of our nation’s LGBT and straight ally applicants.”

Point Foundation provides financial support, leadership training, mentoring and hope to LGBT individuals who are marginalized because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression. In June 2009, a total of 68 Point Scholars will be enrolled in their respective college or university and 72 Point Alumni will have continued on to pursue their life goals.

Visit Point Foundation to learn more.