About (the website and Jason)
About the website
bgiok was born in 2000. It's hard to remember the exact moment I decided to create it, but I remember being very excited. Through friends and a gay young group I used to attend, I'd met a lot of people who had had problems with their sexuality. I'd encountered a few obstacles along the way myself and had been homophobically bullied from a young age. It occurred to me that there was a lack of websites for young gay, bi or unsure people that offered genuine advice and support – a website that answered the questions and offered the help that wasn’t or couldn’t come from school, friends or family.
I'm sure I don't have to tell you what generally happens when you type the 'g' word into a search engine. I had also been disappointed with some of the existing gay youth websites which seemed to focus on celebrity gossip, sex and fashion, and were usually no more than two links away from hardcore porn. Knowing what Kylie is up to is not very useful to someone who's been told they're going to hell for being gay. Often these websites - along with free magazines like Boyz that I used to read in gay pubs - proliferate the stereotype of young gay people all being promiscuous clubbers with attitude. I didn’t just want to help people see that it was okay to be gay, but also that it was okay to be themselves.
bgiok questions and answers
What is bgiok all about? What does it do?
'Being gay is okay' offers Information and advice for gay, lesbian, bisexual and unsure under twenty-fives. bgiok is here to help people understand and feel better about their sexuality. I attempt this via the main sections that I have written (the first set of links in the left-hand navigation bar) that deal with topics that most often affect young gay people, and through the problem page where I answer visitors emails. I also offer links to other websites that might interest or help. The forum enables bgiok visitors to talk to each other easily and share experiences.
How old is bgiok?
I've been running it since 2000 (with breaks for university and other reasons). Since its launch bgiok has gone through changes and remakes as I've learned more about website and graphic design and about what visitors want from the site. It was most recently rebuilt and rewritten from scratch in March 2009.
How many people work on bgiok?
One.
How often does the website get updated?
Weekly or fortnightly, depending on other committments, with smaller updates, changes and fixes being made in between.
Does bgiok make any money?
No. bgiok is a non-profit making website. I use donations and my own money to pay running costs. There are no advertisements anywhere on the website. The financial running of bgiok may change in the future but you will never have to pay a penny to make 100% use of the website. If you'd like to make a donation to help with bgiok running costs, please use the PayPal donate button in the left side-bar. Thank you.
Do you provide information by post?
No. All the material I have created is available to see on the website. I don't have the funds to provide materials by post.
Why use cartoon graphics? Shouldn't you take people's problems seriously?
Firstly, bgiok isn't all about problems and it doesn't assume all visitors are having a tough time. I take people's problems very seriously, but that's no reason to have a flat, formal or generic website. bgiok was created to have a positive and approachable tone. And a little humour makes people feel better.
Is bgiok strictly for people under 25 years old? Will you help people who are older?bgiok is aimed at people under 25 because these younger years are often the most critical time in a gay person's life, with the most unanswered questions, new challenges and often a lack of support or the ability to seek it. But people older than 25 are not banned! I have, and still do, reply to problem page letters from people over 25, though these letters are less likely to appear on the website itself.
About Jason
My name is Jason and this is my website. I'm 34 years old, single, and I work as a graphic designer for a local company. I love graphic design and graduated in 2007 after a four-year degree course: MDes Graphic Communucation. I was 28 when I went to uni, and before then I'd been a chef, worked in IT support and been an admin assistant.
My interest in website design started when I was 22, and my first - very crude - website, Jason's Poetry Corner (don't laugh) went live soon after. bgiok went live a few years later and became busy enough that it made sense to focus exclusively on it and close Poetry Corner.
After several years of neglecting the website because of uni and other reasons, I started making plans for a complete relaunch of bgiok. Toward the end of 2008, after a year that saw me graduate and settle into a new job, I got my act together and started work proper on a new version of the website.
I was a bit out of touch with current web design standards by that point, and had to ditch old fallbacks and learn new skills to do the job properly. The results are what you see here. I hope you like it.
As far as plans for the future go, I intend to invest time and energy into developing and promoting bgiok. In life beyond bgiok, I intend to carry on enjoying being creative, enjoying my job, learning new skills and seeing what life brings.
Things I like: Chocolate, video games, my PC
Things I don't: Olives, not getting anything in the post, shallow people