SAN FRANCISCO – PlanetOut today named Hillary Clinton “PlanetOut Person of the Year” based on a survey of the site’s visitors. PlanetOut is a leading Internet media company serving the gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community.
“PlanetOut Person of the Year” is awarded to the top vote-getter in the site’s “PlanetOut In List” poll which asks the site’s more than 1.7 million visitors to vote for the most
important, inspiring, groundbreaking, and newsworthy gay, straight, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender individuals, and GLBT-friendly organizations of the
past year.
Rodham Clinton captured the hearts of many gay and lesbian people this
year when she marched in New York’s GLBT Pride parade, endorsed gay rights
across the board, and granted an exclusive interview to New York’s LGNY where
she discussed her views on gay issues and voiced her support of the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act.
“Hillary Rodham Clinton has been an outspoken supporter of equal rights
for gay and lesbian Americans,” says Senior Entertainment Producer
Jenni Olson. “Our visitors voted for her as PlanetOut Person of the Year
because they recognize her courage to do the right thing despite real
political risks.”
The following individuals and organizations join Rodham Clinton as the top
25 vote recipients on the “PlanetOut In List 2000”: actor/comedian
Ellen DeGeneres, former assistant scoutmaster and Supreme Court Case plaintiff
James Dale, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, the state of
Vermont, the “Big Three” Automakers, Vermont Governor Howard Dean, mom and
PlanetOut advice columnist Betty DeGeneres, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin
Tammy Baldwin, singer Melissa Etheridge, pop diva Cher, The Netherlands,
comedian Margaret Cho, Will & Grace lead actor Eric McCormack, singer
k.d. lang, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, pop icon Madonna,
“Queer as Folk” producer Showtime, Matthew Shepard’s parents Judy and
Dennis Shepard, actress Hilary Swank, actor Rupert Everett, the Human Rights
Campaign, singer Elton John, and second lady Tipper Gore.
Reaching more than 1.7 million unique visitors per month (Media Metrix Digital Media Report) and more than 925,000 registered users, PlanetOut has key distribution partnerships with
America Online, Netscape, ICQ, Yahoo!, NBCi, RealNetworks, CompuServe, MSN and
other major Web companies. The company is based in San Francisco, and its
major investors include Silicon Valley’s Mayfield Fund, AOL Investments,
UK-based Eden Capital, BMG Entertainment, Creative Artists Agency and
prominent angel investors.
