Announcing Our Partnership With PrideLife!

The official process of introducing .gay to the Internet began in 2012, when four companies applied to the domain oversight body, ICANN, for the rights to run the new top level domain extension.  The applicants were Minds + Machines Group Limited (LSE:MMX), Rightside (NASDAQ:Name) now owned by Donuts, DotGay, LLC and Top Level Design, LLC. Ultimately, of the 4 applicants, Top Level Design won the right to operate the .gay registry and now, in 2020, .gay is finally coming to market! It is currently available for trademark holders, and will be generally available to the public later this year.

The .gay registry is focused on the historic potential of .gay and its importance to LGBTQ communities across the globe. 20% of new registration revenue is donated to LGBTQ beneficiaries; the inaugural beneficiaries are GLAAD and CenterLink. Additionally, there are unique “.gay Rights Protections” policies in place to ensure that Top Level Design can respond and take down verified reports of harrassment or hate on .gay sites, so .gay can truly be a place for LGBTQ communties to celebrate and connect. This platform is a digital pride flag that stands as a safer digital space for LGBTQ people and makes a meaningful community impact. 

Also a proponent of a community-centric .gay domain was another one of the four applicants, DotGay LLC, an affiliate to SPI Marketing, which has a noted 24+ year history of supporting LGBTQ organizations and helping brands connect with LGBTQ consumers. That company previously operated DotGay.com since 2009, as a focal point for their global outreach, coalition and support, detailing their vision and journey through the ICANN community application process. The team at SPI Marketing has now moved their energy to PrideLife, which is specifically focused on helping grow diverse communities on the Internet, including on domain extensions like .gay. 

We’re super excited to share that the teams at SPI Marketing and PrideLife are now helping broaden our reach as our partners in the launch of .gay!

Top Level Design LLC humbly thanks the SPI Marketing team for their vision of .gay and looks forward to working together via PrideLife. We’re thrilled to be joining forces. We will be merging our social channels and look forward to a collaborative launch of the domain together, many years in the making. 

The only .gay -- a strong and community-centric one -- is finally here!

The .gay Launch Explained

.gay is currently available, while also not yet available to the whole world. Confusing, right? We know, but this is standard procedure for any new domain extension. Right now, .gay is in its “Sunrise II” phase.

What is sunrise?

The .gay Sunrise II phase, which is now open, is a special registration window open to any verifiable trademark holder. If you have a registered trademark anywhere in the world via a reputable body (e.g., WIPO, USPTO, UKIPO, OHIM -EUIPO), you can apply for a sunrise registration in .gay. If you are a trademark holder and you wish to register your domain, you’ll find more information on our .gay Sunrise page.

Photo by Rui Magalhães on Unsplash

What’s next?

Due to the global pandemic, we made the decision to postpone the General Availability launch of .gay. The current Sunrise II phase closes on September 4.

RIGHT NOW, we are helping community groups, organizations, small businesses, and individuals that want to create digital Pride and connection during the global pandemic. Many organizations have had to shut their doors, many community locales are closed, and Pride events are being cancelled. We have a limited number of .gay names that we can activate early and we cannot imagine a better use for them. Our team will work with you to secure a .gay name and will waive all associated fees and help to get you online free of charge. If you would like to activate a .gay site to foster digital Pride, please submit a request via our online form.

September 8 – 15 “Early Access Period,” where anyone can pay an extra fee to register a .gay domain. The extra fee lessens each day over the course of this one week. Ever heard of a Dutch auction? No?! Well, this is an example of one. The fees start rather high and get more affordable fast. The high fees reflect the fact that there are some very valuable .gay names coming out (I’m looking at you, travel.gay!). 

September 16 “General Availability,” aka LAUNCH DAY, is the day anyone, anywhere can register a .gay domain on a first-come, first-served basis. Prices for standard names will begin under $30; variability you see in retail is due to registrar markup or a possible premium name (still looking at you, travel.gay). Continue to check back with us, follow our socials, or consider a pre-order at registrars offering such services.

Waiting for Launch day? Join us at OHhey.gay!

Feel good about your support of a historic internet launch: 20% of .gay registration revenue (not just profit!) is donated to GLAAD and CenterLink.

Rejecting the Status Quo

Creating a Safer Internet with .Gay

The internet has long been a place where LGBTQ people go to build relationships, express ourselves, and promote visibility of our lived experiences — and yet, for all the internet’s openness and accessibility, it also holds prejudice, hate and discrimination. 

I’m no stranger to this experience, as an out gay man who signed his first record deal at the age of 17 and hosted a TV show on the first-ever gay cable channel -- the Logo network -- during a time (pre-RuPaul’s Drag Race) when very little LGBTQ content existed in the mainstream. The reality is, I was publicly gay long before it was accepted or respected. 1998 was a very different world, when my first record came out. We all watched what Ellen Degeneres had to go through and rise above, just to be herself. While I’ve been very lucky to have received all kinds of opportunities over the course of my career, I have also constantly found myself at the forefront of bigotry -- often having to navigate trolling, online harassment, and bullying with very little recourse for me personally, or for my very gay brand. 

I’ve spent decades fighting the tech industry to change policies that are inherently designed to sustain and profit from systemic abuse online, all in an effort to help keep LGBTQ people like myself safer. I’m proud to have some victories under my belt, but unfortunately we have a long way to go, and the work is far from over. Over the past couple of years, as online abuse directed at me reached an all-time high, I realized I was in a unique position to use my platform and story to help usher in change. It’s this fight that has led to me partnering with Top Level Design on the launch of .gay. 

This year .gay is embarking on an unprecedented journey, in commemoration of the first Pride parade. As a domain, .gay will operate not unlike .com, .net, .edu, etc., but we also have the historic opportunity to create a completely new namespace for people in LGBTQ communities to celebrate and connect online. Our launch begins with what’s called the “Sunrise” period on February 10th and culminates with general availability later this year, with the same spirit as the original disruptive and passionate voices who marched 50 years ago. .gay is open to all - it’s a virtual Pride flag that honors decades of history and progress, while inspiring an inclusive, welcoming future for everyone.

“At .gay, we are committed to doing things differently.”

At .gay, we are committed to doing things differently. Our anti-abuse and harassment policies found within our “.gay Rights Protections” go well beyond industry norms to establish this domain as a gay-friendly internet space. This policy exists to ban harassment, hate-speech and anti-LGBTQ content, as well as provide specific, timely remedies for domains that intentionally use .gay to malign or harm LGBTQ individuals or groups. While this may put us out on a limb, it’s a duty that we do not take lightly, and we will continue to engage with other LGBTQ stakeholders to responsively enact this policy in order to create a safer internet for our communities. 

We know that we will not be able to single-handedly turn the internet into a hate-free zone, but .gay is committed to doing our part, and we absolutely reject the status quo — which is to do nothing without a court order. While we are optimistic that our revenue donations, proud branding and sheer existence of .gay will keep hate away, we are prepared for when the haters arrive. 

As someone who has spent most of his life advocating for LGBTQ communities around bigotry, violence, and mental health disparities, I am truly moved by this historic, industry-leading commitment that .gay is making. One of the most exciting parts of this endeavor is the support we’ll be providing to the community by way of the platform. For every name registered, .gay will donate 20% of wholesale revenue to support the work of nonprofits helping to address key issues facing the LGBTQ population. 

In our first year, we’re proud to share this donation with GLAAD and CenterLink, two organizations that offer vital tools and life-saving services. We chose CenterLink, an umbrella organization for over 250 LGBTQ centers across the US and around the world, because of their efforts to provide safe physical spaces that liberate, dignify and empower LGBTQ lives, loves, and families. This aligns with our mission to create safe online spaces and increased visibility for LGBTQ people. We are equally honored to be partnering with GLAAD, whose preeminent legacy and continued work are rooted in fighting against misrepresentation and hate in the media. The GLAAD Media Guide is core to our marketing and policies, ensuring that all .gay registrars will represent LGBTQ people positively and accurately.

Imagine for a moment how .gay would have been received during the .com boom of the ‘90s — an era of headline violence and no established gay rights? It would have been a total nonstarter, given the social change that we were still fighting for. It’s easy to forget exactly how far we’ve come, but our time is now. .gay is a movement and I’m excited to build it, hand-in-hand with each of you. 

.gay is a space for businesses, organizations and individuals to converge and stand together for something bigger than just themselves. With each domain registered we have the unique opportunity to use our platform to celebrate and grow the vibrancy of the gay internet. 

I hope that you’ll join us, and be among the first to take this bold step for the tech industry.