All of us here at .gay hope that you, your families, and your colleagues are staying safe during this very trying time. Covid-19 has hit communities hard across the globe, and we know that the LGBTQ communities, organizations, and businesses we serve have, in many ways, been hit even harder than others.
It is clear that our company must step up in additional ways during this time, and we have decided to pivot our focus away from launching the .gay domain to the general public in May, and instead find ways to show up for LGBTQ communities throughout the crisis. It is also crucial that we keep our own .gay team and partners safe and supported at this time. To that end, we have made the decision to postpone the general availability launch of .gay for now. On April 6 2020, .gay begins a “Sunrise II” phase. During this phase, .gay will be available only to verified trademark holders via participating registrars. This phase will remain ongoing until we finalize public launch dates.
While we will continue raising crucial funds to support the work of our .gay beneficiary partners, GLAAD and CenterLink, during the extended Sunrise period, we are also aware that now, more than ever, LGBTQ visibility, community connection, and health information distribution is paramount. As Pride Festivals and Parades are being canceled and community events postponed all over the world, and as LGBTQ Centers are being temporarily closed for safety, we want to offer .gay as a community resource — a digital Pride, if you will.
Any LGBTQ organization, community group, individual, or small business looking for ways to foster digital Pride and connection should reach out. 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.
We know this is a difficult time and we want to do everything we can to lift up LGBTQ communities and ensure they continue to thrive. If you are interested in using .gay to create digital Pride, please submit a request via our online form.
When the time is right, we will move forward with all of our exciting general availability launch plans alongside our .gay partner network, and we will keep you posted about that as we know more — but in the meantime, please just know that you matter to us, and we are going to get through this together.