A Message to Our Community...

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. 

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.

We are proud to be the registry for .gay!

Photo: Mercedes Mehling, Portland Pride

We are super excited to announce that we recently won the auction for the .gay TLD. This brings our portfolio to 4 TLDs.

We already know that our newest member of the family is a special one: .gay is an unprecedented opportunity to create a dedicated space on the Internet for a global population. LGBTQ+ history is a story of resilience, beauty, and community in the face of marginalization and persecution. Imagine for a moment how unique and historic this development is: can you imagine a .gay being introduced during the .com boom of the 90s, during the era of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”? It’s easy to forget, especially in liberal America, exactly how far we’ve come. There are so many personal and social victories to celebrate and so many to still fight for.

Our work and company is about to change and grow in wonderful ways. We’re excited that .gay will allow us to support the visibility of gay and LGBTQ+ people, groups, and businesses around the world.

We will be updating our site as soon as we have details on launch. Right now, we’re hiring, we’re listening, and we’re building. Please get in touch to offer any help.