The .gay domain name has finally entered general availability.
The .gay top level domain name entered general availability today, meaning anyone can register the domains.
It took a long time for .gay to come to fruition. There was a contentious and drawn-out process to allocate the top level domain name, and then the pandemic pushed back the release by a few months.
But it’s finally here.
A quick survey of domain name registrars shows that non-premium domains are available for around $25-$35. PorkBun appears to be the cheapest at $26.76. (While PorkBun is owned by the same people that own the .gay registry, the low pricing is due to PorkBun’s policy of making only about a dollar on each domain it sells.)
While anyone can now register .gay domains, those that want to use it for hate speech, bullying, or harassing LGBTQ persons, etc., need not apply. Domains used for these purposes will be suspended.
You can learn more about the .gay top level domain by listening to Domain Name Wire Podcast #299.
L says
Whilst I would never condone or encourage bullying anybody no matter who the target is, harassment is illegal as it should be, but “hate speech” is such a broad term and so subjective that it could make the extension a target for rage mobs that will want to target people’s domains for all sorts of reasons.
It wouldn’t surprise me if people didn’t want build on it based on that alone. The meaning of words are constantly being changed and warped that anyone could fall foul of it unintentionally even those who think that they are somehow protected by it.
If these rules are built in by default then whilst well intentioned it could be bad news IMHO.
Andrew Allemann says
They have a process, and I know their goal won’t be to take down legitimate sites. I imagine they’ll be very careful about what they take down.
L says
You’d hope so, but what is the definition of “hate speech”…? it changes every day.
Andres Marinho says
.Gay is an intolerant and prejudiced gTLD, which aims to end prejudice and intolerance.
An example:
In a BBC Brazil report, a gay man who is considered ugly or outside the standards of the Gay / LGBT community, becomes a victim of prejudice, homophobia and intolerance by other LGBT people.
In the BBC report, this gay man said he was insulted by other gays inside a gay bar, for being ugly.
The .GAY domain registration policy is completely ridiculous.
– Even if a person is gay, that person cannot use a .gay domain to criticize the LGBTQ community.
– .gay created a kind of Gay Vatican, where all LGBTQ people are required to make donations to 2 American organizations.
– What to do, when a gay person does not consider himself part of an LGBTQ community, or does not want to be part of a community or does not want to donate, he cannot have a .GAY domain?
.GAY has a governance structure similar to the governments of North Korea and Saudi Arabia, which pretend to be “good”, but people have no freedom of expression and must follow a single monarchical pattern.
I am GAY and I am not part of the LGBTQ community, but I feel censored by Top Level Design, which does not allow me to criticize the LGBTQ community.
And they still force me to make a donation to two organizations that I don’t want to pay.