A Global Internet Identity for Gay People

by Michael Jones · 2009-08-24 06:22:00 UTC
Topics:

Global LGBT

When it comes to Web sites and domain names, you've no doubt heard of .gov, .net, .edu, .com, and of course, .org.  But what about .gay?   Maybe someday, if a coalition of international LGBT groups have their say.  Efforts are underway to push the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN, for acronym lovers) to create .gay.

Organizers with dotGay, the campaign to create the domain, are seeking statements from organizations on why such a domain would be wunderbar for the world.  A few reasons they cite as to why .gay would be an excellent Web site suffix?

First, it would be a way for businesses and organizations to target what they say is more than 15 million gay people in the U.S., and millions upon millions more around the globe.  Second, it would be a way for global queers to know if a Web site is an ally or supportive of LGBT causes.  Third, it will help LGBT folks find highly targeted information in an easy to navigate manner.

Sounds like it could have great potential, although .lgbt might resonate a bit more with folks.  If efforts to create .gay come through, the domain would be created at the end of 2010.

dotGay is working it in the lead up to that date, urging organizations and businesses to come forward with support.  Already they've got buy-in from South Africa's Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in the U.S., and the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association.  And that's in addition to a bunch of Internet registrants and organizations that have signed on to the effort.

Does this mean that next year, you might be looking at gayrights.change.gay?  We'll see...

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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