About dotgay

dotgay is the originator of a landmark proposal to create a .gay domain space on the Internet. dotgay LLC is California corporation formed to advance this proposal and garner worldwide support for developing .gay as a strategic community resource. The CEO and 90% owner of dotgay LLC is Scott Seitz, founder of SPI Marketing, a leading LGBT agency with over 14 years of service on behalf of corporate and nonprofit clients.

If approved, .gay would exist as a so-called “Top-Level Domain” (TLD), the most well-known example of which is .com, and individuals, businesses and organizations would be able to register domain names ending in .gay. In addition to .gay, the governing body of Internet domain space, ICANN, is considering TLD proposals for .eco, .berlin, .sports, .shop and more. TLD applicants must demonstrate to ICANN broadly based support from the targeted community. Once ICANN determines there is a viable “market” for a new TLD, it evaluates applicants seeking to operate the TLD. To prevail in the selection process, an applicant must establish its bona fides and present a credible plan for developing and marketing the newly created domain space.

A hub of visibility and activity

Expanding the Internet domain name space is a way to promote greater innovation and choice, and .gay can serve as a common platform for enhancing the resources, visibility and solidarity of the LGBT community. Our position is that .gay cannot be operated as just a “marketing platform” or a piece of real estate to be subdivided based solely on economic imperatives. Run for the mutual benefit of LGBT constituents—the service and non-profit community, business community, advertisers and media, plus a diverse range of individuals and emerging community groups—.gay can become empowering space that recognizes and celebrates diversity, while also serving as a rallying point for an entire community. By working together, we become stronger.

Our business model calls for non-profit LGBT client organizations to receive 67% of the profit generated from the sale of .gay domain names. The funds would be channeled through a tax-exempt foundation operated separately from dotgay LLC. Evaluating the worthiness of various causes and making decisions about how to distribute funding would be in the hands of an independent board of directors, comprised of a diverse spectrum of recognized leaders from the global LGBT community.

Community domains

dotgay LLC would continue to exist as a standalone entity, focused solely on commercial and community development of .gay. This will facilitate transparency and accountability in the auditing of its financial statements. As a vehicle for social entrepreneurship, dotgay’s purpose is not only to operate the .gay domain space as a successful business but also torealize tangible financial and strategic benefits for the community that will inhabit the space.This means recognizing from the outset that some “.gay” domains are, in effect, community property and should be administered accordingly. These are community domains based on important generic keywords, such as lesbian.gay, pride.gay, hotel.gay, health.gay, marriage.gay and pride.gay. dotgay LLC would retain ownership of these domains for the purpose developing community-resource portals—essentially, “root” or “index” directories for other relevant .gay domains. Learn about dotgay LLC’s community domain strategy and why it’s vital to establishing .gay as a vibrant hub, while also leveling the playing field among those offering gay-friendly products, services, destinations and venues.

Committed to a community mandate in developing the .gay domain space, dotgay regards its mission as the equivalent of planting a communal flag on the Internet. Like the rainbow flag, .gay is a banner that can bring together the growing diversity of our community. With specialized inclusive subdomains like lesbian.gay, trans.gay, bi.gay, peopleofcolor.gay and intersex.gay, .gay will gather each of our groups in a way that solidifies our footstep and demonstrates our presence as one larger global community. In a sense, we are one community because we have a mutual interest in rights and protections that others take for granted. As a community whose presence can be aggregated and quantified, we will all be in a better position to be understood and to create real change.

As the success of .gay will depend on garnering broad support from the many diverse constituencies that comprise the worldwide LGBT community, we seek endorsement and invite comments from all interested parties. We look forward to being held accountable for “giving back” to the community, by administering .gay in a way that ensures innovation, fairness and long-term success.

The dotgay Mission

Committed to a community mandate in developing the .gay domain space, dotgay LLC views its mission as the equivalent of planting a communal flag on the Internet. Like the rainbow flag, .gay is a banner that can bring together the growing diversity of our own gay community. The .gay domain space will be our umbrella to gather under, with specialized inclusive subdomains like lesbian.gay, transgender.gay, bixsexual.gay, peopleofcolor.gay and intersex.gay.

In symbolic terms, .gay will gather each of our groups in a way that solidifies our footstep and demonstrates our presence as one larger global community. As a community whose presence can be quantified and aggregated, we will all be in a better position to be understood and to create real change.

dotgay’s objective is not only to operate the .gay domain space as a successful business with high ethical standards, but also to realize tangible financial and strategic benefits for the community that will inhabit the space. This means recognizing from the outset that .gay is, in effect, community property and as such, cannot be operated as just a “marketing platform” or a piece of real estate to be subdivided based solely on economic imperatives.

dotgay’s proposal for .gay is based on:

• 1) channeling 67% of the profits from the sale of .gay domain names to non-profit LGBT client organizations, and
• 2) safeguarding key community domains based on important generic keywords—e.g., hotels.gay, health.gay, marriage.gay and pride.gay—as a communal resources to be operated for the mutual benefit of LGBT constituents: the service and non-profit community, business community, advertisers and media, plus a diverse range of individuals and emerging community groups

As an exemplary beacon of social entrepreneurship, .gay can become an empowering space that recognizes and celebrates diversity, while also serving as a rallying point for an entire community. By working together, we become stronger.

Why .gay?

Why “gay” and not an acronym such as LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer)?

The simple answer is that we need a word that encompasses the entire community, and “gay” makes the most sense. Like it or not, the word has become an umbrella term, a universally adopted colloquialism signifying a community as a whole. “Gay pride,” “gay marriage”, “gay rights,” “gay media,” “openly gay”: all of these terms speak to the fact that “gay” is a commonly accepted word infused with meaning and power. Similarly, the ubiquity of “gay” as an Internet search term affirms that it’s a word people use and understand.

Put another way, it’s a banner—the semantic equivalent of the rainbow flag. Designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, to give expression to the emerging activist spirit of San Francisco’s gay community, the flag has evolved into the universal LGBTIQ symbol—emblematic of the community’s diverse population, of the hope and freedom that opened closet doors and led to greater acceptance of our people everywhere.

The community rallied around the flag, which now stands as the ultimate iconic expression of Pride. .gay is the equivalent of planting a communal flag on the Internet. By laying claim to an empowering space that recognizes and celebrates the diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity, .gay will serve as a rallying point for an entire community. A community in the sense that our people share a common interest in achieving a more equitable society where rights and privileges are not bestowed based on sexual orientation.

We recognize the fact that the community is continuing to evolve and define its identity. This is made clear by the advocacy in some quarters for adopting the six-letter acronym LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer) to replace LGBT. An all-inclusive expression of diversity, LGBTIQ also signifies the politics of defining identity.

We’ve adopted .gay because as a practical matter, the world “gay” signifies the community as a whole, and because it can best accommodate all the different identities that comprise the community. The .gay domain name space will include specialized areas based on subdomains such as transgender.gay, bisexual.gay and intersex.gay. In symbolic terms, .gay will signify that these affinity groups are part of a larger community, and that their presence makes the community stronger.

Finally, adopting “gay” for top-level domain status is more attractive from a marketing standpoint than using a four- or six letter acronym. Indeed, companies that want to contribute to the LGBTIQ economy will intuitively favor .gay, because the acronym alternative is semantically cumbersome and, for lack of a better term, politicized.

Think about it. If you’re a marketing manager for the travel portal Travelocity, which would you prefer —Travelocity.gay or Travelocity.lgbtiq?

The Concept of .gay Community Domains

Key to dotgay ‘s proposal is recognizing from the outset that some .gay domains are, in effect, community property and should be administered accordingly. The idea is to safeguard .gay domain names based on important generic keywords and develop them as conduits for accessing relevant organizations and businesses worldwide.

Examples of “community domains” would include:

Community.gay
Travel.gay
Legal.gay
Sports.gay
HIV.gay
Bar.gay
Hotel.gay
Lesbian.gay
Trans.gay
Bi.gay
Rights.gay
Restaurant.gay

dotgay LLC would retain ownership of these domains for the purpose of developing community-resource portals—essentially, “root” or “index” directories for other relevant .gay domains. This is critical to establishing .gay as a vibrant hub and keeping important property out of the hands of opportunistic squatters and speculators. Such domain name “investors” have gobbled up as much as 60% of the choice .info real estate. A healthy Top-Level Domain (TLD) needs to foster a growing roster of active domains. Who wants to visit a town where half of the shops, restaurants, museums and recreation facilities are empty?

Our approach will enhance the popularity and usefulness of .gay domain space, while also leveling the playing field among those offering gay-friendly products, services, destinations and venues. A user could, for example, go to hotel.gay and search for accommodations in Palm Springs, generating a list of all .gay domains tagged with “hotel” and “Palm Springs.” Similarly, all HIV organizations would be accessible via one centralized hub, as would gay community centers. This method of organization will facilitate networking and help searchers to find information.

Developing the commercial potential of these community domains, specifically with regard to advertising and sponsorship, will be secondary to ensuring their usefulness and relevance to the communities they serve. The guiding principle will be to organize and present listings and information in the most intelligent, user-friendly way possible. As community-resource domains, the “pay-to-play” model—whereby sites only feature businesses that pay for placement or referrals/click-throughs—will not apply.

Contact the dotgay Team