Activists advocate for .gay gTLD

With ICANN slated to begin allowing the creation of new gTLDs next year, everyone wants to get in on the action. Many proposals for new extensions like New York’s .nyc are mainly functional in purpose, but others, such as .eco, are designed to promote a cause.

Such is the case with a group of LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender) organizations who want to create a .gay gTLD. According to the organizing spearheading the initiative, DOTgay, the domain “will help to connect the gay end user and those who try to reach out to him.”

Considering there are 15 million gays in the United States alone, a market for the extension definitely exists. I see no reason why ICANN wouldn’t approve .gay, but the California non-profit will likely take some heat from conservative groups for doing so.

One consequence of the gTLD system is ICANN will now not only have to deal with complaints from domainers and registrars, but also political groups when it reviews applications for new extensions. This could bring unwanted attention to an organization that for all of its existence has stayed out of sight from the public eye.

Source | Pink News

Photo | Flickr