.LGBT Public Launch Begins – Community leaders tout benefits of this protected and inclusive space (www.get.LGBT)Global domain registry operator Afilias announced today the first and only top-level domain (TLD) dedicated to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is now open for registration: “dot LGBT” or .LGBT. All LGBT community members and businesses, organizations and other entities serving the community may register for a .LGBT domain name immediately.

“The large and vibrant LGBT community now has an Internet address that embraces the full breadth and diversity of LGBT people around the world in a protected, inclusive manner,” said Roland LaPlante, Chief Marketing Officer of Afilias. “The new .LGBT domain provides email and site addresses that instantly convey ‘LGBT-friendly’. Innovative companies and organizations like the ones below know that .LGBT will help them stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace for goods, services and ideas for this distinctive community.”

Five .LGBT pioneers on both sides of the Atlantic already have their sites up and running —

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#Boom Media (www.boom.lgbt) is a St. Louis, U.S.-based news, advocacy and community publication serving the LGBT community. Said #Boom publisher Colin Lovett, “Not only does the nomenclature of the .LGBT domain represent the community we serve, but because we provide LGBT-specific content, this top-level domain will drive users searching for this content to our site.”

Added #Boom editor Colin Murphy: “We hope that other businesses, organizations and individuals will consider adding or migrating to a .LGBT site. The best part is that because our business is a common word with an already taken.COM site, we can now migrate to a domain name that matches exactly what our business is!”

The Original LGBT Expo (www.expo.lgbt) is a leading U.S. expo organizer connecting diversity-supportive companies, products, services and organizations to the LGBT community. Said Jay Handy, Executive Director of Life Out Loud Events: “We take pride in always being at the forefront of change in the LGBT consumer world in the last 20 years. The launch of the .LGBT domain is one of the biggest recent changes in consumer marketing: businesses and organizations who recognize the power of LGBT customers can now stand out and be easily identified by being on this domain. We are excited to own the ‘expo.lgbt’ web address which will be where we announce our 2016 dates, and show that we are once again leading the trend.”

Prominently known as Philly Gay Lawyer (www.lawyer.lgbt), Angela Giampolo is an expert on LGBT legal issues and has been featured as a national leading expert as a Fox News Analyst and on NPR, Wall Street Journal, American News Radio, and several Sirius stations. She also hosts her own radio show called SpeakOUT on Q102 and actively blogs at phillygaylawyer.com. “Philly Gay Lawyer” is the advocacy arm of Angela’s law firm, Giampolo Law Group (GLG), based in Philadelphia. GLG provides a wide range of legal services including LGBT Family Law, Employment Discrimination, Transgender Law, Business Law, and Real Estate. Said Angela Giampolo: “As an LGBT advocate, I could not be more honored to be awarded the domain name ‘lawyer.lgbt’ as it truly reflects my passion of advancing LGBT rights. I have migrated my blog phillygaylawyer.com, which is dedicated solely to LGBT civil rights, to this new .LGBT web address. This shift in branding states clearly who I am and what I stand for—full national equality and acceptance of LGBT rights.”

Out Now (www.OutNow.lgbt) is a global LGBT diversity specialist, consulting for organizations around the world on diversity marketing and research initiatives. Having launched the world’s first allocated .LGBT site, they published their LGBT2020 research report on this site highlighting the importance of diversity and inclusion policies for LGBT people at work. Ian Johnson, CEO of Out Now commented: “At Out Now we say that ‘LGBT spells people’. We know there is much more to do to make all LGBT people in every country free to enjoy lives of safety and equal respect—but the new .LGBT domain has taken a significant step forward for our communities globally to connect, learn and build more visible and successful lives for people.”

PinkNews (www.pinknews.lgbt) is a digital media company based in London and New York covering news of all genres for the LGBT community. Anastasia Kyriacou, PinkNews Partnerships Coordinator commented: “PinkNews’ approach is to cover news in an intelligent manner. With a strong reader base in the UK, US and globally, we believe it is natural step to streamline our international news onto the .LGBT web address. PinkNews was founded to report on LGBT issues and nothing reflects that clearer than having a web address that ends with the letters ‘LGBT.’ We look forward connecting with the global LGBT community on this distinctive, meaningful, and easy-to-remember web address.”

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As the first and only dedicated space for the LGBT community, the .LGBT domain also has an acceptable-use policy that protects the web extension from possible misuse.

To get your .LGBT domain name, please register with any authorized .LGBT registrar. For more information, please visit: www.get.LGBT