Gay.com was a chat, personals, and social networking website catering to the
LGBT community
The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...
. The site was a digital brand of Here Media Inc. In addition to community features, the site featured LGBT-related news and features. As of September 2005, ''
San Jose Mercury News
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
'' ranked gay.com as the most popular online gay personals site in the United States. As of March 2007, Hitwise ranked it number three in domestic American popularity after
Adam4Adam
Adam4Adam is an online dating website designed for men to meet other men "for friendship, romance, or a hot hookup".
Ranking
As of September 2005, ''San Jose Mercury News'' ranked Adam4Adam as the second most popular online gay personals site ...
and
Manhunt
Manhunt may refer to:
Search processes
* Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive
* Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies
Social organisations
* Manhun ...
. Gay.com also used to compete internationally with
dudesnude
dudesnude is a popular social networking website dedicated to gay, bisexual, bicurious and men who have sex with men. The site was launched in 2002 and it has over 500,000 members.gayromeo, and
gaydar
Gaydar (a portmanteau of '' gay'' and ''radar'') is a colloquialism referring to the intuitive ability of a person to assess others' sexual orientations as homosexual, bisexual or straight. Gaydar relies on verbal and nonverbal clues and LGBT s ...
.
History
Gay.com was founded by
Mark Elderkin
Mark Elderkin (born September 27, 1963) is an American entrepreneur who co-founded Gay.com in 1994 with his husband Jeff O. Bennett. Elderkin served as President of PlanetOut Inc. when the company went public in 2004. He retired from the compan ...
in 1994 and launched with a Java-based chat system in 1996. Gay.com's parent company acquired PlanetOut in 2001. In October 2008 the company relaunched gay.com., updating the visual style of the site and replacing the former
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
-based chat system. Technical problems caused by the upgrade led to service interruptions and lags. In a open letter from PlanetOut management, "hardware configurations and software code" were cited as culprits. Many users asked the service to revert to its former system, and the formerly solid user base eroded after the relaunch.
In October 2009, Here Media Inc. bought gay.com from PlanetOut Inc.
In 2016, Here Media Inc. partnered with
The Veloz Group
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
to redesign gay.com and revitalize the business. Later that year, gay.com was sold to
VS Media Inc
VS, Vs or vs may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* ''Vs'' (film), or ''All Superheroes Must Die'', a 2011 horror film
* ''Vs.'' (game show), 1999
* "VS.", an episode of ''Prison Break''
Gaming
* ''Vs.'' (video g ...
. Upon purchasing the site was changed to a
webcam model
A webcam model (colloquially, camgirl, camboy, or cammodel) is a video performer who streams on the Internet with a live webcam broadcast. A webcam model often performs erotic acts online, such as stripping, masturbation, or sex acts in exchan ...
. In 2017, VS Media Inc. donated the domain to the
Los Angeles LGBT Center
The Los Angeles LGBT Center (previously known as the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center) is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, so ...
, and it now acts as a
redirect
Redirect and its variants (e.g., redirection) may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Redirect (album), ''Redirect'' (album), 2012 Christian metal album and its title track by Your Memorial
* Redirected (film), ''Redirected'' (film), a 20 ...
to the center's own website.
See also
*
Homosocialization
Homosocialization or LGBT socialization is the process by which LGBTQ people meet, relate and become integrated in the LGBT community, especially with people of the same sexual orientation and gender identity, helping to build their own identity ...