Links Policy

(Date: 6/4/14)

In order to meet the standards of the operators of The Gay Report and our reading audience the following minimum standards apply to all websites (except for the Anti-gay hate index and advertisers) before being linked by The Gay Report.

  • Cannot be a chat room, or a website whose content is solely produced by users (unless it is content created by approved users of a site owned by legitimate non-profit organizations with an IRS 503(c) tax exempt status);
  • Sites cannot have intrusive ads that require readers to participate in surveys, watch videos, click on it or any other creative, or  require readers to purchase any product or service, or "share" on social media in order to access content said websites;
  • Websites cannot have pornographic materials or nude pictures of a sexual nature that are uncensored that show the buttocks, genitals or female breasts, or any content deemed illegal or obscene;
  • Websites must produce content that they have the rights to publish or reproduce;
  • All websites must be have been online for at least 90 days before being linked to The Gay Report;
  • All websites must be periodically updated with new content (except for websites linked under the Media Index);
  • The Gay Report does not link to websites whose primary purpose is to campaign for a political candidate running for any public office;
  • All content must be of good quality, with proper grammar and/or spelling;
  • Content must be in English or at least contain the mechanism to be translated into English on the website;
  • Satire sites must be labeled as such;
  • Site content must be credible and not misleading or irrelevant;
  • Sites cannot charge a fee or contribution, or require any type of membership even if its free of charge (legitimate non-profit organizations with an IRS 503(c) tax exempt status are exempt from this policy) in order to access content, however certain other site elements can be limited to paid subscribers;
  • We do not provide free links that are for commercial purposes only, such content is considered advertising and fall under different policies;
  • Sites will be not linked that play audio or video automatically and the user has no ability to mute it or turn it off, or if there is more than one track of audio or videos being played at once;
  • Sites cannot contain any malicious software such as malware, spyware, worms, viruses and the like, such a breach of trust would ban the site permanently from being linked to The Gay Report;
  • Sites must be viewable on the following web browsers: Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, iOS, Safari, Android OS;
  • Sites must be easily readable with proper easily readable font and size;
  • Sites must be fully functioning at least 95% of the time and cannot be "under construction" at any time or be "under maintenance" for more than five hours, and must have reliable and proper web hosting;
  • Sites must be properly maintained;