Index: django/conf/global_settings.py
===================================================================
--- django/conf/global_settings.py	(revision 4815)
+++ django/conf/global_settings.py	(working copy)
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@
 # Optional SMTP authentication information for EMAIL_HOST.
 EMAIL_HOST_USER = ''
 EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = ''
+EMAIL_TLS = False   # encrypt the connection using TLS/SSL?
 
 # List of strings representing installed apps.
 INSTALLED_APPS = ()
Index: django/core/mail.py
===================================================================
--- django/core/mail.py	(revision 4815)
+++ django/core/mail.py	(working copy)
@@ -34,21 +34,24 @@
             val = Header(val, settings.DEFAULT_CHARSET)
         MIMEText.__setitem__(self, name, val)
 
-def send_mail(subject, message, from_email, recipient_list, fail_silently=False, auth_user=None, auth_password=None):
+def send_mail(subject, message, from_email, recipient_list, fail_silently=False, auth_user=None, auth_password=None,tls=None):
     """
     Easy wrapper for sending a single message to a recipient list. All members
     of the recipient list will see the other recipients in the 'To' field.
 
     If auth_user is None, the EMAIL_HOST_USER setting is used.
     If auth_password is None, the EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD setting is used.
+    If tls is None, the EMAIL_TLS setting is used.
     """
     if auth_user is None:
         auth_user = settings.EMAIL_HOST_USER
     if auth_password is None:
         auth_password = settings.EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD
-    return send_mass_mail([[subject, message, from_email, recipient_list]], fail_silently, auth_user, auth_password)
+    if tls is None:
+        tls=getattr(settings, 'EMAIL_TLS', False)
+    return send_mass_mail([[subject, message, from_email, recipient_list]], fail_silently, auth_user, auth_password,tls)
 
-def send_mass_mail(datatuple, fail_silently=False, auth_user=None, auth_password=None):
+def send_mass_mail(datatuple, fail_silently=False, auth_user=None, auth_password=None,tls= None):
     """
     Given a datatuple of (subject, message, from_email, recipient_list), sends
     each message to each recipient list. Returns the number of e-mails sent.
@@ -57,13 +60,20 @@
     If auth_user and auth_password are set, they're used to log in.
     If auth_user is None, the EMAIL_HOST_USER setting is used.
     If auth_password is None, the EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD setting is used.
+    If tls is None, the EMAIL_TLS setting is used.
     """
     if auth_user is None:
         auth_user = settings.EMAIL_HOST_USER
     if auth_password is None:
         auth_password = settings.EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD
+    if tls is None:
+        tls=getattr(settings, 'EMAIL_TLS', False)
     try:
         server = smtplib.SMTP(settings.EMAIL_HOST, settings.EMAIL_PORT)
+        if tls:
+            server.ehlo(settings.EMAIL_HOST)
+            server.starttls()
+            server.ehlo(settings.EMAIL_HOST)
         if auth_user and auth_password:
             server.login(auth_user, auth_password)
     except:
@@ -92,7 +102,7 @@
             if not fail_silently:
                 raise
     try:
-        server.quit()
+        server.close() # with .quit(), at least smtp.gmail.com complains
     except:
         if fail_silently:
             return