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Home > Dating & Relationships > Tinder Follows Suit and Embraces Gender Diversity and Polyamory

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Home›Dating & Relationships›Tinder Follows Suit and Embraces Gender Diversity and Polyamory

Tinder Follows Suit and Embraces Gender Diversity and Polyamory

By M. Christian
June 10, 2023
1554
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Users can select from a range of pronouns and multi-partner relationships

The dating app Tinder recently added fifteen new gender identifications as well as several new relationship goals such as polyamory, ethical non-monogamy, and open to exploring.

The decision comes on the heels of a survey the company conducted which found 52% of eighteen to twenty-five-year-olds are more attracted to single-partner relationships, while 41% were interested in polyamory.

The new options are only currently available in the United States but are likely to be expanded to other countries sometime in the future.

Beyond the binary

Tinder’s step towards recognizing everyone’s right to self-identify, not to mention the ability to seek out or form non-monogamous relationships, is part of a growing trend among dating apps.

One of the leaders was Grindr, which in 2017 added a host of inclusionary upgrades. As Jack Harrison-Quintana explained to Techcrunch, “We created written resources linked from the gender identity fields in the profile to answer users’ questions and decrease that burden on trans people.”

In April of this year, HER, the lesbian-focused platform, proclaimed in a blog post, “We’re snatching back the term “lesbian” from the clutches of TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists)  and bigots who’ve tried to hijack it to fuel their transphobia and hatred.”

Twenty-three million users strong, Hinge also announced its own series of expanded gender inclusivity selections and even set up online LGBTQIA+ resources, including a trans Not So Frequently Asked Questions (NFAQ) page.  

A company spokesperson told Pick News, “The safety and well-being of our trans daters are always a top priority. We have a zero-tolerance policy for hate, and anyone exhibiting transphobic behavior on Hinge will be banned from our community.”

Even eHarmony, previously sued for same-sex discrimination in 2005 and whose founder made a series of decidedly homophobic comments, now proclaims, “eharmony is LGBT friendly. We believe that real love is for everyone, and we’re deeply committed to providing a platform that’s safe, inclusive, and welcoming for every single one of our members.”

Steps in the right direction

Tinder’s new gender and relationship options demonstrate that although some dating platforms still haven’t gotten the inclusionary memo, there’s little to lose and a lot to gain by giving users what they want.

Unfortunately, implementing those changes may not be easy. For example, in response to HER’s public support for trans rights, right-wing provocateurs bombarded Twitter with complaints, causing the social media platform to suspend HER’S Twitter account.  

The ban has since been lifted, the message was clear–but not the one anti-LGBTQIA+ bigots may have been hoping for. 

This controversy caused HER to double down on its message that, as CEO Robyn Exton said to Pink News, “HER has always been a platform that is for trans women, for non-binary people and anyone who identifies as a woman.”

A statement further backed up by the HER’s tweet to any of its anti-trans users, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Sapphic dating service @HerSocialApp knocking it out the park

“A Message for Transphobes: Time to delete HER. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” #LGBWithTheT #CisWithTheT #LesbianVisibilityDay pic.twitter.com/aLTo70XMOV

— Lebkuchen Short Film (@LebkuchenFilm) April 26, 2023

All means all

We hope the likes of Robyn Exton, Jack Harrison-Quintana, and companies like Hinge and now Tinder will help inspire other dating apps and communities alike to stand up to hate.

And by doing so, remind not just the LGBTQIA+ community but everyone, everywhere, that love is universal–and good for business.

Image Sources: Flickr, HER, Unsplash

M. Christian

M.Christian (they/them) loves nothing better than exploring the intersections of sex and technology—and speculating on the future of both. A highly regarded erotica writer they have six novels,12 collections, 100+ short stories, and 25 anthologies as an editor to their name. Their non-fiction regularly appears in many sites, but they're most proud of being a regular contributor to Future of Sex.

Of their erotic fiction, Tristan Taormino said that “M.Christian is a literary stylist of the highest caliber: smart, funny, frightening, sexy—there's nothing [they] can't write about… and brilliantly.”

Reflecting their unique ability to sympathetically and convincingly write for a range of genders and sexual orientations, their stories have appeared in multiple editions of Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, The Mammoth Books of Erotica, and others. Their collection of gay erotic fiction, Dirty Words, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

While a majority of their stories have been collected into books like Dirty Words, their fondness for combining sex and science fiction is clearly evident in collections that include Rude Mechanicals, Technorotica, Better Than The Real Thing, Skin Effect Effect, Bachelor Machine, and Hard Drive: The Best Sci-Fi Erotica of M.Christian.

As a novelist, M.Christian’s versatility is on full display with Running Dry, The Very Bloody Marys, Brushes, Painted Doll; and the somewhat controversial queer BDSM/horror/thrillers Finger's Breadth, and Me2.

M.Christian has worked on the industry’s production side as an Associate Publisher for Renaissance E Books and as a Publisher for Digital Parchment Services. The latter dedicated to celebrating the works of science-fiction legends such as William Rotsler, Jerome Bixby, Jody Scott, Arthur Byron Cover, Ernest Hogan, and James Van Hise.

Covering topics like BDSM safety, sexual education, senior sexuality concerns, queer and gender issues, plus reviewing a variety of sex tech products, M.Christian’s non-fiction has appeared on sites like Kinkly, Tickle.Life, Sexpert, Queer Majority, Sex for Every Body, and—of course—their ongoing work for Future of Sex.

If there’s anything M.Christian enjoys more than writing, it’s teaching. A featured presenter, sometimes with their friend Ralph Greco Jr, at national sex and BDSM events, they have lectured on kink play (with an emphasis on safety), polyamory, boosting sexual creativity, and erotica writing--for beginners or those wanting to go pro.

M.Christian is a cohost on two popular sex-education podcasts: Love’s Outer Limits with Dr. Amy Marsh and Licking Non-Vanilla with Ralph Greco, Jr.
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