More and more daters are identifying their gender as something other than ‘man’ or ‘woman’, study finds
Photo illustration of popular dating website Tinder logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty)
Research by Tinder has shown that more daters than ever are this year identifying with a gender other than “man” or “woman” on the app.
The dating app’s annual “Year in Swipe” showed that use of its “more genders” function was up 30 percent compared to last year.
The research also showed that during LGBT+ Pride month, otherwise known as June, more users matched with each other than during any other month.
Use of the rainbow emoji in Tinder bios also increased by 15 percent from 2018 to 2019 all over the world.
The “more genders” feature was introduced in 2016, allowing users to select from more than 50 gender options. Previously, the only options for users of the app were “man” and woman”.
Although it’s positive news that more people feel able to select their correct gender identity when trying to find a date, the company’s attempts to include the trans community have recently been criticised as “virtue signalling”.
Trans people told PinkNews that Tinder condones “discrimination” against trans people using the app, partly because of poor customer support for trans people who have been banned.
Trans people said that they had been banned two hours after changing their gender on the app to trans, and after being invasively questioned by cis men about their genitals – and all the trans people PinkNews spoke to knew multiple other trans people who’d been banned, too.
In September 2019, Hustlers star Trace Lysette was abruptly banned. And Peppermint, from RuPaul’s Drag Race, also reported being banned in May 2019.
A Tinder spokesperson told PinkNews in a statement: “Tinder has been at the forefront of pioneering inclusive features that ensure our members can be their authentic selves on our platform.
“We recognise the transgender community faces challenges on Tinder, including being unfairly reported by potential matches more often than our cisgender members.
“This is a multifaceted, complex issue and we are working to continuously improve their experience.”
