Dating Apps Promise to Remain a Rare Haven Following Trump’s Executive Order

Mere moments later his to swear On Monday, President Donald Trump made one announcement To the attendees of his inauguration: “Henceforth the policy of the United States government will be that there are only two sexes: male and female.” Trump then signed Executive Order The White House calls it a “gender norm” and asserts that a person’s sexuality is “not changeable and [is] Grounded in fundamental and unbroken reality. “

Trump’s order, which was widely seen as a unscientific Seeking to roll back the rights of transgender and gender-expansive individuals, it also directs federal agencies to “require government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas and global entry cards, to accurately reflect their gender identity rather than their gender identity”. It is one of eight orders signed Monday. were, some of which were part of Trump’s effort to end Biden-era policies that “socially engineer race and gender into public and private Gender in every aspect of life.”

Although the executive order only affects federal policy, the broader implications are wide-ranging. “It’s been a decade” of Facebook.real name” policy made it difficult for people to keep accounts under different names than their IDS. Facebook has since revised these guidelines, but so have companies like Meta Clear the way For users to claim “mental illness” for trans people, there are digital safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people seems to be decreasing. Out of an arena: dating apps.

Following Trump’s executive order, Match Group and Feelings both told Wired that they have no intention of taking opposite courses when it comes to the gender identity options offered on their respective platforms.

“We’re not making changes to our apps,” said Kayla Wheeling, a spokeswoman for Match Group, which owns dating platforms such as OkCupid, Tinder, Hinge and several others.

It remains to be seen how other tech companies will respond to the executive order. Some, like Meta, seemed to be overshadowed by the incoming Trump administration earlier this week. Earlier this month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would Terminate its third-party fact-checking program and a community note model, à la X.

Zuckerberg suddenly peddled the opposite to increase free speech and allow for more political content across Facebook, Instagram and Threads. “We’re going to simplify our content policies and get rid of a bunch of restrictions on things like immigration and gender,” Zuckerberg said in a video accompanying the announcement.

As online life may become less inclusive for LGBTQ+ people during Trump’s tenure, apps like Occupid, Feedid, and Hinge may become digital havens, places to connect. “With so many of our civil rights under threat, dating apps have the potential to serve as important spaces for gender, racial and sexual inclusion,” said April Williams, professor of communication and digital studies at the University of Michigan. .

A decade ago, in 2014, OkCupid expanded its gender options to include users identifying as transgender, pangender, intersex, agender, and genderqueer. It was among the first dating apps to capture an accurate picture of identity online and the many ways it has evolved. Currently, Tinder offers an option for “Beyond Binary“And the hinge allows users to select”Nonbinary” on their profiles.