Today, Tinder announced a significant update to its dating app that welcomes transgender and gender non-conforming users to add information about their gender identity to their profiles and be their most authentic selves on the platform.
A few months ago, Tinder, the world’s leading social app for meeting new people, called on GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program team and trans consultant Andrea James to help the company create a more inclusive and welcoming platform for transgender and gender non-conforming users. Trans people who use Tinder are, like all other users, looking to find the right match and make meaningful connections.
GLAAD consulted with Tinder on how to better serve the community by helping figure out ways for people to be more authentically themselves on the platform, while also working with the company to provide information and resources to help educate Tinder’s support staff on how to address issues of harassment and trans people sometimes being unfairly reported and banned.
“It sends a strong message of acceptance when a platform like Tinder clearly tells its users that transgender people are welcome,” said Nick Adams, director of GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program. “Trans people who use Tinder are, like all other users, looking to form relationships and find the right match. Tinder’s update allows trans users to be themselves on the platform, and makes it clear that Tinder is committed to inclusion. This update reflects a growing awareness that trans people are part of the fabric of everyday life, which in turn, accelerates acceptance for transgender and gender non-conforming people.”
Prior to the update, users had only two options when selecting their gender: man or woman. For users who identified as transgender or gender non-conforming, they were limited in the ways they were able to identify on the platform. With today’s update, users now can add information about their gender from the settings screen, where they can fill in whatever word best describes their gender identity.
In addition, all users can now choose to display their gender on their profile.
For some time, trans users had also expressed frustration and dissatisfaction with Tinder because they were sometimes being reported and banned simply for being trans. With this update, Tinder has allocated resources to its support team, which includes educating the company’s staff about the challenges facing the transgender community, and has made a commitment to welcome back to the app any users who were unfairly banned due to their gender.
