Longtime dating platform eharmony has partnered with LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD to improve the experience for daters in the LGBTQ community.
Now, eharmony users can choose from an expanded list of genders and, when filling out personal information, can share more details about their gender. They can also choose whether to display their gender on their profile, and indicate whether they're seeking men, women, nonbinary people, or a combination. This information can be updated at any time. Users can even suggest additional genders, which eharmony will review on an ongoing basis.
Over half of eharmony users are millennials or members of Gen Z, eharmony told Mashable. The platform saw a 31 percent increase in LGBTQ members from 2022 to 2023. That may be at least in part due to the brand's redesign in 2020 and new ad campaigns in the three years since that aiming to portray the diversity of the user base, including LGBTQ couples.
"eharmony came to us with a recognition that their product needed updating to better accommodate and serve LGBTQ+ people seeking to connect on their platform," said director of transgender representation at GLAAD, Alex Schmider, in the press release. Schmider said the company has been committed to inclusion across the organization, including all-staff and department-specific trainings.
"It's our mission at eharmony to create an opportunity for everyone to find real love. We strive to offer a product experience that best reflects our mission and values as a company today," said eharmony's chief operating officer Gareth Mandel in the press release. Also, LGBTQ eharmony members requested these changes, Mandel said in a written statement to Mashable.
Mandel went on to say that eharmony remains committed to inclusion. "Love is a universal human need; so are feelings of belonging and inclusion. It's deeply important to us that all of our members — including our LGBTQ+ members — are able to authentically express themselves and find meaningful connections on our platform," he said.
eharmony recognizes that the LGBTQ community has been historically targeted for harassment, Mandel said, and any hateful or offensive acts, content, or communication may result in a permanent ban. He said, "We encourage members to report any member they may have a concern about for any reason, whether to call our attention to inappropriate behavior, or to share a potential red flag for peace of mind."
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People can report others directly from someone's profile page or within communication with a match. Each report is reviewed by the Trust and Safety team, and all are kept confidential.
"We hope eharmony is an example for other companies in demonstrating how doing the work internally helps translate to external success, especially in collaboration with communities," Schmider, of GLAAD, said.
