How inclusive are today’s dating apps in a real sense? While awareness about LGBTQIA+ issues is definitely on the rise, there seems to be little to no conversation about what constitutes dating and relationships for the community.
Do dating apps help create healthy and safe spaces for people across the spectrum or have they contributed to a cycle of stigmatization? We spoke to Sakshi Juneja, founder of Gaysifamily.com, a platform dedicated to providing representation to desi queers.
Gaysi, in collaboration with Tinder India, has curated a ‘Museum of Queer Swipe Stories’ on Instagram to create inclusive dating spaces. It is an archival project that seeks to collect the many moods, experiences and complexities of queer dating. Below is an edited excerpt of our conversation with Sakshi.
Credit: Instagram/QueerSwipeStories
Q. How inclusive are dating apps in India according to you, especially for those in the LGBTQIA+ community?
Sakshi: While I have not been on one for a long time, to be very honest, in their promotion or in their campaigns, they come across as being inclusive. However, what we have noticed is that when it comes to the technical part of things, there are still a lot of issues that need to be resolved…
For example, in India, while queer people are made to choose and filter the profiles they want to come across on the app, many a times the same users witness profiles of straight identifying cis-men or women.
Tinder, to a certain extent, has addressed it in their settings for including more genders and more sexualities. However, the screening part is something that is still an issue.
Credit: Giphy/Originals
Q. Are people from the community open to using mainstream/popular dating apps to find meaningful connections?
A. I suppose so. See, I largely speak from a queer women perspective. The fact is that we have no other means of socializing… and many of us do not get on dating apps with the intent of finding a life partner. Many of us get on the apps to find friends, a sense of community, people to just hang and socialize with.
Also, in the larger picture for queer women, non-binary folks to trans folks—it becomes even more difficult to narrow down on these options. So, I suppose, dating apps perhaps give us a little hope to find some connections or whatever one is seeking.
Credit: Giphy/RuPaulsDragRace
Q. What steps do you think dating apps are taking to support people from the community, and what are the initiatives that they have taken towards it?
A. Most brands want to jump in when there is some occasion or if there is a key moment like Pride Month, but with Tinder there has been a commitment from the brand to understand and engage with the community…
I feel that while the conversation has mostly been about how MNCs and corporations are trying to create an inclusive and safe workspace, nobody talks about queer business owners and how one could help them promote or expand their business because they too bring queer sensibilities to their workplace.
As a step towards diversity, the app took an initiative by giving users a chance to express gender identity outside the binary. For a long time now, users in India were offered only two options when selecting their gender: man or woman. This step was introduced keeping in mind the feedback from the community by users who identified outside of the binary—such as trans, gender queer, non-binary.
Q. Any insights from members or any personal narratives of people finding connections on mainstream dating apps, and how inclusive they find online dating culture in India?
A. While I mostly know personal stories of queer women finding meaningful connections on Tinder, but yes, people such as Gaysi’s art director met her partner on Tinder during the lockdown. One of Gaysi’s contributors, who identifies herself as bi-romantic, met her partner and now husband on Tinder.
I cant speak for all, but what I mean to say is, queer people today are finding mainstream apps a vehicle to find connections and inclusive common spaces.
Credit: Giphy/QueerSwipeStories
Lead image credit: T-Series+ Vinod Chopra Films
