What are the best queer dating apps?
Many people in the community feel they’re being failed by the options out there, but there are more choices for LGBTQ singles than just Grindr
Many queer people, tired of swiping through profiles with discriminatory language and frustrated with safety and privacy concerns, say the best dating app for them isn’t a dating app at all. It’s Instagram.
This is hardly a queer seal of approval for the social media platform. Instead, it’s a sign that, in the eyes of many LGBTQ people, big dating apps are failing them.
This trend is partially prompted by a widespread sense of dating app fatigue, something Instagram’s parent company has sought to capitalise on by rolling out a new service called Facebook Dating, which – surprise, surprise – integrates with Instagram.
But for many queer people, Instagram merely seems like the least terrible option when compared with dating apps where they report experiencing harassment, racism and, for trans users, the possibility of getting automatically banned for no reason other than who they are. Even with the small steps Tinder has taken to make its app more gender-inclusive, trans users still report getting banned arbitrarily.
“Dating apps aren’t even capable of properly accommodating non-binary genders, let alone capturing all the nuance and negotiation that goes into trans attraction/sex/relationships,” says Gender Reveal podcast host Molly Woodstock, who uses singular “they” pronouns.