Just moments later his swearing On Monday, President Donald Trump made a proclamation to those present at his inauguration: “From now on it will be the policy of the American government that there are only two sexes: male and female.” Trump then signed an executive order scorning what the White House called “gender ideology” and asserting that a person’s gender is “unchangeable and [is] based on fundamental and undeniable reality.”
Trump’s order, which was widely seen as unscientific attempt to repeal the rights of transgender and gender-fluid people, also instructs federal agencies to “require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s gender,” rather than their gender identity . . It was one of 78 orders signed Monday, some of which were part of Trump’s attempts to end Biden-era policies that “socially infuse race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.”
While the executive order only affects federal policy, the broader implications are far-reaching. Only a decade has passed since the “real name” policy made it difficult for people to hold accounts under names different from those on their IDs. Facebook later changed these guidelines, but as companies like Meta clear the way for users to claim trans people have a “mental illness”, digital safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people seems to be decreasing. Except in one arena: dating apps.
Following Trump’s executive order, Match Group and Feeld both told WIRED that they have no intention of reversing course when it comes to the gender identity options offered on their respective platforms.
“We’re not making any changes to our apps,” says a spokesperson for Match Group, which owns OkCupid, Tinder, Hinge and several other dating platforms.
It remains to be seen how other tech companies will respond to the executive order. Some, like Meta, appeared to be making overtures to the incoming Trump administration before this week. Earlier this month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would to terminate its third-party fact-checking program and transition to a Community Notes model, to the X.
Zuckerberg touted the sudden reversal as a bid to expand free speech across Facebook, Instagram and Threads and allow more political content. “We’re going to simplify our content policies and remove a bunch of restrictions on topics like immigration and gender that just don’t touch the general discourse,” Zuckerberg said in a video accompanying the announcement.
If online life becomes even less inclusive for LGBTQ+ people during Trump’s tenure, apps like OkCupid, Feeld and Hinge could become digital havens, places to connect. “At a time when many of our civil rights are under threat, dating apps have the ability to serve as crucial spaces for sexual, racial, and gender inclusion,” says Apryl Williams, a professor of communication and digital studies at the University of Michigan. .
More than a decade ago, in 2014, OkCupid expanded its gender options for users to include identities such as transgender, pangender, intersex, agender, and genderqueer. It was among the first dating apps to capture an accurate picture of identity online, and the different ways it has evolved. Tinder currently provides an option to “beyond binary” and Hinge allows users to choose “non-binary” on their profiles.
