just a little later During his swearing-in on Monday, President Donald Trump declared to inauguration attendees that “from now on, it is the policy of the United States Government that there are only two genders: male and female.” President Trump then signed an executive order disparaging what the White House calls “gender ideology” and asserting that a person's gender “cannot and cannot be changed.” [is] It is based on a fundamental and indisputable reality. ”
President Trump's order, which was widely seen as an unscientific attempt to roll back the rights of transgender and gender-expansive people, required federal agencies to “passports, visas, and Global Entry cards. “Require accurate information on government-issued identification documents, including government-issued identification documents.” The gender of the owner, not the gender identity.” It's one of 78 orders signed Monday, some of which seek to end Biden administration-era policies that “socially incorporate race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.” It was part of President Trump's effort.
Although the executive order only affects federal policy, the broader impact is enormous. It's only been a decade since Facebook's “real name” policy made it difficult for people to maintain an account with a name different from the name listed on their ID. Facebook has since amended those guidelines, but digital safety for LGBTQ+ people is now clearing the way for companies like Meta to claim to users that transgender people are “mentally ill.” space seems to be decreasing. Except in one area: dating apps.
In response to President Trump's executive order, both Match Group and Field told WIRED that they do not intend to change course regarding the gender identity options offered on their respective platforms.
“We're not making any changes to the app,” says Kayla Whaling, a spokeswoman for Match Group, which owns OkCupid, Tinder, Hinge and several other dating platforms.
It remains to be seen how other technology companies will react to the executive order. Some companies, like Meta, appear to have made overtures to the incoming Trump administration by this week. Earlier this month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company was ending its third-party fact-checking program and moving to a community notes model, or X.
Zuckerberg touted the sudden reversal as an attempt to expand free speech and allow more political content across Facebook, Instagram and Threads. “We're going to simplify our content policies and remove a lot of restrictions on topics that have nothing to do with mainstream discourse, like immigration and gender,” Zuckerberg said in a video accompanying the announcement.
If online life becomes even less inclusive for LGBTQ+ people during Trump's presidency, apps like OkCupid, Feel, 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 important spaces for gender, racial, and sexual inclusivity,” says the University of Michigan. says April Williams, professor of communication and digital studies.
More than a decade ago, in 2014, OkCupid expanded its users' gender options to include identifications such as transgender, pangender, intersex, agender, and genderqueer. It was one of the first dating apps to accurately capture online identity and the different ways it evolves. Tinder now offers a “beyond binary” option, and Hinge allows users to select “non-binary” on their profile.
