Online dating companies eHarmony and Christian Mingle — two of the most popular websites for Christian singles — initially refused to offer same-sex matchmaking, conceding only after settling separate lawsuits.
Even then, the companies did so grudgingly: eHarmony created a separate site called Compatible Partners, and Christian Mingle allowed users to view same-gender profiles but wouldn’t identify who else was seeking gay users.
How have these companies evolved their approaches to same-sex matchmaking? What does this mean for LGBTQ+ Christians looking for lasting relationships? What about people who may not fit easily into the categories offered by dating sites?
“The message many of my LGBTQ+ Christian participants have received is that they will never be loved, let alone marry. When they experience this, it can be very traumatic for some of them.”
These are questions asked by Mx King, a University of Washington Information School doctoral candidate. King is doing their dissertation on the experiences that LGBTQ+ Christians have with these sites and others.
“The message many of my LGBTQ+ Christian participants have received is that they will never be loved, let alone marry,” King said. “When they experience this, it can be very traumatic for some of them.”
King won a $25,000 Dissertation Fellowship award to complete their research through the Louisville Institute, which funds religious study. King, who taught a popular course on online dating last spring when the pandemic forced remote learning, will continue to teach this coming year at the UW.
King wrestled with bridging religious studies, queer theory and internet research on dating apps to find the underappreciated, overlooked angle for this project, said Anna Lauren Hoffmann, an iSchool assistant professor and one of King’s academic advisers in the Ph.D. program.
“It's the strength of their work and ideas in the proposal that landed them something like the Louisville diss