Tinder’s ‘Let’s Talk Gender’ online glossary is the guide we all needed

Pretty much all platforms out there are celebrating Pride Month, but the best thing we’ve seen come out of all this, a 100 per cent more useful than rainbow cabs on the map, is an online glossary called ‘Let’s Talk Gender’, courtesy Tinder.

Tinder has launched LetsTalkGender.in, developed in partnership with Gaysi Family, which is an online guide and glossary that will help you understand and identify identity and gender and also help encourage conversations regarding how individuals identify and express themselves. The dating app says that it has taken a cue from the 50+ gender identities and nine sexual orientations that are available for users to pick from when they create their profiles on Tinder. Let’s Talk Gender is a “dynamic, living guide and glossary, was developed with a diverse group of several contributors from the LGBTQIA+ community,” Tinder said.

Gender is not binary and as Let’s Talk Gender explains, binary itself is experienced as “limiting” and hopes to start the conversations about the “importance and use of pronouns and what a partner's queerness means for someone who is dating them along with answers to frequently asked questions and curiosities”.

The microsite contains a glossary of gender identities and descriptions that, as the app claims, is “based on lived experiences by members of the community. “These identities, as also seen on the Tinder app, is a combination of umbrella terms, many of which are fluid while there are others that point to a combination of gender identities,” Tinder said.

 “The way we understand and experience gender is evolving and the only way to stay abreast of it is to keep having these conversations. Not just within the community but in wider social spaces, because it also shapes our relationships - both intimate and otherwise, how we navigate consent, and how we are able to access resources and institutions such as marriage. And it’s important that brands like Tinder, who have a considerable influence and presence in society, support the creation of such spaces to engender and create an environment that's inclusive where such expressions can be freely explored,” said Sakshi Juneja, Co-Founder, Gaysi Family.

“‘Let's Talk Gender’ is a long-term commitment for us that deepens our support to the Indian LGBTQIA+ community and encourages inclusive conversations in the dating ecosystem. This living glossary, developed by experts, provides a more personal understanding of identity and brings us closer to having a world where everyone is able to have complete autonomy over their choices and self-expression, values which Tinder holds close,” said Aahana Dhar, Director of Communications India, Tinder.

While announcing this online glossary, Tinder also revealed that its LGBTQIA+ member base has grown at “twice the rate of its overall membership” and “non-binary” at the top of the list for “more genders” choices in the app. Tinder said that its users in India will be able to see in-app cards that will highlight this glossary and tapping on them will lead users to the microsite.

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