A transgender woman in Portland, OR is suing Tinder because she claims the dating app unfairly deactivates transgender accounts.
Ariel Hawkins is a biological male who identifies as a female despite not having reassignment surgery. But Hawkins filed the lawsuit on behalf of all self-proclaimed transgender people, according to TMZ. She says that as soon as she changed her account to specify that she was a “preop trans woman,” Tinder deactivated her account and sent her an email saying she’d violated their user agreement.
Tinder Sued By Transgender Woman for Refusing Service to Transgender People: A transgender woman is suing Tinder on behalf of other transgender people living in the Portland area, claiming it rejects all transgender people from the dating service. Ariel Hawkins claims in a new… pic.twitter.com/QnnTYoAjCs
— – (@COUPSLEADER) March 14, 2018
Hawkins believes they deactivated her account in a desperate attempt to save face. “I don’t think the company understands trans people and they don’t appreciate how we may represent ourselves,” she said, adding that it’s outrageous that Tinder “refuses to provide transgender individuals full and equal access to its app.”
Hawkins added that she’s on Tinder to find love but won’t use it again until the issue is fixed.
Which is why I highly suspect she’s lying. I’m not going to comment on the specifics of the case because it’s still new and by no means am I a lawyer, but I don’t trust this Ariel Hawkins chick/dude. First off, I really don’t think she’s got a case here because I’m pretty sure Tinder makes you tell the truth in your profile. To claim you’re a female when you’re biologically male would therefore be dishonest.
But there’s one sticking point that drives a Mac truck through the whole argument. And that’s her claim that she’s on Tinder for love.
What realistic person thinks Tinder is their best option to find love? Come on now. I don’t care if you identify as male, female, an airplane sickness bag, or George Washington’s cherry tree. You’re not on Tinder for love. You’re on Tinder to make out with complete strangers in the back of a taxi at 3 AM on a Tuesday and never again. You’re on Tinder for free drinks. You’re on Tinder to send saucy gifs to people you’ll never meet in real life. You’re not on Tinder for love.
Good luck with that lawsuit, Ariel.
UPDATE: A Tinder spokesperson responded with the following statement:
While we do not comment on pending litigation, we can say, categorically, that we do not ban users from Tinder due to gender identity. At Tinder, we fundamentally believe that gender is not binary and we support inclusivity and acceptance of all people, which is why we offer more than 37 gender identity options for our users in the United States.
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