Hinge has a new FAQ guide full of advice specifically about LGBTQ dating.
Launched Tuesday, the dating app's NFAQ (Not-so-Frequently Asked Questions) guide is full of answers to questions relating to LGBTQ dating and identity, including how to manage when you've misgendered someone while flirting, how demisexual people can set sexual expectations, how to affirm your gender in the early stages of dating, and how to navigate dating when you're not quite ready to come out.
The NFAQ guide sits in the app's Help Centre for Hinge users, but is also accessible for anyone on the Hinge website.
You'll find answers to a collection of questions in blog and video form by a range of experts in various fields including Vacancy Project founder and hair stylist Masami Hosono, emergency medicine physician Dr. Darien Sutton, Be Not Afraid of Love author and artist Mimi Zhu, former Out magazine editor Phillip Picardi, licensed social worker and therapist Shahem McLaurin, and Grown-ish actor, writer, and filmmaker Tara Raani.
For example, Zhu writes the answer to the question: "How can I better affirm my gender in the early stages of dating?"
"I am transparent on the first date because the person’s reaction usually allows me to discern the trajectory of our connection," Zhu writes.
"While nerve-wracking, it allows me to feel empowered in my agency in pursuing meaningful intimacy. I wear an outfit that makes me feel the most gender euphoric of the day, and I put myself before the assumed desires of another. If somebody is uncomfortable with my truth, then it reveals more about them than it does about me. I prefer to get this done early, because I know how precious my time is, and how uncompromising I am about my need to be respected in my fullness."
In Hinge's own study, the app found 80 percent of LGBTQ users found it difficult to find answers to their dating questions.
"For LGBTQIA+ people, our experiences are so unique that the typical answers to dating questions don't meet our needs. NFAQ is a transformative resource that will support queer daters with creating and maintaining authentic relationships," said Moe Ari Brown, Hinge love and connection expert and licensed marriage and family therapist, in a press statement.
"For LGBTQIA+ people, our experiences are so unique that the typical answers to dating questions don't meet our needs."
"NFAQ is making the necessary space to not only answer LGBTQIA+ folks' burning questions but to also cultivate an atmosphere of celebration and inclusivity on Hinge and beyond our app."
Hinge has indeed taken steps to make its app more queer-friendly, particularly in recent months, working with GLAAD in January to release new Prompts (conversation starters that let you express your personality and interests) specifically for LGBTQ users to display on their profile. In May, Hinge launched a fund to support therapy access for LGBTQ and BIPOC daters. Plus, the app allows users to select from more than 50 gender options (or write your own) and you can include your pronouns and sexual orientation.
GLAAD also recently worked with dating app Bumble in July to move beyond the app's "women make the first move" experience to let nonbinary users message anyone first.
