In order to allow users from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex (LGBTQI+) community to express themselves freely, dating app Tinder announced over the weekend it will allow users to choose their sexual orientation by the end of June.

While the users can prioritise others of the same orientation in their feed, the choice of displaying the information on their profile has been left to them.

Existing users can simply incorporate the information by editing their profile and the new users will be able to include the information about their orientation form the very start, the impact of which will be on the potential matches surfacing on their feed. The option will roll out to users not only in India, but also in countries such as the U.S, U.K, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Users can select up to three of nine terms of orientation, such as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, demisexual, pansexual, queer and questioning that they feel are apt for themselves. The update, a spokesperson said, is in response to user feedback as well as a study conducted by the app, which found that the majority of LGBTQI+ respondents in India were interested in more options or easier ways to express their sexual orientation on dating platforms.

While members of the LGBTQI+ community have said the move will increase awareness about sexual orientations, some expressed fear of their scope being curbed. “Tinder must also provide a glossary of these words so that the dating game gets more potent with people being more aware of what they want and what they get into,” activist Harish Iyer said.

Ashok Row Kavi, Chair, The Humsafar Trust, said it was heartening to see Tinder take a huge step forward towards inclusiveness. “Bringing those in the LGBTQI+ spectrum to the mainstream means including a huge segment of our population that was previously denied this space. We are not only amidst different genders but also sexual orientations and just because we don’t talk about them or make them visible doesn't mean they are wrong. For us it is a victory when brands like Tinder show such inclusivity,” he said.

Shripad Sinnakaar, a youngster from the community, called it a move aimed at getting more ‘premium’ users. “Tinder did know that members from the community use their App, so why is this move coming in now? They may try to limit our scope by showing profiles based on our preferences and introduce premiums for people to pay to view more profiles on their feed,” he said.

Srushti Mane, founder of LGBT Mumbai, said gender-fluid options were the need of the hour on Tinder, rather than just some boxes for users to tick. “I prefer using apps that are gender-fluid with options such as cis-man, androgenous and translesbian. Tinder still doesn’t ask for gender-preferred pronouns, something that other apps like Delta and HER do,” she said.