Tinder celebrates gender diversity

Dating app Tinder on Tuesday announced it has added 23 new gender options for users in India to allow them to add information about the orientation they believe represents them most authentically.

Until now, Tinder users in India were offered only two options when selecting their gender: man or woman. For users who identified as transgender, gender neutral or somewhere between or outside the gender binary, that limitation posed an obvious challenge. 

"Users are best to assert their own identity and our latest update gives them the opportunity to decide how to express themselves authentically and it has been a good year in India for gender, sexuality and personal autonomy," Taru Kapoor, General Manager, Tinder India, said in a statement. 

Along with making the gender-display option on the profiles opt-in, the new app update would allow users to type any word that describes their gender identity using the "Edit Info" feature, the company said in a statement. 

The dating company worked with an advisory panel comprising "The Humsafar Trust" -- India's oldest LGBTQ organisation working for the health and human rights of the community since 1994.  "Tinder's new initiative celebrates the diversity and pluralism and truly represents the idea of India," said Ashok Row Kavi, Chairperson, The Humsafar Trust.

Launched in 2012, Tinder is the world's leading social app available in more than 190 countries. Each day, 26 million matches are made on Tinder with more than 20 billion matches made to date, said the company.