http://boards.weddingbee.com/ Weddingbee Boards Topic: eHarmony to Provide Gay Dating Service After Lawsuit en Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:03:17 +0000 http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/eharmony-to-provide-gay-dating-service-after-lawsuit/page/2#post-1120401 Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:25:28 +0000 Regina Phalange 1120401@http://boards.weddingbee.com/ <p>When my dad was first looking for a dating site, he went to eHarmony and was appalled that they didn't offer same-sex matching.</p> <p>BTW, my dad is straight, but he refused to support a dating site that didn't support all couples. Bless him :)</p> http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/eharmony-to-provide-gay-dating-service-after-lawsuit/page/2#post-1066328 Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:51:57 +0000 mundaetraversa 1066328@http://boards.weddingbee.com/ <p>I am not here to argue, but wanted to chime in with a few ideas...</p> <p>Consider where many tailored sites are going with their business ventures.&nbsp; They are helping specific groups find other people who also consider themselves within those specific groups.&nbsp; Usually, those groups happen to be minorities - such as people who are Jewish, African-American, LGBTQ, etc.&nbsp; If someone who is a member of these groups wishes to use a general site like eHarmony, they can choose that instead of the specific site.&nbsp; Except the LGBTQ group.&nbsp; The difference here is that while all the other minority groups are able to choose between general and specific sites, LGBTQ folks cannot.&nbsp; No one is telling people who are Jewish or African-American that they MUST use a "special" site.&nbsp; I understand that LGBTQ people are not yet a federal suspect class, but with the Prop 8 trial coming to a close and with appeal in our immediate future, please consider where that federal law is going.&nbsp; The courts know that.&nbsp; And besides, for all we talk about the technicalities of the law, relegating people to the periphery of society because they are different is wrong.&nbsp; It's wrong.&nbsp;</p> <p>It is not viable to say that a gay person can use eHarmony, they just can't find another gay person there - it dovetails with the argument that gay people can marry legally, as long as they marry someone of the opposite sex.&nbsp; Frankly, that is a laughable argument.&nbsp; That being said, to my knowledge, there has never been a site that specifically barred straight people from services.&nbsp; LGBTQ sites tend to be very inclusive, because people (even people who identify as straight) may wish to explore different sensual experiences in their lives.&nbsp; Sexuality&nbsp;can be&nbsp;a spectrum for us all.&nbsp; Maybe it's time we embraced that, and saw that respectful love and sex are joys.&nbsp;</p> <p>Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to hug a conservative.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/eharmony-to-provide-gay-dating-service-after-lawsuit/page/2#post-1040725 Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:15:16 +0000 serasvictoria 1040725@http://boards.weddingbee.com/ <p>I personally do not agree with the ruling of this lawsuit. There are plenty of dating websites that only allow jewish members, african-american members, LBGT members, etc., so me as a straight, white, non-religious woman would not be partnered up (or in some cases even allowed to register) with my choices in a mate, yet if I tried to invoke this same lawsuit I would be treated as a racist right-wing lunatic. It just doesn't make any sense why it works one way, but not the other.</p> http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/eharmony-to-provide-gay-dating-service-after-lawsuit/page/2#post-1040706 Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:04:50 +0000 Harper 1040706@http://boards.weddingbee.com/ <p>It is and it's obvious. &nbsp;Glad to hear eHarmony is slowly waking up!</p> http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/eharmony-to-provide-gay-dating-service-after-lawsuit/page/2#post-1040339 Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:01:23 +0000 2dBride 1040339@http://boards.weddingbee.com/ <p>@<em><a href="../../../profile/harper">Harper</a></em>, the good news is that although eHarmony owns Wedding Bee (and <a href="http://www.projectwedding.com">Project Wedding</a>), promises were made when the sites were sold to eHarmony that eHarmony would not interfere with the editorial policies of the sites.&nbsp; And as far as I can make out, those promises have been kept.&nbsp; Not only is there an lgbtq board here, but I have felt welcome on all of the other boards, as well.&nbsp; (Just as well, really, since I'm a Jewish encore 50-something diy bride in an international lesbian interfaith marriage.)&nbsp; Mrbee and mrsbee have made clear their own support of same-sex marriage.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.projectwedding.com/blog/2010/05/17/diy-wedding-challenge-2010-winners/">And over on Project Wedding, I recently took first place in the DIY Wedding Challenge 2010</a>.&nbsp; Whatever the policies of eHarmony, this is clearly a safe place for nonChristian people, gay or straight.</p> http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/eharmony-to-provide-gay-dating-service-after-lawsuit/page/2#post-1040283 Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:59:32 +0000 Harper 1040283@http://boards.weddingbee.com/ <p>Glad to hear this!</p> <p>They weren't being direct about their discrimination, they were simply not finding matches for a whole list of people. &nbsp;I tried it out with a few friends one night and we were all rejected! &nbsp;Gay, Straight, and the BIG one: Not Christian! &nbsp;</p> <p>It's a Christian site plain and simple. &nbsp;And look, they own Wedding Bee!</p> http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/eharmony-to-provide-gay-dating-service-after-lawsuit/page/2#post-224497 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:25:43 +0000 agnosticaphid 224497@http://boards.weddingbee.com/ <p>I've never posted before, but a lot of these comments have a misguided view of the law.&nbsp; Just because you're a private company does NOT mean that you can do whatever you want.&nbsp; The signs that businesses post above their doors -- &quot;we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone&quot; -- are not really accurate.&nbsp; Restaurants cannot refuse to serve people based on their race, or a host of other things.&nbsp; </p> <p>These kinds of laws are known as &quot;public accommodations laws.&quot;&nbsp; They date back from English times; in England before the American revolution, innkeepers and tavernowners similarly were prohibited from discriminating and were required to keep their doors open to the general public. </p> <p>eHarmony's actions are NOT legal simply because they are a private company.&nbsp; Legally speaking, the question is whether or not eHarmony held itself open to the general public.&nbsp; If so, it is illegal in NJ and CA for it to discriminate against gay people.&nbsp; We won't really know the answer to whether it's really a &quot;public accommodation&quot; since the suit was settled.&nbsp; But there are very very good arguments that it is, based upon the fact (observed by many commenters) that eHarmony does not explicitly exclude anyone from their audience.</p> <p>You can read a very brief description of California's public accommodations law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, here:</p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unruh_Civil_Rights_Act" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unruh_Civil_Rights_Act</a> </p> http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/eharmony-to-provide-gay-dating-service-after-lawsuit/page/2#post-94795 Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:32:57 +0000 loveatfirstsightlover 94795@http://boards.weddingbee.com/ <p>Not a problem hon! Even I had to look up the statistics to be certain that I was quoting the right number of states. I don't really think it's well known that so many states actually have done this. My state, Iowa, has not, but my hometown made sexual orientation a protected class. I know your heart was in the right place, and I think everyone has had some valid arguments on both sides of this discussion. I just wanted to make sure misconceptions didn't enter the discussion. </p> http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/eharmony-to-provide-gay-dating-service-after-lawsuit#post-94791 Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:58:49 +0000 noladawg 94791@http://boards.weddingbee.com/ <p>Thanks, loveatfisrtsightlover. I didn't realize that. I wonder if any of those laws apply to private actors. It's at least a good sign of progress. </p> http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/eharmony-to-provide-gay-dating-service-after-lawsuit#post-94788 Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:09:14 +0000 loveatfirstsightlover 94788@http://boards.weddingbee.com/ <p>Not to enter the fray too much, but I believe this discussion needs to be based on facts. As of 2004, <strong>21 states had passed a law making sexual orientation a protected class</strong>. In states where sexual orientation isn't a protected class, individuals cities have included sexual orientation as a protected class for things like housing, etc.&nbsp; </p>