Top 5 dating apps for the LGBTQ+ community in India
For the longest time, India's queer community has been forced underground as the police once tracked "homosexual gangs," traced people on online chatrooms and booked them under IPC Section 377. Despite the decriminalization of homosexuality, the community remains underground and dating continues to be challenging. Since cruising in hideouts isn't safe or accessible (or necessary anymore), here are five dating apps for the LGBTQ+.
Grindr: Mainly for cisgender queer men and trans-people
Unarguably the most popular app among its kind, Grindr is a dating app for queer men. The app is also in use among members of the trans community. Launched in 2009, Grindr is a geo-location-based app, which allows users to scroll through a grid of profiles of other users around them. However, the app is mainly used for hook-ups. Be warned.
The Delta app: For LGBTQIA+ people of all genders
The Delta app is India's first home-grown dating app for the LGBTQIA+ community and welcomes all genders. The app allows users to send requests to others as 'sparks'. They can only start exchanging messages once the user on the other end accepts the request. It also has a 'trust score' for profiles, based on the amount of personal information people share with the app.
Romeo: Mainly for cisgender queer men and trans-people
Romeo, better known by its former name PlanetRomeo or the local nickname 'PR', continues to be a relevant dating platform for the community, despite its declining popularity. Launched in 2012, the app is intended for GBT men. With a grid profile interface similar to Grindr, Romeo offers a video-chat feature and ensures user's authenticity by displaying the number of people who personally know them.
OkCupid: For people of all genders and sexual identities
Launched in 2004 as a dating site and in 2012 as a dating app, OkCupid also welcomes people of all genders and sexual identities. The app offers users interesting quizzes, compatibility questions, match-percentage features, etc. Recently, the app has even become inclusive of polyamorous couples, allowing people to look for multiple partners openly. It has a card-based swiping interface.
Tinder: Originally intended for heterosexuals, becoming popular among LGBTQIA+
Although it was originally intended for heterosexual couples, Tinder has become increasingly popular among the LGBTQIA+ community, especially queer women (since there are not many other options for them to rely on). Quite famously, Tinder had embraced its LGBTQIA+ users, allowing 23 gender identity options last year. Also famously, Tinder too has a card swiping interface, that it invented.
