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Tinder will now offer users more options than just male or female when choosing their gender.
The dating app, which matches people with others in their area, will now allow people to personally define their gender.
The app, which has created over 20 billion matches according to its founder Sean Rad, is introducing the feature due to fears some users are being wrongfully reported by others due to confusion over their gender. Being reported can result in removal from the service.
The new feature should help people who are transgender or users who do not identify as male or female.
“Tinder’s been great for a lot of trans people but for some trans people they have had issues with users misusing the system to report people just for being trans,” said Andrea James, a trans woman and LGBT rights activist, in a promotional video for the new feature.
“Tinder has been working hard this year to close that gap.”
Users will also be allowed to choose which searches they want to be shown in and given the option on whether to display their gender on their profile at all.
The company says the new feature, which is being released in the US, UK and Canada, aims to create “a more inclusive community”.
“No one will ever be banned from Tinder because of their gender,” the company said in its blog. “We haven’t had the right tools to serve our diverse community in the past, but that changes today.”
