Trans Montrealer hits roadblocks on dating apps
Tranna Wintour says she was signed up for popular dating app Tinder for less than 24 hours before her account was barred by the company.
The reason, she feels, is clear. Though the app is mostly image based, it allows users to write a brief blurb about themselves for their profile. Wintour kept it short: “Easy going, smart, funny, trans girl,” she wrote.
Last Monday morning, she opened the app to check if she had any new messages from other users, but instead was greeted by one from the company itself. It said her profile had been reported by too many people, and so Tinder had to review it. She was blocked from using her account, and no other information was given. In a written response to the Montreal Gazette, Tinder said everyone is welcome to use the app.
“The system currently does not permit users to be more specific than male or female when selecting gender and is similarly limited in discovery preferences,” the company wrote. “Unfortunately, this can lead to some users reporting other users when they unexpectedly appear in their recommendations. Tinder recognizes and believes in the importance of being inclusive of all gender identities and is working toward optimizing the experience for everyone.”
Wintour’s account has since been reinstated: Tinder said each banned account is individually assessed, and that users are unbanned if the company finds they were wrongfully banned.
“This includes instances when transgender users are reported by others, but haven’t violated any of our community standards.”
Wintour says when she signed up for Tinder, the only gender choices given were male or female. The same choices repeat themselves when users are asked what they’re looking for.
“These apps want trans women to list ourselves as gay males, which we are not,” she says.
Wintour, a local comedian, was a teenager when she first came out as a gay male — her mom asked if she was gay, and she said yes. At the time it was the only the example she really had. She later identified as a transgender woman.
“I just assumed because I had a male body and I was attracted to other men that I was a gay male,”
she says. But it never felt right, and still doesn’t when it’s the choice given from online dating websites or apps. As a trans person, she said, online dating can often be the safest way of meeting people, and it’s a safety concern to not be upfront about it. Some people are aggressively transphobic and it can be dangerous to not let someone know before meeting or getting intimate with them, Wintour said.
“I’m up front. I’m not hiding anything,” she said. “I’m being totally straightforward and not misrepresenting myself. I’m straight up: I’m a trans girl. Take it or leave it.”
What she can only assume is happening is that straight men come across her pictures, like them, and then notice her line about being a transgender woman and report her account.
“They feel deceived in some way even though the information is right in front of their face,” Wintour said, “And they report the profile.”
She questions why those who report profiles are taken seriously instead of the company reaching out to the account in question to verify with the person.
“If I were to stumble upon the profile of a man that I didn’t find attractive, or that I even found repulsive, that doesn’t give me the grounds to report them just because I’m not attracted to them,” she said.
About a year ago, she had tried a different online dating service, Plenty of Fish, which she said also banned her account. Her profile was deleted, she signed up again, and it was deleted again within 24 hours, she says, “when I was just using the app like any other person would.” ( Plenty of Fish did not respond to the Montreal Gazette’s interview requests.)