Grindr offers a huge variety of gender identities that users can select to describe themselves. However, those same identities are not available as search criteria.
For example, a user can identify as Queer/Cuir, Non-binary, Gender Fluid or Gender Non-Conforming, but cannot specifically search for people who identify in those ways.
At the same time, Grindr includes “Trans” under Tribes and allows users to search for that category. This raises a question of consistency: why is “Trans” treated differently from other gender identities?
If a gender identity can be used as a Tribe and as a way to find people, why not apply the same principle to other gender identities?
In addition, Tribes include categories such as Bear, Otter, Leather, Macho, Twink, Sporty, Daddy, Discreet, Clean-Cut and Sober, among others. Yet there are no equivalent categories for people who identify with certain communities or expressions such as Queer/Cuir, alternative, underground or gender-nonconforming.
This is not about removing any existing categories, but about making the system consistent and genuinely useful. If Grindr allows someone to describe themselves using a particular identity, it should also allow them to find other people who use that same identity.
Ultimately: if I can tell Grindr who I am, why can’t I use that same information to find other people like me?