OkCupid launches a pronoun feature to better serve gender non-conforming users

Modern online dating may be a living hellscape, but OkCupid just made it a little more inclusive.

The IAC-owned website collaborated with GLAAD, a gay and trans rights group, for a new feature that lets users choose their preferred pronoun, with the aim of better serving gender non-conforming, non-binary, LGBTQ users. The feature was designed by OkCupid employee Rowan Rosenthal, who uses they/them pronouns and wanted others to be able to do the same while using the app.

“One of the main reasons I was drawn to working at OkCupid was because it was one of the few mainstream dating apps that felt more inclusive, and I felt I’d be able to express my own identity fully and openly within the workplace,” Rosenthal said in a statement about the app. “As a gender non-conforming person, I wanted to ensure the product that I work on every day empowers the LGBTQIA+ community.”

The new feature is now available on OkCupid. To use it, select your gender(s) and then update your pronouns on your profile by choosing (he/him, she/her, they/them) or whatever pronouns you want?. Once updated, whoever sees your profile will know what you prefer to be called.

OkCupid says it’s the first leading dating app to let users state and share their preferred pronouns, taking an important step forward to making dating slightly more authentic and slightly less awful.