Eric McKinley, a gay man from New Jersey, sued eHarmony to let him be a member. Just in time for Proposition 8, Eric got his wish. Now gays can meet online, fall in love, and still not get married in most states.
eHarmony, Inc. legal counsel Theodore B. Olson:
Even though we believed that the complaint resulted from an unfair characterization of our business, we ultimately decided it was best to settle this case with the Attorney General since litigation outcomes can be unpredictable,
“Unpredictable” is one way to put it. I think he meant to say, “expensive.”
Eric has won a free year of eHarmony service and $5,000. If he successfully finds a match, he can be featured under the “Diversity” section on the successful relationships area.
As a result of the ruling, eHarmony is about to launch Compatible Parters for gays. I can’t believe they could only get the .net version of the url. Featuring a new website and a logo that looks like it was done in MS Paint, eHarmony now caters to the gay population and is (almost) open for business.
Let me get this, er, straight. Ever since day one, eHarmony has said that their research never took gays into consideration and that their matching system wouldn’t work for gays. Am I the only one that sees the irony here?
New eHarmony FAQ
Q: What happens to my profile now that gays are allowed?
A: Gay profiles are on a completely different website and database. At no time will your straight profile touch a gay one.
Q: What if I need help?
A: Because we don’t understand you, we have hired several gay customer service reps. They understand terms like “fierce” and “bottom” and which back pocket your handkerchief goes in.
I wonder if the eHarmony will have to say that it admits gays in 12 point type on the home page.
Besides advertising in the Advocate, I wonder how much money eHarmony is going to spend marketing to gays? I talked to many, many gay people about this and nobody ever said it bothered them or that they wanted to be a member.
What does this mean for Chemistry.com? What does this mean for the existing eHarmony brand? Will it burnish or harm it? I think it’s going to be a blip on the radar, in terms of revenue and traffic for eHarmony.
I’m glad Compatible People is a new url that we can track traffic separately from eHarmony.com.
Keep an eye out for a new Kathy Griffin monologue.
The Unofficial eHarmony Blog has all the details and links.
