eHarmony Sued Again Regarding Gay Rights!

eHarmony legal troubles may be over in New Jersey but in California they are just starting. According to a press release another class action lawsuit has been filed and certified by California Superior Court Judge, Victoria Chaney.

The plaintiffs in that case maintain that eHarmony’s decision to establish a separate site for gays rather than integrate its flagship site, eHarmony.com, amounts to an unlawful “separate but equal” policy and the continued marginalization of gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

eHarmony's separate site for gay singles is called Compatible Partners, which just launched recently.

An article on QUEERTY called If eHarmony Must Allow Gay Dating, Should Gay Sites Have To Welcome Straights? examines the California lawsuit more closely with some good comments by their readers. The author seems to be on eHarmony's side as he points out if eHarmony must allow gay singles to join their dating site, then sites like ManHunt and Adam4Adman should allow straight singles to join. Some of these gay dating sites do allow heterosexuals to join but most do not cater directly to this type of sexual orientation.

Should eHarmony have allowed gay singles on their main dating site instead of creating the new separate dating service, CompatiblePartners.net? Are they discriminating against gays or is it more of a marketing strategy? As a straight male I know I wouldn't even want to join Manhunt or Adam4Adman as the sites are not targeted for me. The names of the services and the graphics used on the site all suggest it is a service for singles who are gay. There are lots of other dating sites out their better suited for me. Maybe part of the problem is, there is no popular gay specific dating site that doesn't rely on mainly sex to sell their dating service.

So what will be the next lawsuit filed against eHarmony? As pointed out on QUEERTY in the comments, ManHunt has been accused of discrimination by the transgendered community, maybe eHarmony will be next on the list.

For the press release, check out Social Media Portal and for the article mentioned, read QUEERTY.