Match Opts to Keep Race Filter for Dating as Other Sites Drop It

Amid a wave of corporate responses to protests against police brutality, gay dating apps are nixing race-based filters in a bid to fight discrimination on their platforms. But the world’s largest online dating company is instead defending the controversial filters as a way to empower minorities, setting off a debate about whether or not the feature should exist at all.

Last week Grindr said it will remove its ethnicity filter in the next release of its software to “stand in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement.” The announcement came a week after George Floyd, a black man, died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.