A Dating App Built for the LGBTQ+ Community

The Short Version: Dating apps for the LGBTQ+ community should be built around their users’ unique needs. Taimi, which recently received a statement of support from GLAAD, gives users wide-ranging, inclusive ways to personalize their profiles, room to maneuver for non-monogamous daters, and the freedom to explore new connections.

Signing up for a dating app is all about defining yourself. Dating app profiles usually leave lots of room to customize, and users can add premade icons and answers that tell others who they are and what they want.

Trouble starts when the premade identity options are incomplete, which matters most for identifiers tied to relationship type, gender, and sexuality.

Nobody should have to use a dating app that lacks the tools to authentically express who they are and what they want in a relationship.

Taimi is one dating app that makes sure LGBTQ+ daters have every tool they need right at their fingertips.

Taimi representative Daria Marusyk and Senior Product Manager Roman Kalynchuk spoke with us about why inclusivity matters in digital dating spaces, and they filled us in on a project they’re working on with GLAAD.

“GLAAD is going to review Taimi according to standards they’ve developed,” Roman said. “We went through a process with them, and they were very impressed with our product and how we’re thinking about and implementing inclusivity.”

Taimi’s Features Make Self-Expression Easy

LGBTQ+ online daters have plenty of choices. Many go with apps popular with straight daters, such as Tinder and Bumble, while others stay with sites and apps made specifically for gay, lesbian, or LGBTQ+ users.

According to Roman, Taimi’s upcoming statement with GLAAD reflects how the app was designed with LGBTQ users in mind. “Taimi isn’t just inclusive, but it’s also flexible,” he told us. “If you experience it, you can express that experience in your profile. And you can change that information easily.”

Taimi has more than 22 million users across its platform and operates in 138 countries. The app was built to offer a dating experience that’s both flexible and robust for gay, lesbian, trans, bi, queer, and other daters who aren’t cis-het.

Users can fill their profiles with a range of interests and trait keywords, including ones about their gender identity and relationship type, plus details on their sexual interests and hobbies.

Taimi’s features are built with queer daters in mind.

Roman said the team keeps working to expand the app’s premade selections and make them more inclusive. Taimi also has built-in features that protect privacy-conscious users. With Stealth mode, users share personal information only with people they’ve liked.

Taimi blocks screenshots of other profiles, which adds another layer of privacy and helps users feel secure enough to be authentic. There’s also the option to keep their sexuality or gender hidden, saving the disclosure or explanation for the private chat.

Taimi’s proprietary algorithm is built to encourage mutual likes. Users interact with other profiles through a familiar swiping system that lets them swipe through icebreakers and photos. Most people use Taimi for dating, though Roman noted it was also meant to work as a social network.

“It’s free to register and try out Taimi,” Roman said. “I always encourage anyone who’s curious to try it out. It’s a different dating experience.”

GLAAD and Taimi Team Up for Pride

GLAAD is a nonprofit dedicated to LGBTQ+ advocacy and cultural change. Since its founding in 1985, it has put much of its energy into pushing for fair, inclusive representation of LGBTQ+ people in culture and media.

Taimi has signed a GLAAD statement of support. GLAAD drafted the statement in 2023 after companies that took part in Pride faced more threats of violence.

Pride Month marketing campaigns from big brands such as Bud Light and Target sparked a frenzy on social media in 2023, even though both brands had taken part in Pride in similar ways in earlier years.

These companies’ Pride Month marketing efforts became the target of vicious social media posts, anti-LGBTQ+ incidents, and remarks from public figures. It’s a sign of an alarming trend across the country.

Taimi joined GLAAD in signing a statement of support.

The growing backlash against corporate Pride involvement has come alongside a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ incidents and rhetoric, especially anti-trans. GLAAD recorded a more than 300% jump in incidents against LGBTQ+ people during Pride Month 2023 compared with the year before.

Corporate involvement in Pride isn’t new, and the controversy that follows it isn’t new either. GLAAD issues its statement of support to companies that have shown a commitment to including members of the LGBTQ+ community.

According to Roman, Taimi worked through a process with GLAAD once it had signed the statement. A GLAAD representative looked over the app’s onboarding flow and profile options and shared some feedback.

“GLAAD was impressed by our decision to conduct a review of the entire app and happy to discover that we are totally open to changes and improvements,” Roman said. “However, they provided us with lots of valuable comments and showed us areas where we can further develop Taimi as a fully inclusive dating app in terms of our features.”

During Pride Month and After, Taimi Serves Queer Daters

Pride Month keeps plenty of LGBTQ+-focused services and companies busy, but support can’t stop when July arrives. Taimi keeps supporting the LGBTQ+ community, daters in particular, all year long.

Roman said he’s looking forward to the events Taimi has lined up for Pride Month.

“We are constantly developing our resources with useful information on how to date healthily and have a healthy sex life. Recently, we launched a safety section that includes lots of useful information about having a safe dating experience.”

Taimi is concentrating on expanding resources and support for its trans users. “I think it’s important to express how much Taimi cares about and supports the transgender community during this time,” Roman said.

He continued, “We’re working with different research and advocacy centers to help connect transgender people with support when they need it.”

During Pride Month and beyond, Taimi serves LGBTQ+ users.

According to Roman, the Taimi team is improving the app’s dating features while also building a platform that does more for the community than dating alone.

“We educate our users in different ways. We’ve partnered with nonprofit initiatives, queer artists and musicians, LGBTQ-owned brands, and we make sure to celebrate important days, like Lesbian Visibility Day,” Daria added.

Labels can come thick and fast in dating. Taimi is building a different kind of experience for daters who are queer and non-conforming.

“I believe every day is Pride Day,” Daria said. “Our community is important to us year-round, and it’s nice to celebrate them.”