This is interesting:
The popular online dating service eHarmony was sued on Thursday for refusing to offer its services to gays, lesbians and bisexuals.
A lawsuit alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Linda Carlson, who was denied access to eHarmony because she is gay.
Lawyers bringing the action said they believed it was the first lawsuit of its kind against eHarmony, which has long rankled the gay community with its failure to offer a “men seeking men” or “women seeking women” option.
They were seeking to make it a class action lawsuit on behalf of gays and lesbians excluded from the dating service.
I’m not gay or lesbian, so I won’t be joining Ms. Carlson’s suit. But in a way, I feel her pain. You see, I too have been the victim of eHarmony discrimination.
Like every other TV viewer, I’ve been bombarded with advertising promising those who enter the eHarmony domain with a soul mate, the love of their life. Not being in possession of either, I decided to check it out. I registered under a fake name (don’t want the dating police coming after me) and proceeded to take the “Relationship Questionnaire” to discover what kind of social creature I am.
The Relationship Questionnaire was fairly extensive–several pages of questions regarding different dimensions of my personality. As is often the case with these kinds of tests, I didn’t fit its multiple choice mold very well. But I did the best I could, sometimes choosing the least bad answer.
Finally I reached the moment of truth–the feedback which would set me on the course toward relationship bliss. But alas, it wasn’t to be. Instead I felt the sharp pangs of rejection as I read that eHarmony was unable to match people or my personality type with anyone else.
Wow, who knew? It’s difficult to find a match for my personality? That’s the kind of problem which could prompt someone to seek help from a website . . . or something.
Sorry to hear of your problem, Ms. Carlson. But you don’t have to be gay or lesbian to excluded from the eHarmony community of happy relationships.