LGBTQ and Extramarital Dating Apps Grow in India

3rd October 2018 Dominic Whitlock

Niche dating apps are seeing an increased number of active users in India, following recent law changes from the country’s Supreme Court.

In the past month, same-sex relationships and female adultery have both been decriminalised.

As a result of the ruling, certain LGBTQ apps have begun to grow very quickly. According to App Annie, Grindr is now the 80th highest grossing app in the country, compared to early July when it was believed to be around about the 150th.

Grindr has been working towards being more inclusive for its Indian audience, and has set up secure and trusted HIV test locators in 30 towns and cities.

Director of Grindr for Equality Jack Harrison-Quintana explained to The Economic Times: “In India, we have worked with Indian gender and sexuality organisations – to develop an innovative and one-of-a-kind LGBTQ+ friendly resource database and online HIV test centre location guide for India.

“We also have a section of our sexual health resource page translated into Hindi and eight other languages common to India with one more being added by the end of year.”

Gleeden, a French dating app specifically aimed at married people, has almost tripled its number of users in India since 2017.

It used to be illegal to have a sexual relationship with a woman without her husband’s permission. However, the court has judged this to be discriminatory as it treated women as though they are the property of their husband.

There are now over 340,000 Indian users of Gleeden, which is free for women at sign up.

Manager of Gleeden Solen Paillet said to The Economic Times: “With adultery decriminalised, India is probably going to face a ‘sentimental revolution’ that will force the country to rethink marriage and relationships as they are.”