Meet Petunia

For a long time, online dating was a club for straight people. Sites like and eHarmony, whose co-founder is notoriously homophobic, had historically excluded LGBTQ communities. Even as new apps revolutionized the online dating world, queer folks were finding that these apps had little to offer in terms of inclusivity, acceptance, and creating space for people with a wide variety of genders and sexualities. Where were the Lesbian, queer, and lesbian dating apps that catered to everyone? Up until recently, some of the nation has acted as though lesbianism didnt exist outside of porn and Ellen Degeneres, and acted as if girls only turn to dating women if they had a bad experience with a man. This, of course, is not true. If youre reading this, its probably because youve experienced the frustration with dating sites and apps that claim to be inclusive to all sexual orientations, only to realize that some closeted quirks make it obvious that the straights are the target. Chances are, at least one person you know has met their partner using a dating app. Male or female, regardless of what you identify as or what you like in bed, we all use them. And yet, most apps are still designed with only straight people in mind. What gives? By its very premise, which requires the woman in a match to send the first message, Bumble assumes that its users are straight. And as a lesbian woman whos spent a fair amount of time on both Tinder and OkCupid, I can tell you that the apps arent great at weeding out men who dont belong (sorry for the immediate swipe left, Scott, Todd, and John, but I dont know how you got here).