Gaydar is a profile-based

dating website Online dating, also known as internet dating, virtual dating, or mobile app dating, is a method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An online dating service ...

for

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

men.

History

The Gaydar website, built initially for desktop only, was created as a tool to connect gay and bisexual men all over the world for friendships, hook-ups, dating and relationships. Users create a personal 'member' profile, which is then used to interact and contact other registered members. It was founded in 1999 in Cape Town,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, by

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based

ns Gary FrischGaydar founder death fall probed
''

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...

'', 12 February 2007Obituary: Gary Frisch
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 13 February 2007 and his partner Henry Badenhorst, after a friend complained that he was too busy to look for a new boyfriend. The initial idea was based upon a then current concept of a corporate intranet that was in development under the codename "RADAR" (Rapid Access And Deployment Resource) for a prominent South African advertising conglomerate by programmers Ian Van Schalkwyk and Stephen Hadden. The site was launched in November 1999. In May 2007, Henry Badenhorst was named by the ''

Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' Pink List as the fourth most influential gay person in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, down from third place the previous year.The pink list 2007
, ''

'', 6 May 2007 In 2009, Gaydar expanded into the app market, releasing its

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and Android app as available to download from the

Apple App Store The App Store is an app marketplace developed and maintained by Apple, for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS SDK. Apps can be download ...

and

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

. In May 2013, it was announced that the site had been sold to Charlie Parsons, the creator of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 from 1992 to 2002, and as a revival from 2021 to 2022. The show had various presenters, starting with Chris Evans (presenter), ...

''.Channel 4 Big Breakfast creator Charlie Parsons acquires global dating site Gaydar
, ''

Pink News ''PinkNews'' is a UK-based online newspaper marketed to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning community (LGBTQ+) in the UK and worldwide. It was founded by Benjamin Cohen in July 2005, initially released in print, b ...

'', 17 May 2013 In 2017, Gaydar relaunched its site, app and brand.

Registration

Registered users are able to browse through online lists of users who are logged into the site at that time, or through lists of all active profiles. Users can send messages to each other and participate in

chat room The term chat room, or chatroom (and sometimes group chat; abbreviated as GC), is primarily used to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology, ranging from ...

s, which — except for the Australian and Irish chat rooms — tend to be dominated by UK users. Users can upgrade to a premium account to access Gaydar VIP, which offers more features and privileges. Members may add more photos into an 'album' attached to their profile that are viewable by other members. Guests face other site restrictions, such as a daily limit of 8 messages that they can send and 25 profiles that they can view, and a limit on number of chat rooms accessible at the same time. Guests cannot view archives of sent messages, and cannot use the friends list and do not have access to all search options. About a third of users are members.

Profiles

Profiles typically include standard information on age, location, physical features, sexual predilections, hobbies, and pastimes. Profiles usually include a free format description about their owner and what they seek in a partner. There is provision for profile owners to upload a number of photographs, typically of themselves — one as the 'main photo', several as 'secondary photos', and several more as 'private photos' that can be sent as attachments to private messages.

Controversy and criticisms

Critics allege that it facilitates barebacking (anal intercourse without a condom),Hard drive into sex
, '' Positive Nation'', April 2003 though this criticism is potentially true of any dating site. Media attention was drawn in 2003 when the website was used by Labour Party MP

Chris Bryant Sir Christopher John Bryant (born 11 January 1962) is a British politician and former Anglican priest who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Rhondda and Ogmore (UK Parliament constituency), Rhondda ...

, and in 2006, when married

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

leadership candidate

Mark Oaten Mark Oaten (born 8 March 1964) is a British politician who was a senior member of the Liberal Democrats. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Winchester from 1997 to 2010. Born in Watford, Hertfordshire, Oaten became a councillor i ...

used it to find gay sexual partners.

Deaths of co-founders

The chairman and co-founder of Gaydar, Gary Frisch died unexpectedly at his home in London on 11 February 2007, aged 38 years. A

verdict In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales ...

of misadventure was recorded by Paul Knapman, the

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

at the inquest. A

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

, Peter Wilkins, said

ketamine Ketamine is a cyclohexanone-derived general anesthetic and NMDA receptor antagonist with analgesic and hallucinogenic properties, used medically for anesthesia, depression, and pain management. Ketamine exists as its S- (esketamine) a ...

was found in Frisch's blood and liver.Gaydar founder in K-fuelled death plunge
'' Gay.com News'' (via the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

), 20 April 2007 On 11 November 2017, co-founder Henry Badenhorst died unexpectedly at the age of 51. He was reported to have taken his own life.

References

External links

Website
{{LGBT social networking services LGBTQ-related Internet forums Gay men's websites LGBTQ online dating services LGBTQ social networking services Social networking services Online dating services Online dating services of the United Kingdom Online dating applications Geosocial networking Mobile social software iOS software Android (operating system) software