ChristianMingle.com has agreed to open
its doors to gay singles following a class-action lawsuit claiming
discrimination.
The lawsuit, filed by two gay men in
2013, charged that dating sites owned by Spark Networks, Inc. were
violating California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which requires
businesses to offer “full and equal accommodations” to all
customers regardless of sexual orientation, The
Wall Street Journal reported.
Under the terms of an agreement
approved Monday by a state judge, Spark Networks, which also owns
CatholicMingle.com, AdventistSinglesConnection.com and
BlackSingles.com, did not admit any wrongdoing and agreed to pay each
plaintiff $9,000, plus attorneys' fees. Spark Networks also owns
JDate.com, a Jewish dating site, but that site was not part of the
litigation.
ChristianMingle users were required to
specify whether they were a man seeking a woman or a woman seeking a
man. The sites will now only ask users their gender. Additional
searching and profile features will be added within two years.
Vineet Dubey, who represented one of
the lead plaintiffs, said: “I am gratified that we were able to
work with Spark to help ensure that people can fully participate in
all the diverse market places that make our country so special,
regardless of their sexual orientation.”