Following bakers and florists, online dating sites are now being forced to compromise their beliefs after facing lawsuits. The dating site, ChristianMingle.com, owned by Sparks Networks, was sued by two gay men in 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported.
A California state judge agreed to a settlement on Monday where the site will simply ask if a user is a man or a woman. Within two years, the site is expected to adjust its site so gay and lesbian singles can use it more easily. The site previously asked if users were a man seeking a woman or a woman seeking a man.
The plaintiffs argued that the site violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, a state law which requires “business establishments” to offer “full and equal accommodations” regardless of sexual orientation.
The settlement applies to other Sparks sites including CatholicMingle.com, AdventistSinglesConnection.com and BlackSingles.com. The company will also pay $9,000 to each plaintiff and $450,000 in attorney fees.
The settlement agreement raises the issue of a slippery slope.
“Based on the logic of this settlement, presumably a Jew could sue ChristianMingle.com and demand that it rename itself and open itself up to Jewish profiles – after all, we wouldn’t want Christians discriminating. Or perhaps whites could sue BlackSingles.com to change the name of the website so that it doesn’t discriminate based on race,” Ben Shapiro wrote for The Daily Wire.
A plaintiff’s attorney celebrated the decision as “work[ing] 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.”
The statement is an ironic one. If the market were truly “diverse,” companies and businesses would be able to operate according to their beliefs. That’s what would “make our country so special.” Instead, it raises the concern of government inference.
