After Grindr, Jack'd and Adam4Adam, Women Finally Get a Lesbian Dating App

By KATE WILLSON

Men have long had access to cellphone applications tailored to find gay, bisexual and bi-curious partners, while women searching for women weeded out men from sites such as Tindr and OkCupid.

Today the British app startup Dattch launched in Portland a dating application for women only just in time for Pride Northwest—try it out at the Dyke March Saturday afternoon or the Hot Flash dance party at the Crystal Ballroom Saturday night.

"It has been a long time coming,"said founder Robin Exton.

Exton said they hadn't planned to bring the application to Portland yet, but the response was overwhelming.

"The response was so passionate we decided to do it," she said. "People were writing all over Facebook and how much they wanted it. They offered to help promote it for us."

The application launched in the UK in September, the came to the U.S. in March – first to San Francisco, then Los Angeles. New Yorkers begin signing on next week.

Unlike the personal questions posed on Grindr or Adam4Adam, Dattch won't ask about body hair or cup size. Instead it will ask questions intended to draw an accurate picture start a conversation.

"Women are bad at describing themselves. Guys always oversell their height. Girls undersell their physiques,” Exton said. “They manage expectations.”  So the application will ask for lots of photos. It will also ask questions about hobbies, travels and work—enough to start women talking.  

The site requires users log in via Facebook to weed out men who might be creeping for a threesome.

"We check and assess the likelihood that you're a real person and a female," Exton said. "We ask you to sign in to Facebook so we can see you are female and so you can trust other people as well."

WWeek 2015

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