Weddingbee

This post was originally published here, along with posts by Mrs. Bee, Mrs. Cream Puff, and Miss Sweet Tea.  The comments on all those posts can be found at the link above.

I’ll admit that I am feeling quite uncomfortable about the sale of Weddingbee to eHarmony. I totally understand why Weddingbee sold and I am very excited for what this means for Bee. I think she deserves kudos for creating a successful company that is in demand. However, I am not too keen on being a blogger for eHarmony.

I am concerned about this new partnership for two reasons.1) I am concerned with eHarmony’s heavy involvement from 2000-2005 with Focus on the Family, an organization that promotes unscientific conversion therapies of LGBTQ people and homosexuality as a mental illness. I know that as both a member of the LGBTQ community and as a psychologist, that this rhetoric and these practices have and continue to cause a lot of harm to LGBTQ people.  I am not sure that I can be involved with a company that in any way is associated with an organization that promotes this type of practice.  Eharmony has distanced themselves from Focus on the Family for the past few years, but I worry that this is more of a business decision rather than an actual change of heart. I believe that their current company practices support my concerns.

2) eHarmony has a practice against same-sex matching. As recently as May 2008, the CEO of eHarmony was quoted in this article saying, “There’s a real business issue here,” Waldorf said. “You’ve got to decide what market you’re going to put resources against. For example, we’ve decided that the Chinese market will be a big enough opportunity. We have a lot of things to go after and the gay community is not a market we’re going to pursue and that’s it.”

eHarmony has associated with one of the most anti-LGBTQ organizations in the U.S. in the recent past and has a current practice of LGBTQ exclusion. To me, this indicates that eHarmony is an anti-LGBTQ company. Some might interpret eHarmony’s purchase of Weddingbee as a sign of progress, as they obviously know we had LGBTQ bloggers.  This concerns me, because I don’t want my presence as a blogger to be used as evidence that eHarmony has become more inclusive. If eHarmony really wants to be inclusive of the LGBTQ community, this should be reflected in their policies.

Some have argued that the best thing we can do to support LGBTQ equality is to stay on board to try to make changes from within the organization. I am not convinced that this is the best way for me to show support for my community. It has been really fun sharing my experiences of wedding planning with all of you and I am grateful to have been a part of the Weddingbee community. If eHarmony changes their practices in the future, then I’d feel more comfortable being a part of an eHarmony company. Until then, I don’t think that I can reconcile the past and present actions of eHarmony and continue to blog on this site. I wish I felt differently since I still have plenty that I want to share with you and I will miss this community. If eHarmony changes what I feel are discriminatory policies, then I’d love to return. Until then, you can find me over at my other blog http://twochicksnest.blogspot.com/.

All the best and many thanks,
Mrs. Gingerbread

• Weddingbee and Marriage E...
• Weddingbee and Marriage E...