So you want to marry a lesbian

You may have heard about the eharmony lesbian lawsuit by now. If you haven't you can read all about it on EDGE Boston. From what I understand, a lesbian sued eHarmony because they provide services for straight women only (and straight men, of course), and claims this is a violation of Californian law. Of course, the more-centrist-than-thou John Corvino of IGF wasted no time deciding that this was a "frivolous" lawsuit:

It’s not that I approve of their policy (I don’t). It’s not even that I think that their policy, while wrongheaded, is in fact legal (I’ll leave that question to those who know California anti-discrimination law).

It’s that the last thing the gay-rights movement needs is a frivolous lawsuit.

Oh really? And here I thought that the last thing the gay-rights movement needed was, oh, hmm... apologists for anti-gay discrimination?

Anyway, I'd looked up the story because my friend J. and I had discussed it while/instead of studying for the bar. For the record, J. thought that regardless of the legal merits of the case, eHarmony should not have to accomodate lesbian users, because same-sex dating is qualitatively different from hetero dating, and would necessitate a whole different Special Process. On the other hand, he acknowledged that inter-racial dating was also qualitatively different from same-race dating, but that he would probably find it problematic if a site were for "whites only" dating and prohibited non-whites from using its services. Still, he thought that in the realm of dating, not catering to those seeking same-sex relationships was ethically justifiable.

According to tech.blorge, one of eharmony's explanations for the lesbian/gay/bi exclusion is that it seeks to connect users for the purposes of marriage, and since marriages between two people of the same gender still are not recognized by the states in the U.S. (has anyone thought of bringing suit in Massachusetts, btw?)

I'm guessing that the suit is brought under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which includes the following language (it's California Civil Code section 51. This is section (b)):

All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.

(emphasis mine, obviously)

My favorite quote from one eHarmony user (taken from the EDGE Boston article):

As a single woman seeking a single man, I do not want to stumble upon a lesbian on my dating site, purposely or by accident," wrote an eHarmony user. "As it is, it is a long shot at finding compatibility on line, so I really appreciate eHarmony for connecting me with the right matches. I am not anti-lesbian, but for the love of God, I do not want to tell lesbians to fuck off for cordially or accidentally contacting me.

If the thinly veiled homophobia of that last quote isn't clear enough, the EDGE article points out the real chewy, caramelly, how-many-licks-does-it-take-to-get-to-the center of this dispute:

Given that eHarmony’s founder is a Christian evangelical with longstanding ties to James Dobson and the anti-gay group Focus on the Family, the real objection is probably that eHarmony does not want to facilitate what it regards as immoral and unbiblical relationships.

Yes. Once again a religion whose central figure was an anti-government, anti-wealthy, anti-hierarchical, homosocial, ass-kicking bachelor rebel has been turned into an "Ick, not the gays!" club.

The thing that intrigued me most about the EDGE article, however, was the author bio at the bottom:

Caught between the moon and New York City which he calls home since 2000, Ambrose Aban wrote for Malaysia, Singapore and Bangkok Tatler, reviewed restaurants and wrote special ad supplement, "Christopher Street", for HX Magazine New York, contributed to leading English dailies in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Ambrose loves giving up the secrets of everything from where to find the most delicious Orange Glazed Peking Duck to how to prepare extravagant chic soirees in the city.

Another SEASian queer expat online, perhaps?