The popular dating service eHarmony will launch a new matchmaking website for the gay community by the end of the month. Called Compatible Partners, it might be the first dating site whose owners didn't really want to create it.
Since its inception nine years ago, eHarmony has allowed only heterosexuals to take advantage of the site's "scientific method" for matching singles. Neil Clark Warren, the psychologist who runs the site (he's the guy with gray hair in those weepy eHarmony commercials), has said that the formula he uses to match customers is based on research of straight, married couples, which is why he limited his membership to heterosexuals.
In 2005 his specialty was challenged when a New Jersey man filed a discrimination lawsuit saying that eHarmony should allow gay members. eHarmony fought the claim, but after the New Jersey Attorney General's Office said the case had probable cause, the company settled late last year. The compromise came in the form of Compatible Partners, which eHarmony promised to roll out by March 31.
The sister site will work just like eHarmony, with members filling out long questionnaires so that eHarmony specialists can pair them with appropriate partners.
"It's something we're going to be fully supporting as a line of business," says Paul Breton, a spokesman for eHarmony.
He sounds pretty excited about the venture, doesn't he?
It's obvious that eHarmony didn't want to do this. The question is, should it have had to? Many online dating websites are all about narrowing the dating pool. There are sites for women who want to date older men. There are sites for married people who want to cheat with other married people.
JDate.com's website language makes it pretty clear that the site is for Jews. Seems fair. JDate members have told me that they get annoyed when they show up for a date only to find out that a potential partner is, in fact, not "J." Spark Networks, the company that owns JDate, also runs BlackSingles.com, ChristianMingle.com, and LDSSingles.com (that's for the Latter-Day Saints). Talk about niche.
Manhunt.net, a website with more than 7 million members, does not allow women or heterosexual men to join. Todd Sowers, who does marketing for the Cambridge-based instant-gratification-and-more website, says no one has ever questioned why Manhunt is only for men seeking men. No women or straight men have complained.
"Our site really is for men who want to have sex with men." he says. "It's OK to discriminate a little bit - I shouldn't say that, because we don't discriminate - but it's OK to have a niche product. Being a man and wanting to have sex with another man is a very specific thing."
True enough.
Ryan Norbauer, who runs Lovetastic.com, a free website for gay men, says a site like eHarmony, one that claims to want to bring love to the masses but doesn't allow gays, is practicing discrimination. Pairing straight people probably doesn't qualify as a niche, whereas Lovetastic's aim to match men with men seeking marriage probably is.
It makes sense that eHarmony has been forced to widen its pool, although Norbauer can't imagine the gay community flocking to the site. The big disclaimer the company plans to run about the system being "solely based on research involving married heterosexual couples" probably won't help.
"I think that most people are aware of the history of it," Norbauer said of why eHarmony created Compatible Partners. "I think it's going to be quite a hill to climb for them."
I doubt eHarmony is worried. If no one from the gay community signs up, the company will be right where it started.
Meredith Goldstein can be reached at mgoldstein@globe.com. You can read her daily Love Letters dispatch and chat with her every Wednesday at 1 p.m. at www.boston.com/loveletters. 
