OkCupid slammed for 'offensive and discriminatory' survey question
LONDON -- Learning disability campaigners are calling on dating app OkCupid to apologise and remove an “offensive and discriminatory” question from its site.
Users who signed up for OkCupid were asked a series of questions designed to pair people with compatible matches; one of which was brought to the attention of Mencap, a charity representing people with learning disabilities.
Users were asked: “Would the world be a better place if people with low IQs were not allowed to reproduce?”
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Mencap campaigner Ciara Lawrence -- who has a learning disability -- was "horrified" when a colleague brought the question to her attention, prompting her to launch a petition calling on the dating app to remove the question and apologise for any offence it has caused.
"As someone with a learning disability who is married and thinking about maybe having children in the future, I find this question inappropriate, offensive and discriminatory," wrote Lawrence in an official statement.
“Since I was diagnosed with a learning disability when I was ten I’ve been told: 'you will never', 'you can’t', 'you won’t'. All negative attitudes," Lawrence continued.
Mencap spokesperson Amy Clarke, who has a learning disability, said in a statement she was "very upset" that OkCupid asked the question.
"This is not ok. It is shocking and offensive. By asking the question, they are making it seem like it is ok to say yes, which it is not.
"If they had asked the same question about people of different races or sexuality there would be outrage and it should be the same for people with a learning disability.
Lawrence's campaign has garnered a great deal of support, and the petition has been signed almost 2,000 times.
People on social media have joined Lawrence in calling on OkCupid to remove the question, with many using the hashtag #NotOkCupid.
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Responding to Mashable's request for comment about the question, OkCupid said:
"Our question system is designed to help potential matches understand the interests and values of other users. Questions range from mundane to provocative and they specifically allow you to determine your potential compatibility with someone else and to avoid people whose viewpoints you strongly disagree with."
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Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
