Gaydar (website)

Gaydar (website)

Gaydar is a worldwide, profile-based dating website for gay and bisexual men, women and couples over the age of 18. Although many of the individual profiles are publicly accessible on the Internet, to gain more functionality and interact with other users, a registration is required and a guest profile must be created.

It was founded in 1999 in Cape Town, South Africa by London-based South Africans Gary Frisch and his partner Henry Badenhorst, after a friend complained that he was too busy to look for a new boyfriend. The initial idea was based upon a then current concept of a corporate intranet that was in development under the codename "RADAR" (Rapid Access And Deployment Resource) for a prominent South African Advertising Conglomerate by programmers Ian Van Schalkwyk and Stephen Hadden. The site was launched in November 1999.

Gaydar and similar sites are widely regarded as having had a major impact on gay communities in many parts of the world. Gaydar allows users to display and receive more detailed and intimate information in many personal areas than is possible in live venues. Some people speculate that internet dating sites may have played a part in shifting the emphasis from cruising grounds — both outdoors and in sex-on-premises venues — to the Internet. Gaydar is popular in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and to a lesser extent in North America and continental Europe.

In May 2007 Henry Badenhorst was named by the Independent on Sunday Pink List as the fourth most influential gay person in Britain, down from third place the previous year.