Rainbow Christians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| RainbowChristians.com | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Berkeley, CA, USA |
| Key people | Justin R. Cannon Founder |
| Industry | Internet, online dating, |
| Website | [1] |
RainbowChristians.com is an online dating and social networking website that caters to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual Christians.
Contents |
[edit] History of Name Change
In October 2005, Justin R. Cannon founded this site under the name ‘Gayharmony’ through the domain www.gayharmony.net. In the website’s debut press release, Cannon explained the rationale for founding the website as follows: “Most GLBTQ Christians are excluded from joining Christian personals sites, and gay and other personals sites aren’t structured to meet their specific needs. The growing gay Christian demographic deserves a welcoming safe place tailored just for them.” [1]
On May 29, 2006, Cannon applied for a trademark for the term Gayharmony through the United States Patent and Trademark Office. [2] After Cannon’s trademark application was denied on grounds of “likelihood of confusion” with eharmony’s respective trademark, Cannon abandoned the trademark for Gayharmony[3] and changed the name of his site to Rainbow Christians.
A Whois search for the domain Gayharmony.net shows "eharmony.com" as the current domain registrant. [4] To date, no press release has been issued from Cannon or Rainbow Christians concerning the name change or possible transfer of ownership.
[edit] Services
Features of the site include:
- Comprehensive user profiles
- Photo and video uploads
- Internal email and chat system
- Simple and advanced search
[edit] Publicity and Honors
- December 2006 - Cannon was recognized as one of OUT Magazine’s top 100 most influential gay people of the year for his work through both Rainbow Christians and his online ministry TruthSetsFree.net. [5]
- March 2007 - News10, Sacramento's ABC news affiliate interviewed Cannon and ran a news story on Rainbow Christians. [6]
- November 2007 - Instinct (magazine) honored Cannon as one of their 25 Leading Men of the Year 2007. [7]
[edit] Criticism
- Small number of registered users compared to other dating sites
[edit] References
- ^ "Gayharmony.Net Launches As Net’s Only Devoted Gay Christian Personals & Matchmaking Site" October 9, 2005. Accessed April 8, 2008
- ^ Gayharmony Trademark Document Retrieval" May 29, 2006. Accessed April 8, 2008
- ^ Gayharmony Trademark Document Retrieval" May 29, 2006. Accessed April 8, 2008
- ^ Gayharmony.net Whois Entry" Accessed April 8, 2008
- ^ Out100 Alumni 2006" Accessed April 8, 2008
- ^ A Place for God-Loving Gays -- On the Web" March 29, 2007. Accessed April 8, 2008
- ^ Scan of the article Cannon’s Ministry News Board" Accessed April 8, 2008
