Leftists are determined to date each other - and not settle for liberals: ‘Politics are the new religion'
Representatives for Hinge would not comment, but plenty of eligible New Yorkers did, claiming they would redownload the app due to Mamdani's success, in spite of their dating fatigue. 'Now I'm clocking in like it's a full-time job,' one user posted on TikTok. 'If he can find love on that app maybe I can,' another wrote in a caption.
However, they could run into an ideological hurdle while filling out their profiles. Alongside answering basic questions – 'Do you smoke, drink or do drugs? Where did you go to college?' – Hinge ask singles to choose their political affiliation: liberal, conservative, moderate, not political, or the mysterious 'other'.
Some people to the left say the label 'liberal' does not encapsulate their socialist views. They associate it with establishment figures such as Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama – or Mamdani's rival, former governor Andrew Cuomo. Many liberals deem proposals by Hinge's golden boy (freezing rent, taxing the super-rich, making buses free) too radical. A socialist might want to distance themselves from such center-leaning liberalism and instead embrace the 'hot commie summer' that hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb warned his fellow billionaires of.
'There's a real appetite to date leftists now,' said Abby Beauregard, fundraising chair for Democratic Socialists of America's New York chapter. She said that Mamdani's victory reinvigorated the dating scene in in the city, 'but it's really hard to find explicitly leftist dating spaces. Most dating apps have a liberal option, but no leftist option, and it's not a turn-on to see 'other', because that could mean anything.' (For instance, far-right or communist.)
So lefty singles are finding more explicit ways to signal their politics to like-minded love matches, on Hinge and beyond.
Some have turned their dating profiles into mini-manifestos, writing out their entire belief system as answers to the apps' prompts. It's common to see watermelon emojis as euphemisms for solidarity with the Palestinian people. Some users will warn that they'll swipe left on Terfs (the acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminists), cops or Donald Trump supporters.
'It's important for me to see those signifiers,' said Caroline, a 38-year-old florist who lives in Queens. (She other sources are going by their first name for privacy reasons.) 'There's a nice feeling on the apps right now with people being proud to be communists or leftists, and they're saying that.'
But she's wary of anyone who comes off as too lefty. 'That seems kind of tryhard,' she said. 'It can read as too performative, that you're fishing for alt-girls or you're a centrist who just wants someone freaky from Bushwick.'
Tinder, OK Cupid and the kink-friendly app Feeld allow users to write their own bios, unlike Hinge, and they can choose within those bios whether they reveal their political affiliations. In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Tinder also launched profile 'stickers' so users could signal the issues they felt strongly about, such as 'voting for reproductive rights'.
For her part, Caroline, who uses Feeld, wrote in her profile that she's 'far left' and 'COVID-cautious'. That feels like enough for her. 'Saying 'I love vaccines!', 'free Palestine!' or 'fuck Trump!' would be trite. It's all implied.'
Dennis Mulvena describes himself as 'very left-leaning'. He used to keep his affiliations private on Hinge because he believed there was room for nuance in discussing politics, but recently listed himself as liberal.
'With the return of Trump in the last two years, it's important to have that out there,' said Mulvena, 30, who works in customer service for a car manufacturer. 'Admittedly gay people who live in Brooklyn tend to lean left, but I have had the experience of going on a date with someone who then revealed he was part of his college's Young Republicans club.' That was the last time he assumed that everyone he matched with would share the same views as him.
According to an NBC News poll from April, the partisan gap between gen Z women, who are more likely to say they are Democrat, and gen Z men, who have shifted right, is the widest of all generations. And, increasingly, a person's politics have an impact on their perceived desirability. While past generations may have thought nothing about a conservative and liberal romantic pairing ('don't talk about politics or religion at the dinner table'), 60% of 18- to 24-year-olds think it's important to date or marry someone who shares their political beliefs.
'Politics is the new religion,' said Dr Jess Carbino, a former sociologist for Bumble and Tinder who studies dating apps. 'It's become the way that people choose to frame how they look at the world and their values.'
Lily, a 23 year-old socialist who was recently laid off, is wary of seeing someone identify as 'not political' on Hinge. 'I'm immediately scared of what that means,' they said. 'As a queer person living through everything that's happening in this country, I need to know someone has a baseline care for people and their community.'
In New York, more voters between the ages of 25 and 34 – a mix of gen Z and younger millennials – turned out to vote in the Democratic primary than any other age cohort, indicating a vigor for leftist politics. Recently, Lily has seen young people write on Hinge that they'd only go out with someone who voted for Mamdani or that they'd never go out with a Cuomo supporter. They have seen multiple people answer the Hinge prompt 'when was the last time you cried?' with: 'when Zohran won'. (They presume these were happy tears.)
This is not to say New York is a young Bolshevik paradise: conservatives in the city are also trying to find each other. Some have gone into voluntary exile from mainstream dating apps, creating their own options. 'Our dating apps have gone woke,' reads the description for Date Right Stuff, one such app backed by Peter Thiel. 'Connect with people who aren't offended by everything.'
In March, Date Right Stuff hosted a singles event at New York's Trump Tower called 'make America hot again'. It was a coming-out night for what the app's former chief marketing officer Raquel Debono called 'city conservatives', or Republicans who prefer urban life to small towns and tradwifedom.
They are not the only ones going off-app: the Mamdani effect on New York's lefties could not be contained to Hinge.
In early July, young people gathered inside a cocktail bar on the Lower East Side for a 'sexy socialist singles' event hosted by New York's DSA. Those looking for something casual – or, as the host put it, 'if you just want fast and free, like Zohran's buses' – were sent to one part of the bar, while those who wanted 'a slow burn, like taxing the fucking rich' went to another. At one point, organizers directed polyamorous attendees to a room upstairs, where they could mingle with other non-monogamous individuals.
Upstairs, Sven, 25, an economics master's student who lives in Bushwick, said that young people view the DSA as a social club just as much as a platform for socialist candidates. 'I saw a post on Reddit talking about how all Zohran's canvassers are hot, and we have soccer leagues and book clubs,' they said. 'It's a great way to make friends.'
Downstairs, back in monogamyville, Lauren, a video editor who lives in Astoria (the Queens neighborhood Mamdani represents as a New York assemblymember), waited for a friend who was off flirting. 'There's definitely an energy when I wear my Zohran T-shirt out,' she said. 'People are revved up. They'll call you from across the street saying, 'What's up?' or 'I love that guy.' It's a real conversation starter.'
New York's DSA will continue its sexy socialist mixers in youth hubs Bushwick and Williamsburg, and in the Upper West Side for those over 30. In the meantime, singles will have to keep parsing political signifiers on dating apps.
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June Lockhart, 100 June Lockhart celebrated her 100th birthday last month, after a glittering decades-long career that spans classic 1940s movies, 1960s TV hits and even - by the 2010s - playing a character in a video game. She is so beloved as a standalone figure, especially by fans of throwback TV shows like Lassie and Lost In Space, that the fact of her 'nepo baby' status is often forgotten. In fact June was born in 1925 to two actors, the Broadway star Gene Lockhart and the acclaimed Anglo-American thespian Kathleen Lockhart. As a little girl, young June gave her first live performance in New York at the age of eight in a Metropolitan Opera production of Peter Ibbetson. Although her parents encouraged her to join their profession, they 'were perfectly happy with whatever I wanted to do,' June maintained to Senior News & Living. 'But they knew music, dance, and art would be a good background and I made my debut dancing at the age of eight. 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The scandal became so intense that Ingrid left Hollywood and returned to her native Europe, where she acted in films for her new Italian husband. Making waves: Ingrid was at the height of her Hollywood stardom when her career was torpedoed by her affair with Roberto, which started while they were making his 1950 film Stromboli; pictured 1950 Protective: Isabella and her twin sister Isotta were born in Rome in 1953 during Ingrid's sojourn in Italy; Isabella is pictured with her mother in 1980 Cult fave: Isabella became an icon for the arthouse crowd with the 1986 David Lynch movie Blue Velvet (pictured), which landed her an Independent Spirit Award Isabella and her twin sister Isotta were born in Rome in 1953, a few years before Ingrid made her Hollywood comeback with the 1956 feature Anastasia. Like Anjelica Huston around the same time, Isabella initially established herself in the 1970s as a model rather than an actress, sliding into a career in which her successes could not be so easily chalked up merely to her parents' celebrity. However, she was inexorably drawn towards cinema, even selecting Martin Scorsese for her first husband, and in the 1980s she achieved her own big screen stardom. Isabella became an icon for the arthouse crowd with the 1986 David Lynch movie Blue Velvet, which landed her an Independent Spirit Award. Hailed for her beauty and talent, and as the perfect blend of her parents' attributes, Isabella forged an off-kilter career with films in America and Europe like Death Becomes Her, Joy and the Soviet-Italian co-production Dark Eyes. Her TV career included roles on shows as Alias and Friends, as well as her own cult classic series Green Porno about the mating habits of animals. Higher calling: She is pictured in her Oscar-nominated role as the hardboiled Vatican fixer Sister Agnes in last year's Conclave with (from left) John Lithgow, Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci Acknowledgment: She addressed her 'nepo baby' status while promoting the film last year, saying: 'Of course it opens the door, because people are curious to see you,' via the Guardian; pictured last year This year she was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for her role as the hard-bitten Vatican fixer Sister Agnes in the drama Conclave. She addressed her 'nepo baby' status while promoting the film last year, saying: 'Of course it opens the door, because people are curious to see you,' via the Guardian. 'But I don't know that it was an advantage. The judgment is much more severe, and you don't have time to grow,' Isabella mused. Her relationship to her secondhand fame has evolved over the years, she explained late last year during a wide-ranging interview with Variety. 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Liza won her Academy Award with her father by her side, and when her name was called, he shrieked with joy so loudly that he gave her tinnitus. Although she proved her talents in Hollywood and on Broadway, and in sold-out concerts all over the world, public perception always placed Liza in Judy's shadow. Part of the phenomenon stemmed from Liza's singing voice, which was widely noted for its distinct similarity to Judy's, a comparison Liza reacted to by saying: 'I am my mother's daughter. Who should I sound like, Peggy Lee?' Smooch: Liza often remarks that she received her 'dreams' from her father and her 'drive' from her mother during her upbringing in showbiz; Vincente, Liza and Judy pictured in 1947 Fitting: Although she proved her talents in Hollywood, on Broadway, and in concert, public perception always placed Liza in Judy's shadow; Judy and Liza are pictured in 1947 Daddy's girl: Liza won her Academy Award with her father by her side - and when her name was called, he shrieked with joy so loudly that he gave her tinnitus; Liza and Vincente are pictured in 1970 Another issue was that by the late 1970s, Liza's private life had become increasingly tempestuous, rocked by a burgeoning drug problem that left fans and friends worrying that she would follow in her mother's tragic footsteps. Ultimately, Liza was able to wrench herself out of her spiral, undergoing rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic and entering Alcoholics Anonymous. But she also echoed her mother's private life in her four divorces - the same amount as Judy, who died while married to her own fifth husband Mickey Deans. In a farcical twist, Liza's second husband Jack Haley Jr happened to be the son of the man who had played the Tin Man alongside Judy in The Wizard of Oz, and Liza leaned into the baroque connection by wearing ruby slippers to the wedding. Through her career, Liza has attempted to strike a balance between establishing her own public persona and preserving her parents' legacies. She performed a one-woman Broadway show called Minnelli on Minnelli, dedicated to her father's movies, and is working on a memoir she says was partly provoked by her annoyance at the inaccurate portrayals of her mother. To this day, Liza and her parents hold what could be regarded as the 'nepo baby' triple crown - they are the only family in which every member has won an Oscar. Vanessa Redgrave, 88 Dynasty: Vanessa Redgrave (second from left) is pictured aged 25 in 1962 with her sisters Corin and Lynn Redgrave and their parents Michael Redgrave (right) and Rachel Kempson (left) Towering figure: Vanessa, now 88, is pictured last year with her own 'nepo baby' Joely Richardson, an actress best known for her role on the hit drama Nip/Tuck Vanessa Redgrave hails from as vaunted an acting family in Britain as the Barrymores were in America, with careers stretching from stage to screen. Although her grandparents acted in the 19th century theater, it was Vanessa's parents Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson who have come to be regarded as the matriarch and patriarch of the now sprawling showbiz dynasty. Her own stage career took off in the 1960s after she starred in As You Like It for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which both her parents had acted for in years past. Vanessa's exalted heritage also came in handy in her early film career, inasmuch as her big screen debut, the 1958 hospital drama Behind The Mask, had her father in the lead role and introduced her to cinema audiences in a supporting part. Her siblings Lynn Redgrave and Corin Redgrave became actors as well, but it was Vanessa whose prodigious talent made the biggest splash. Not only did she enjoy a glittering stage career on both sides of the Atlantic, landing a Tony and an Olivier, but she also planted a firm foothold in the movies. Her films ranged from historical dramas like A Man for All Seasons and Mary, Queen Of Scots, to European counterculture fare like Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-up, to her beguiling turn as Sean Connery's love interest in the 1974 adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder On The Orient Express. Vanessa's searing acting ability enabled her to weather the scandals brought on by her leftist political activism, such as when she was booed onstage at the Oscars for denouncing 'Zionist hoodlums.' Making her way: Her stage career flourished in the 1960s after she starred in a play for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which both her parents had acted for; Vanessa and Michael pictured 1958 Credits: Her her big screen debut, the 1958 hospital drama Behind The Mask, had her father in the lead role (left) and introduced her to movie audiences in a supporting part (center) Honored: She won her Oscar for the 1977 movie Julia, in which she played an anti-fascist murdered by the Nazis alongside Jane Fonda as author Lillian Hellman (right) She won that Academy Award for the 1977 movie Julia, in which she played an anti-fascist murdered by the Nazis alongside Jane Fonda as author Lillian Hellman. The film was controversial due to Vanessa's vigorous support of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Liberation Organization, which prompted her to be burned in effigy by the Jewish Defense League, which picketed the Oscars over her nomination. Shrugging off the brickbats, Vanessa enjoyed a top-flight career into her old age, with parts in projects as varied as Tom Cruise's first Mission: Impossible movie and the Keira Knightley and James McAvoy starrer Atonement. Her failed marriage to filmmaker Tony Richardson gave her two daughters who followed Vanessa's footsteps into the acting profession. Joely Richardson is best known for Nip/Tuck, while Natasha Richardson featured in The Parent Trap as the mother of the twins played by Lindsay Lohan. Trio: Vanessa is pictured in 2000 with her actress daughters Joely (right) and Natasha Richardson (left), who died tragically of a head injury suffered while skiing in 2009 Vanessa's long romance with Italian actor Franco Nero also produced a son, Carlo Gabriel Nero, who has gone onto become a filmmaker. Her fanatical devotion to her political activities meant Vanessa had scant time for her children while they were growing up, and although she tried to impress upon them that she was hoping to create a better future for them, little Natasha fired back: 'But I need you now. I won't need you so much then.' After her progeny grew up, Vanessa admitted to Charlie Rose that 'a difficult price to pay was not spending really any time with my children. That was difficult.' In her later years, Vanessa withstood a shattering tragedy when Natasha fell on a ski slope without a helmet and died of a head injury at the age of just 45 in 2009. Natasha once spoke candidly about the pressures of coming from a famous family, explaining that the 'names Richardson or Redgrave didn't help' at the start. 'But the last thing you want is to ride any coattails, because you don't want people to be accusing you of nepotism. You want to be able to learn and practice, and not to be thrown into a spotlight before you're ready for it.' Natasha's own legacy continues with the sons she welcomed with her husband Liam Neeson - Daniel Neeson, 28, who has launched an eco-friendly clothing line and a sustainable liquor brand, and Micheal Richardson, 30, an actor, who assumed his mother's surname to memorialize her.
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Justin Baldoni's Hollywood pals stay silent as he celebrates 12th wedding anniversary with wife Emily... but fans are quick to show the actor support amid bitter Blake Lively legal drama
The majority of Justin Baldoni 's famous friends stayed silent as he paid tribute to wife Emily on their 12th wedding anniversary with a sweet Instagram post on Sunday. The actor, 41, failed to receive the usual gushing comments and kind words from fellow celebs amid his ongoing bitter legal battle with former co-star Blake Lively. Alongside a snap of the couple on their 2013 wedding day he wrote: 'I'd marry you again and again and again and again… Happy anniversary my love. T W E L V E.' Actress and Eric Dane 's ex Rebecca Gayheart, 53, appeared the only recognisable name to acknowledge the milestone and commented with love heart emojis. But while the likes of Justin's former co-stars like Chris Pratt, Hannah Waddingham and Gina Rodriguez seemingly swerved the post, fans were quick to show their support amid his ongoing legal woes. They gushed: 'JUSTICE FOR JUSTIN! And Happy Anniversary cuties. The truth always prevail': 'Stay the course, thousands have your back. Truth will prevail! Happy Anniversary': 'The truth will prevail!!!!': 'GREEN FLAGS EVERYWHERE'. Justin's wife Emily posted a more recent photo of them, taken by their 10-year-old daughter Maiya. Like her husband, she also spelled out the number 12 and added, 'Still madly in love with you.' In addition to their daughter, Justin and Emily also share seven-year-old son Maxwell. Their united, loved-up display comes as the filmmaker prepares to face-off against Blake, 37, in court next year after they clashed while filming It Ends With Us last year. The stars butted heads while filming the romantic drama, and things turned litigious in December when the Gossip Girl alum sued the actor for allegedly sexual harassing and engineering a retaliatory smear campaign against her. Seven months ago, in her explosive lawsuit filing, the blonde bombshell outlined work opportunities she allegedly missed out on due to Baldoni. One of the missed gigs listed was hosting the season 50 premiere of Saturday Night Live in September 2024, which aired the month after the film was released. 'The effects on Ms. Lively's professional life were immediate and substantial,' said the suit. 'Given the ongoing nature of the campaign and the associated negative public sentiment, Ms. Lively did not believe she could proceed with public appearances or events without being forced to openly discuss what happened on set,' the filing stated. Fans were quick to show their support for the actor amid his ongoing legal woes Baldoni hit back in January with a $400 million countersuit accusing Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds of defamation. All parties have denied the allegations. In June the defamation element of Baldoni's lawsuit was thrown out by a judge, although he is still suing for civil extortion and invasion of privacy among other claims. Lively also suffered a setback in the case when a judge denied her attorneys' application for a protective order seeking to block her text messages with Taylor Swift from being entered as evidence. Baldoni's team subpoenaed Lively for text messages, emails and any other messages between her and Swift. His lawyers were subsequently allowed to pore through the text trail, with all communications related to It Ends With Us set for scrutiny. In one text exchange, Lively appeared to refer to herself as the Game of Thrones character Khaleesi, and to Swift as one of her 'dragons.' The stars butted heads while filming the romantic drama, and things turned litigious in December when the Gossip Girl alum sued the actor for alleged sexual harassment and for engineering a retaliatory smear campaign against her Elsewhere in Baldoni's filing is the claim that Swift was present at a meeting convened by Lively at her New York penthouse to discuss It Ends With Us script changes. Sources close to Swift insisted the singer had no knowledge of the meeting and simply arrived to find it underway. The situation reportedly left Swift — who is godmother to Lively's three daughters — feeling 'exploited' by her friend of ten years.
