‘Where White People Meet,’ A Utah-Based Dating Site For Straight White People

A new billboard in Utah that advertises “Where White People Meet,” a locally based dating site, is causing serious controversy. The billboard for “Where White People Meet,” reports KUTV 2, popped up along the heavily traveled SR 201 in West Valley City. The billboard features a happily embracing white couple, and it immediately got people talking.

As KUTV 2 reports, some local citizens were appalled at the idea of a dating site devoted solely to white people.

“I’m having trouble with the words right now. I’m a little bit stunned that something like that would even be allowed to get up there in the first place.”

Other folks, however, didn’t understand why a dating site designed to meet the needs of white people who want to exclusively date other white people was such a big deal. After all, there are literally hundreds of niche dating sites on the web. One such site is called, incidentally, BlackPeopleMeet.com.

“If that’s the way they want to roll, I guess that’s the way they roll.”

“Where White People Meet,” which launched in 2015, is based in North Salt Lake. According to the website, it was created to fill a need. Namely, to provide a dating site for “like-minded” people to perhaps find their soul mate.

“We developed this dating website as an alternative to the other dating websites that cater to certain groups. We simply want to help people connect in a safe and fun online environment without costing them a ton of money. Enjoy!”

The “Where White People Meet” dating site is relatively inexpensive to try. For just $4.00, the curious can join the “Where White People Meet” fray for seven days. If you decide to stick around, it’s just under $15.00. Prior to the media coverage of the site, which began on December 31, KUTV 2 reported that “Where White People Meet” had 26 registered members. That number may have gone up significantly as a result of the media attention, though. At least that’s the gist of a recent tweet sent out from the site’s Twitter feed.

Due to high traffic we are experiencing some downtime & issues with activation emails. Please be aware we are working to fix the problem.

— white people meet (@Meetwhitepeople) January 1, 2016

The controversy seems to be helping “Where White People Meet” reach its target demographic.

Despite the dating site’s controversial name and mission, it doesn’t ban or bar non-white members from joining. According to the “About Us” section of the site, anyone is welcome to join “Where White People Meet,” provided that they are 18 and agree to abide by the site’s terms and conditions. Those terms and conditions do include prohibitions against inciting hate.

“You may not post, upload, display or otherwise make available Content that that promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual.”

In addition to being devoted to the dating needs of white people, “Where White People Meet” also appears to only cater to heterosexual dating preferences. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that in addition to marketing exclusively to white members, the site doesn’t allow for same-sex searches. Interestingly, the site does allow for polyamorous searches.

NAACP Salt Lake branch President Jeanetta Williams spoke to the Salt Lake Tribune regarding her impression of the placement of the new billboard advertising “Where White People Meet.” She reportedly told the newspaper that she thought it was “kind of strange” that the marketing was targeted in an area where the majority of the population is white.

“So you’re going to put up billboards here so you can meet other white singles? Every day you can meet white singles.”

Williams went on talk about why she didn’t feel as though the billboard needed further investigation, adding that if it had been erected by a known hate group, they’d look into the matter further. The billboard is also situated in an area where advertisements for dating sites catering to black singles and Mormon singles already exist.

So far, the founder of “Where White People Meet” has declined to identify themselves, despite purportedly being the wisdom behind the words members and potential members read when visiting the dating site.

Not surprisingly, social media reactions to the “Where White People Meet” have been many and varied.

"Where White People Meet" should just be Utah's state motto.

— WokestDaddy (@utedaddy) December 31, 2015

.@Drudge_Report_ .@fox13now I don't see an issue. Look at the #Black dating sites…. #NOTRacist pic.twitter.com/NxBz5X8XAE

— Topher Carlton (@TopherCarlton) January 1, 2016

You don't have to pay $4 to find out where white people meet in Utah. I'll tell you for $2 #utpol #utah #whitepeople https://t.co/2KBrPlwX7N

— Pat Bagley (@Patbagley) January 1, 2016

At least one tweet about the new dating site was sent out to GOP front-runner Donald Trump himself, complete with the hashtag #KeepItWhite. It doesn’t appear as though The Donald has replied at this time.

So, what do you think? Do you think that this new dating site is the beginning of a trend of “white-centric” dating sites? Do you think that a dating website that is devoted to white people is discriminatory? Let’s hear your thoughts about “Where White People Meet” in the comments section.

[Image Courtesy of @MJsee3parole/Twitter]