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PLANETROMEO, also known as ROMEO, is a social network for gay, bisexual and transgender people. The site was started as a hobby in October 2002 by PlanetRomeo GmbH in Berlin, Germany and was called GayRomeo. It was initially only available in German but has evolved into an international environment. The ROMEO website, iOS app and Android app are commonly used by the male gay community to find friends, dates, love or get informed about LGBT+ topics.[3]

When the site was available only in German and the majority of users were from Germanic countries; such as Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The website and apps are currently available in 6 languages (English, German, French Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The German-speaking community remains the largest community but is no longer the majority.

Since September 2006, PLANETROMEO.com has been operated by PlanetRomeo B.V. in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

In March 2009 Guys4Men.com joined PlanetRomeo.com and laid the groundwork to become the largest European gay dating and chat platform with a global community.[4]

Contents

 [hide]

• 1Users by country
• 2Features
  • 2.1Personal profiles
  • 2.2Clubs and Guide profiles
  • 2.3Community information
• 3Controversies on PlanetRomeo
  • 3.1Safe sex
• 4PlanetRomeo Foundation
• 5See also
• 6References
• 7External links

Blue Pages[edit]

In Germany, due to its high number of registered users, PlanetRomeo is often called the "Gay Registry Office" (schwules Einwohnermeldeamt) or "The Blue pages" (Die blauen Seiten)[5], referring to the well known telephone directories the yellow pages and the white pages. In a satirical reference to the Nazis' compilation of lists of homosexual men in the 1930s, the German newspaper "Taz" announced: "The pink lists are back".[6] 

Profiles [edit]

Romeo profiles[edit]

To access PLANETROMEO, users (also affectionally referred to as Romeos) create a profile which typically includes a simple physical description, personal interests, and one or more photographs of themselves.[7][8] Sexual preferences, cultural interests and hobbies can be added optionally. PlanetRomeo is a community where people are encouraged to truly live out all aspects of their queer life and be their authentic gay self. [9]

Clubs and Guide profiles[edit]

Aside from personal messaging, PlanetRomeo offers users the chance to create Club and Guide profiles as another way of connecting with others who sharing similar interests. For example, a bar or sauna creates a Club or Guide profile, to which Romeos either can join and or link their private profiles. The administrators of Clubs and Guides can send direct messages to their members via a newsletter. Club members exchange news or discuss various subjects in a club's forum. Clubs also exist for supporters of political parties, members of religious groups and employees working in particular industries; some clubs have a more playful and sexual orientation. There are also fan-clubs for pop or movie stars, classical music, etc. Since any user can create a club profile, the list is limitless.

Hunqz

Male companion profiles from hunqz.com can be viewed on a special tab from within the planetromeo.com website.

Community information[edit]

Care[edit]

PlanetRomeo has a dedicated Care Department that facilitates projects like the PlanetRomeo Foundation, Health Support, Gay Happiness Index, Dating Tips and more. Other links lead to the PLANETROMEO Blog and PlanetRomeo Foundation.

Sex & Dating[edit]

In February 2007, PlanetRomeo launched a live and online health advice service in cooperation with Deutsche Aids-Hilfe (https://en.aidshilfe.de/), Germany's national NGO for HIV/Aids issues. Romeos receive answers online about health and best practices for safer sex; many of the health supporters speak more than one language. Deutsche Aids-Hilfe takes responsibility for providing online users with the most recent and accurate information available to the German public. In this way Romeos receive outreach

On its Care page, PlanetRomeo BV offers general Dating Tips [10]to help protect user profiles and their privacy, actions to take against scammers and fakers, and generally how to avoid uncomfortable situations, as well as before, during, and after dating suggestions.

There is no censoring of user profiles that promote unsafe sex or barebacking, but the company supports users stating their position in their profiles regarding safer sex.

In this way users are offered the same level of service as when Deutsche Aids-Hilfe do their outreach work in gay bars, clubs and saunas[citation needed].

Gay Happiness Index (GHI)

In May 2015, based on a survey with more than 115,000 responses from 127 countries,. The site was able to accomplish this due to their extensive international network and community involvement. Three main topics were combined to create the index:

1. Public Opinion - How do gay men feel about society’s view on homosexuality?
2. Public Behavior - How do gay men experience the way they are treated by other people?
3. Life Satisfaction - How satisfied are gay men with their lives and do they accept themselves?

GHI listed Iceland as the number one gay happiest country, and Uganda filled the unhappiest slot at very bottom of the index 127. PlanetRomeo has made the extended GHI data available for download on their website. Of particular interest are the  'Million Bubble Statistics'. These are PlanetRomeo's estimation of gay unhappiness worldwide. [insert: Million Bubble graph]

PlanetRomeo Foundation[edit]

In 2009 PlanetRomeo Foundation was established by PlanetRomeo BV in the Netherlands, and is an independent, registered non-profit. PlanetRomeo Foundation provides funding to grassroots, emerging LGBTI projects and initiatives in countries and regions where LGBTI rights are most severely infringed. The Foundation supports projects which provide Shelter, as well as projects under the themes of Community Organizing and Sports & Culture. Its support focuses on achieving societal change in order to improve the position of LGBTI people throughout the world, with an emphasis on the most disadvantaged regions and communities. By providing grants up to €5,000 PlanetRomeo Foundation sets out to be a stepping stone and fill funding gaps between zero funding and access to larger grants. The website of PlanetRomeo Foundation can be found at [1]