Tinder user, 69, loses court battle to lower age in a bid for more matches on dating app
Emile Ratelband, 69, who has lost a battle with a Dutch court in the hope of legally lowering his age from 69 to 49 in the hope of attracting more matches on dating app Tinder. (AP
A Dutch motivational speaker has lost a court battle in a bid to shave 20 years off his age in a bid to gain more matches on dating app Tinder.
Emile Ratelband, 69, hit global headline when he launched legal action hoping to lower his age from 69 to 49 to try and improve his success rate on the app.
But on Monday the self-styled self-help guru lost his challenge.
A statement released by Arnhem court said: “Mr Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly.
“But amending his date of birth would cause 20 years of records to vanish from the register of births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships.
“This would have a variety of undesirable legal and societal implications.”
Mr Ratelband went to court last month, arguing that he did not feel 69 and saying his request was consistent with other forms of personal transformation which are gaining acceptance in the Netherlands and around the world, such as the ability to change one’s name or gender.
But in a written ruling, the court said Dutch law assigns rights and obligations based on age “such as the right to vote and the duty to attend school.
“If Mr Ratelband’s request was allowed, those age requirements would become meaningless.”
The court said it acknowledged “a trend in society for people to feel fit and healthy for longer, but did not regard that as a valid argument for amending a person’s date of birth”.
It said Mr Ratelband failed to convince the court that he suffers from age discrimination.
It added that “there are other alternatives available for challenging age discrimination, rather than amending a person’s date of birth.”
