Dating is one of the most common ways for two individuals to develop a romantic relationship in the United States, as well as many other countries. It typically refers to a trial phase of getting to know one another to explore each other’s romantic potential but with no specific goal. A series of dates is often the first step to a serious commitment. The purpose of this entry is to describe same-sex dating among sexual-minority women, including lesbians and bisexual and transgendered women, and to summarize popular alternatives to dating. The majority of research on dating, however, has been done with lesbians; at present, comparatively little is known about the same-sex dating experiences of bisexual and transgendered women.

Sexual-minority women tend to prefer dating partners that ...