Dating

Tinder says it doesn't ban anyone from its dating service based on gender identity -- as a transgender woman is claiming in a lawsuit.

A spokesperson for the dating app tells TMZ ... the company can't comment on pending litigation, but adds, categorically ... "We do not ban users from Tinder due to gender identity," which is why Tinder offers more than 37 gender options for U.S. users.

The Tinder rep says, "We fundamentally believe that gender is not binary and we support inclusivity and acceptance of all people."

We broke the story ... Ariel Hawkins -- a transgender woman in Oregon -- filed a class action lawsuit claiming her account was deleted after she added pre-op trans woman to her Tinder profile.

Ariel's attorney Ben Meiselas says Tinder's missing the real issue, which is "that Tinder is banning users who are reported by other users because they identify as transgender or gender nonconforming in their profile."

Reese Witherspoon and Paul McCartney now have a special connection through their own flesh and blood, and the big question -- is it a case of love me do ... or hello, goodbye?

Reese and Ryan Phillippe's daughter, 18-year-old Ava Phillippe, was out strolling the streets of London earlier this week with Paul's eldest grandson, Arthur Donald McCartney, who's also 18.

Ava seemed pretty smitten with the dude, and we can't blame her ... Arthur's kind of a stud with Beatles-esque charm flowing through his veins. Ava and Arthur also stopped off for a drink at a bar. Chill, they're legal to booze in the UK.

BTW ... Arthur's mom is Mary McCartney -- Paul and Linda's first child together.

Hard to tell if Ava and Arthur are just in the friend zone or starting a romance.

A transgender woman is suing Tinder on behalf of other transgender people living in the Portland area, claiming it rejects all transgender people from the dating service.

Ariel Hawkins claims in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, a few days ago she edited her profile to disclose that she was a pre-op trans woman. She says Tinder immediately deleted her account. She says the company sent her email saying she violated its terms of service ... but didn't point her to any term and refused to explain the basis for the rejection.

Hawkins tells us she thinks she got the boot because Tinder is trying to save its brand. She says, "I don't think the company understands trans people and they don't appreciate how we may represent ourselves" ... so she believes Tinder is trying to remove trans people altogether.

Hawkins adds she's on Tinder to find love like so many others, but because it "refuses to provide transgender individuals full and equal access to its app" and has banned her ... she's being cheated of that chance.

In the lawsuit, filed by Mark Geragos and Ben Meiselas, Hawkins is asking a judge for an order prohibiting Tinder from discriminating against non-cisgender Oregon users.

Josh Murray is living proof -- you can take a bachelor out of "Bachelor in Paradise" ... but he's not going to stop looking for love.

The ex-'BIP' star -- known for being engaged to 2 former 'Bachelorettes' -- still has full confidence in his pick-up game, based on this vid of him at a bar in Milledgeville, GA late Monday night. Problem is ... it looks like he's pretty rusty.

Josh was in town hosting a hospital charity event with the Children's Miracle Network earlier in the evening. He actually posed for a photo with the woman who was also a guest at the event.

Of course, the pic was taken before Josh started shooting his shot.

Sources close to Murray tell us they hit it off at the charity, and he took her out afterward to show her a good time. At the end of the night, though, it was the friendzone for Josh.

We can see that.

Tinder and Bumble might have serious competition on their hands thanks to Blac Chyna's new boyfriend, YBN Almighty Jay, who's hyping up Christian Mingle after using it to meet her.

We got the 18-year-old Houston rapper Sunday at the DUB Show Tour at the L.A. Convention Center, and he confirmed the rumor he met Chyna -- who's 11 years older than Jay -- on the religion-centered app. Now, this seems like a serious paradox, but sounds like Jay told a little white lie on his profile.

He's recommending others do the same if they wanna link up with Chyna-types.

Chris Martin did his girlfriend, Dakota Johnson, half a favor by dropping her off for a coffee run in his nifty golf cart ... but she had to walk to his crib.

Chris and Dakota were out cruising Monday in Malibu, and her pup was riding shotgun, too. He dropped her off at Starbucks, where she ran in and grabbed a couple of drinks -- but then he flipped a U and bolted.

It may not look like the most chivalrous move on Chris' part, but we're guessing there's ZERO shade here -- grey or otherwise.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are new parents in the same boat, and they seemed to agree ... they need some time to themselves without the kid.

Kylie and Travis were seen cuddling up Sunday during a date on the high seas in Miami, where they first hit up Seaspice restaurant for some grub and then boarded David Grutman's boat "SS Groot" with friends to kick back under the sun.

BTW ... Kylie's clutching a beer and she's only 20.

Blac Chyna is apparently following Aaliyah's age-old advice on relationships -- but is she pushing it with a dude who's more than 10 years her junior?

BC was spotted holding hands Wednesday with 18-year-old TX-born rapper YBN Almighty Jay on date night #2 this week in Studio City. Chyna is 29 years old, BTW ... yep.

It looks like these 2 definitely got a thing going on here -- Chyna confirmed as much by saying they were, like, dating. They also went bowling together the other night.

No word on where they were headed this time around, or how fresh this new coupling might be. One thing's for sure, though ... BC doesn't seem concerned with her sex tape leaks.

Blac Chyna would make LaVar Ball proud -- she's staying in her lane. Her bowling lane, that is.

We got BC out at Pinz Bowling Alley Monday night in Studio City where we see her show up to her lane with a group of friends already waiting for her. She seems pretty chill ... almost as if she's not currently fighting at least 1 sex tape leak.

Heather Locklear's boyfriend was arrested for DUI just hours after the actress was busted for felony domestic violence.

Law enforcement sources tell us Chris Heisser was arrested at 12:43 AM Monday morning by the California State Highway Patrol. We're told he was spotted on the 101 freeway driving at a slow rate of speed -- officers pulled him over and conducted a field sobriety test. Chris blew a .19 and a .20 ... the 56-year-old was cited and released a short time later.

TMZ broke the story ... Locklear was arrested at her Thousand Oaks home at 10:27 PM Sunday night. Her brother called the cops after witnessing Locklear and Heisser in a nasty fight.

Locklear was booked on one felony count of domestic violence and 3 counts of misdemeanor battery to police officers.

Sam Smith and his boyfriend, Brandon Flynn, were burning up the UK this weekend in more ways than one ... but it was mostly by (tongue in) mouth.

Sam and Brandon were spotted out in London Saturday night with Sam's sister, Lily, taggin' along. As any couple would, the 2 lovers stopped for a peck in the street. Kidding ... it was more like a full-blown movie make-out sesh, actually. Awww, young love!

At some point, Brandon was seen with a lit cigarette in hand -- as was Lily. Can't blame 'em -- something this hot is often followed up by some tobacco and nicotine ... even though smoking is awful.

Stud Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster got a Hail Mary attempt from a high school girl looking to spice up her promposal, and as expected ... he came through big-time.

Here's how it went down -- Cate Bauer, a junior at Manasquan High School in New Jersey, hit up JuJu on Instagram earlier this week to see if he would help with asking her BF Brian Mason, who attends another local school, to her prom.

Since Brian and his family are diehard Steelers fans, JuJu was happy to assist ... and decided to pull it off with a surprise FaceTime call Friday.

Check out the vid -- the plan goes off without a hitch, and not only is Brian stoked (and he says yes) ... but his dad totally geeks out too!

JuJu's reward for his good deed -- as he tells everyone -- is a cruise to Mexico. Hopefully he takes Brian's dad's advice down there.

Things are heating up FAST for Aaron Rodgers and Danica Patrick -- the couple just shot down to Mexico for a romantic beach vacation ... just days after the Daytona 500.

The two were spotted cozying up together at a fancy resort in a Mexican beach town -- cuddling, kissing ... you know, doing all the things couples do on beach vacations.

Aaron and Danica have only been dating for about 2 months -- but things seem pretty serious. They've been spotted around Arizona together and he flew out to Florida this past weekend to watch Danica's final NASCAR race.

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are answering Bob Marley's eternal question ... yes, this is definitely love.

Justin and Selena's PDA at Jeremy Bieber and Chelsey Rebelo's Jamaican wedding rose to epic levels, as you can tell from these shots of them hanging poolside this week ... after the ceremony.

It wasn't only a tropical makeout session -- JB seemed to be having a blast imitating the Old Spice guy to a tee -- hands on hips, chest out ... and swan dive into the pool.

As we reported ... the young couple has been practically inseparable since arriving for the wedding Monday in the hills of Montego Bay.

Selena and the Biebs are back stateside as of Thursday, but they've gotta look back on the trip fondly.

Justin Bieber's dad was the one getting married, but just as many eyes were on his son and Selena Gomez ... whose PDA during the festivities set off wedding bell alerts.

Justin and Selena were inseparable during Jeremy Bieber's wedding Monday in Montego Bay. We're sure JB didn't want to upstage his old man ... but, let's face it, when he and Selena are all over each other the way they were ... it's gonna draw a lot of attention.

As for the other happy couple -- Jeremy and his bride, Chelsey Rebelo, went with the Jamaican flow for wardrobe -- white shirts and pink shorts with matching bow ties.

As we reported, the younger Biebs didn't make a toast, but you can tell from these pics ... everyone was still plenty entertained.

No word on if Chelsey tossed her bouquet, and if Selena made a play for it.

The chick who missed her shot at Steven Adams on Twitter 3 YEARS AGO says she's pumped the NBA star finally got back to her ... and she's still VERY down to go on a date!!

Social media has been blowing up after Adams went DEEP into his Twitter history to respond to a 2015 tweet from Lauren Myers -- who asked him to be her date to her law school prom.

On Monday, February 19, 2018 ... Adams wrote back, "Absolutely."

Better late than never right?! Well, that's how Myers feels.

In fact, the 28-year-old lawyer (she's since graduated law school and passed the bar) tells TMZ Sports she's down for a basketball game, dinner, bowling ... "anything would be fun!"

Myers says she initially hit Adams up because he was a young, unknown player at the time and she thought there was a good chance she'd get a response. She never imagined hearing back now!