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When it comes to finding love, technology can help Canadian gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

The gay, lesbian and bisexual community are strong users of on-line personals services in their quest to find a serious relationship, a new survey says.

The survey, conducted by Yahoo Canada, found that more than 87 per cent of respondents have used on-line personals services, more than 67.6 per cent would consider using an online personals service in the next 12 months and that 75 per cent said they used on-line personals because they want to start a serious relationship.

Yahoo! Canada's on-line dating service conducted the survey to determine the attitudes and perceptions of on-line gay and lesbian Canadians toward on-line personals services.

The survey showed that Canadian gays and lesbians are at ease with on-line personals services. Almost 57 per cent of respondents said they were comfortable (26 per cent) or very comfortable (30.9 per cent) with on-line personals services to meet potential romance partners.

When asked about the level of commitment they were looking for in on-line personals services, 75 per cent said they wanted to start a serious relationship.

More than 42 per cent said they wanted to make new platonic friends, while more than 36 per cent said they were looking for fun or casual dates with as many people as possible.

One-third of respondents reported looking for a casual relationship.

Moreover, the survey found that the gay, lesbian and bisexual community sees on-line personals as a safer way to find partners than looking in bars or nightclubs.

When asked about personal safety and security, more than one-third of respondents said that on-line dating is a safer venue to meet people than a bar or nightclub, while only 12.3 per cent of respondents felt a bar or nightclub was a safer place to meet new people than online personals.

More than 39 per cent reported that they thought bars and nightclubs were equally safe to on-line services.

Almost 30 per cent of respondents reported that they considered on-line personals to be free from the pressure of bars and nightclubs, and that they like the ability to e-mail or instant message when they want.

About one-quarter said they most liked online personals because they offer variety and that they could never meet as many people off-line.

Asked what they are looking for in on-line dating, gays, lesbians and bisexuals said they were looking for ads that seemed sincere or honest, and that it was the most important factor in answering ads. More than 30 per cent said they looked for an attractive personality that seems to come through in the ad. And 25 per cent of respondents said they looked for an attractive photo.

"This survey shows that many people in the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities are pretty serious about finding a serious relationship on-line," Yahoo! Canada marketing chief Isabelle Hemond said. "And, similar to heterosexual singles, they like on-line personals services...because it's a no-pressure environment, there is a lot of variety and it's always available 24 hours a day.

The Yahoo! Canada Personals online survey was conducted on a leading GLB Canadian portal between May 20 and June 17 by Yahoo Canada working with ComQUEST Research, a market research firm based in Toronto.