When Grindr for Equality and the MENA Organization for Services, Advocacy, Integration & Capacity Building (MOSAIC) set out to document the experiences of Grindr users in the Middle East and North Africa, it was important to all of us that we dig deeper than the typical topics that come up when people talk about anti-LGBTQ discrimination in the region. While we asked the nearly 2,000 respondents how many had experienced violence (35%), faced employment discrimination (50%) and housing discrimination (15%) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, we also fielded questions tha ..read more

LOS ANGELES - Sept. 18, 2018 - Grindr, the world’s largest queer mobile social network, today kicked off its “Kindr” initiative, which aims to foster a more inclusive and welcoming environment on Grindr and elsewhere within the queer community. The campaign is built around a combination of new community guidelines, stricter enforcement policies and awareness-raising videos that highlight user experiences of discrimination in-app.   “Sexual racism, transphobia, fat and femme shaming and further forms of othering such as stigmatization of HIV positive individuals are pervasive pro ..read more

As the Executive Director of Grindr for Equality, I could not be more pleased to celebrate the decision by the Indian Supreme Court to decriminalize being gay throughout the country. As with most of the laws around the world that make it illegal for us to be who we are, Indian Criminal Code 377 was introduced by European powers when they entered the country to conquer and colonize. So today’s repeal is not just a win for LGBTQ+ rights but also for Indian independence. It’s been a long road for the Indian government, who made this declaration once before in 2009. But the decision was overturned ..read more

As a leading platform for queer people around the world, one of the things we do at Grindr is find ways to use our technology, platform, and resources to better serve the queer community. Today, Grindr for Equality, in partnership with Indian gender and sexuality organization Varta Trust and Chennai-based not-for-profit Solidarity and Action Against the HIV Infection in India (SAATHII), launched an innovative and one-of-a-kind LGBTQ+ friendly resource database and online HIV test center location guide for India. The spark to implement the online resource database came when Pawan Dhall, a found ..read more

HERE’S WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW REGARDING YOUR HIV STATUS DATA Grindr has never sold, nor will we ever sell, personal user information – especially information regarding HIV status or last test date – to third parties or advertisers. We have no reason to believe there has been a malicious hack or a privacy breach at Grindr. Grindr’s mission is to provide a safe and secure space for queer people anywhere to connect to and discover their world. As a company that serves the LGBTQ community, we understand the sensitivities around HIV status. Over the last couple days, we have listened and engaged wi ..read more

You’ve probably heard by now about the exciting changes happening here at Grindr, the world’s largest gay social network. Beijing Kunlun, one of the world’s largest tech and gaming companies, recently announced it will be acquiring full ownership of Grindr. (Beijing Kunlun acquired a majority interest in Grindr back in 2016.) This significant investment is a strong vote of confidence in the community we have built. We have a lot to celebrate, but we also know that this sale raises some important questions. We want to keep it real with you (and we don’t want anyone spreading crazy conspiracy t ..read more

The Supreme Court of Taiwan has issued a ruling that the government must guarantee marriage equality for its citizens. Once finalized, Taiwan will become the first country in Asia with such a law. Grindr would like to congratulate the countless activists who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible over the past three decades. Grindr for Equality has long worked with LGBTQ organizations such as the Tongzhi Hotline (台灣同志諮詢熱線協會) and the marriage campaign in support of sexual health and human rights in the country. Most recently, we supported last winter’s mass mobilizations in Taipei ..read more

Recently, Grindr hosted our colleagues from Trans Can Work in the app’s headquarters for a full-staff training on gender identity and the workplace. This wasn’t the first opportunity for Grindr employees to expand their knowledge of transgender people and anti-trans discrimination. But it did mark the beginning of a deeper process to ensure that Grindr is a trans-friendly place to work. Ensuring our office is trans-friendly is important to us here at Grindr for three reasons. The first is Grindr’s commitment to building diverse perspectives within our teams. This diversity of opinion leads to ..read more

Gay rights activists hold a banner reading ‘Homophobia - the religion of bullies’ during their action in protest of homophobia on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, July 14, 2013. Grindr For Equality and the entire Grindr team have been alarmed by reports from the Chechen region of Russia that men are being interned, tortured, and killed by authorities because of their perceived sexual orientation. Attacks on our community anywhere are an affront to human rights everywhere and we condemn these abuses in the most stringent possible terms. Since Novaya Gazeta broke the news, Grindr For Equality has ..read more

TRANS VICTORY IN EUROPE Today the European Court of Human Rights released one of the most powerful rulings in favor of transgender rights in modern history. Three trans people from France, A. P., E. Garçon, and S. Nicot, sued their government because it required surgical sterilization before their gender identity could be legally recognized. By taking away their ability to have children, the law signaled that trans people were unfit to be parents and incapable of making decisions about their own bodies. Unfortunately, France was not the only country with this kind of policy in place. But bec ..read more