GRINDR and Politics? Will the Two Mix?
Grindr Gets Political
by Shaun Knittel
Best Gay News Magazine Staff Writer
Grindr, recently announced on the company’s website (www.grindr.com ) its plan to mobilize gay men
as a political bloc in the 2012 elections by delivering geo-targeted messages about equality issues to its
1.5 million U.S. users as a call to action.
According to Grindr officials, Grindr for Equality is a social effort to urge men to vote for candidates
based on equality issues in order to have a decisive impact on the upcoming elections.
Specifically, Grindr for Equality will work to enhance LGBT rights by creating awareness regarding LGBT
equality issues being voted on in November; Encouraging Grindr users to register to vote, providing them with sources that’ll show them nearby poll locations, and prompting them to vote when the time comes; and Promoting knowledge of those presidential candidates and state and local candidates who support LGBT initiatives.
Grindr for Equality’s goal, according to officials, is about rallying Grindr’s mobile user base of gay men into a nationwide force of informed citizens who vote with equality as their unified goal. The company will utilize Grindr’s geo-location capabilities to deliver targeted in-app messages.
“We must elect not only a president but representatives and senators who are supportive of our community and our equality,” said Joel Simkhai, founder and CEO of Grindr. “Local elections have national impact, so we want to use Grindr as a tool for mobilizing and connecting gay men around the country to help make a combined national impact.”
The outcome of this November’s national elections will be decided in several swing states, and Grindr for Equality will use geo-targeted messaging to reach gay men in those states.
According to the company, “Dozens of elections will impact the direction of Congress, so Grindr for quality’s will work to ensure the gay voice is represented in those elections. Gay men won’t be heard unless they vote – and driving them to vote this fall starts with raising awareness about GLBT issues on the ballots.”
For example, Grindr for Equality will alert Grindr users in Minnesota to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that has been proposed and encourage them to contact their local representatives.
Additionally, Grindr for Equality plans to assist Ohio and North Carolina advocates who are working to lift their states’ bans on same-sex marriage.
“All elections are won or lost on the local level,” Simkhai said. “
