Tag: Grindr

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News Round-Up: May 8, 2020

(image by Tom of Finland)
Some news items you might have missed: • Gay Star News: Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tom of Finland – the illustrator who defined an idealistic gay body for a generation of men. Check out GSN’s quick guide to Touko Valio Laaksonen – better known as Tom of Finland. • Human Rights Campaign: Helle Jae O’Regan, a 20-year-old transgender woman, was killed in San Antonio, Texas, on May 6. Her death is believed to be the at least 11th violent death of a transgender or gender non-conforming person this year in the U.S., and the sixth known violent death in just over five weeks. • Instinct: Ruh-roh – apparently guys can now access the gay dating app Grindr from their laptops. • KIT212: Check out Kenneth’s weekly round-up of the what’s what in gay publications across the country like Gloss Magazine’s ‘Social Distancing Issue’ below.
(image via GlossMagazine.net)
• San Diego Tribune: Souplantation, the popular buffet-style dining brand founded 42 years ago, is closing all 97 of its restaurants permanently, a casualty of the coronavirus pandemic that is likely to be the death knell for all self-serve eateries. The announcement was made by Garden Fresh Restaurants which owns both Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes. • CNBC: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Friday allowing all registered voters in the state to receive a mail-in ballot this November. Newsom also clarified that California will still provide an opportunity for people to vote in person at a polling center. • Out Music: It’s a love song gone wrong for singer/songwriter and multi-talented artist Joshua Sade James and his new single, “All Fall Down.” The song’s bittersweet inspiration was related to a relationship and breakup he’d had while in college. “It allowed me to do a lot of self-reflection,” shares James. “I wrote the song after the second time we broke up, and just got to think about how truly toxic we were towards each other.” The award-winning artist adds, “It was interesting to shoot this video with a current love interest when it’s actually about a previous one.”

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Teen Receives Life In Prison For Gruesome Grindr Stabbing Death

gay dating app Grindr

The Guardian reports 18-year-old Brian Healless has received a life sentence in prison with a minimum of 24 years for the stabbing death of a teenager he met via Grindr.

A teenager who lured a “gentle, kind-hearted” sales assistant to a remote beauty spot on a date and stabbed him to death has been locked up for a minimum of 24 years. Alex Davies, 18, was murdered in Parbold, Lancashire, by Brian Healless, also 18, after they agreed a rendezvous through the dating app Grindr.

Healless, from Chorley, tried to set up similar outdoor meetings with four other men on Grindr in the days after the killing, Preston crown court heard. He had told Davies, from Skelmersdale, he was “not out yet” and suggested a “discreet spot” halfway between their homes for their first meeting.

The defendant stabbed him 128 times at the top of Parbold Hill and dragged the Home Bargains worker face down by his collar in the mud, while still alive, and covered his body with branches and leaves.

His lawyers attempted to defend his actions claiming Healless was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but the jury didn’t buy that. Healless was so calculated he took a kitchen knife with him to the rendezvous, stole Davies’ cell phones, and erased their histories. According to reports, he reached out to at least four other men on Grindr after Davies and could have killed them as well, but detectives discussed his identity and stopped him before another attack could happen.

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News Round-Up: March 12, 2020

Kumail Nanjiani (images via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Men’s Variety: After getting into incredible shape for the upcoming Marvel film The Eternals, Kumail Nanjiani (above) says his new fitness led him to develop a subtle form of body dysmorphia. “I’d look in the mirror and I’d see my abs—and when I looked again, they would fade. I would just see the flaws.” • Sun-Sentinel: The inaugural LGBTQ+ Pride of the Americas, which would have been something of an international Pride event, has been postponed until the fall. The weeklong schedule of concerts, parties, street festivals, conferences, symposiums as well as a parade, fashion show, awards banquet and 5K run was to take place at various venues throughout Broward County. • NBC News: Former Vice President Joe Biden delivered a speech on combating the coronavirus pandemic that is spreading across the country. Biden drops this badass line at the 5:33 mark – “President Trump is welcome to adopt all of it today.”

• LGBTQNation: People who booked an Atlantis cruise for next week are getting angry that the company hasn’t canceled the cruise and won’t refund them if they don’t go, even though other major cruise lines are canceling due to coronavirus. • Twitter: You don’t get any more badass than Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) as she adds up the costs for a battery of coronavirus tests, then reads the federal regulations that gives the CDC director the authority to authorize paying for these tests for all Americans. And then gets him to commit to doing so. Watch below.

• Reuters: Gay dating apps like Grindr and Scruff are warning users to take precautions to avoid contracting coronavirus but are expecting an uptick in traffic as millions of people move online to talk rather than meet face-to-face in bars and clubs. • TalkingPointsMemo: Speaking at the White House today, Donald Trump falsely claimed that all people returning from Europe are being tested for Coronavirus and being quarantined if they are positive.

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Eminem’s #DollyChallenge Features Nude Grindr Pic?

By now, I’m sure you’ve probably seen folks taking part in the Dolly Parton challenge where you post four photos of yourself. The idea is to include one appropriate for four social apps: Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram and Tinder. Dolly began the craze by posting her own on Facebook with the caption, “Get you a woman who can do it all!” For business networking site LinkedIn, Dolly went with a buttoned-up school teacher pic. For family-friendly Facebook, it’s Christmas sweater Dolly. For style-driven Instagram, country Dolly posing in bell-bottom jeans with a guitar in hand. And for the dating app Tinder, Dolly featured her Playboy bunny pic. So, Grammy Award-winning rapper Eminem just posted his version on Twitter asking, “Did I do this right?”

The 47-year-old used a tasteful ‘shirt & tie’ pic for the Linkedin pic; for Facebook he featured a brooding, bearded photo; the Instagram image shows him dressed as Santa behind (?) a wooden reindeer; and for the final photo, he posed naked with a stick of dynamite covering his crotch but instead of ‘Tinder’ he used the name of the gay dating app Grindr. Now, you have to wonder: is he playing at something here? Did he get it wrong? Did he think ‘playing gay’ would be more humorous? Being provocative is old hat for Eminem. His latest album, Music to Be Murdered By, definitely leans on some shock value. In one track (“Darkness”), he raps from the perspective of the Las Vegas gunman who committed the largest mass shooting in the U.S. in 2017. In “Unaccommodating,” he tosses off a line about the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017. (image via Twitter/Eminem)

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News Round-Up: January 13, 2020

Some news items you might have missed: • Mancrush Monday: As if it’s any secret I have a ‘thing’ for former pro rugby player Dan Tai (above). You can follow the handsome InstaHunk here. • Belfast Telegraph: Same-sex marriage comes to Northern Ireland today as couples are now able to give notice of their intent to form a civil same-sex marriage to the General Register Office for Northern Ireland. The first same-sex weddings are expected to take place from February 10, following the minimum period of notice of 28 days. • Buzzfeed News: After a year fighting with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) — successfully overturning a policy widely regarded as discriminatory — and nearly two years of intense training, James Bushe, 31, became the first person with HIV to gain a commercial pilot’s license and fly a commercial flight. • TV Line: Rumored backstage tension at Will & Grace did not precipitate the series’ end, NBC’s top exec maintains. “Some things come to a natural end,” NBC Chairman Paul Telegdy explained to TVLine. “[Series creators] Max [Mutchnick] and David [Kohan] told the story they wanted to tell. Just wait for the finale.” • Detroit Free Press: As police search for more men who may have hooked up with accused murderer Mark Latunski, the Grindr cannibal is now pleading insanity. • Daily Dog: This little guy deserves some Twitter attention. Look at him go!

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Podcast: Grindr Hookup Goes Bad, UK Rapist Gets Life, Recapping The 77th Golden Globes

The Randy Report podcast

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter' In this week’s podcast: • A Grindr hookup in Michigan on Christmas Eve goes horribly wrong • Britain’s most prolific rapist is sentenced to life in prison • Grammy winner Sam Smith posts an inspiring shirtless photo on Instagram • A transgender actress gets the lead in the upcoming reboot of ‘Saved By The Bell’ • Recapping this year’s Golden Globe Awards All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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Grindr Hookup Gone Wrong Ends In Murder & Mutilation Charges

Kevin Bacon (image via Facebook)
Mark Latunski, 50, has been charged with one count of murder and one count of mutilation of the body of his alleged victim in a Grindr hookup gone terribly wrong. MLive.com reports that Kevin Bacon (not the actor), 25, of Swartz Creek, Michigan, told his housemate, Michelle Myers, he was meeting a man he’d met on the dating app around 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Bacon then texted Myers at 6:12 p.m. saying he would be out for a while and wasn’t sure when he’d be home. According to Myers, he indicated he was “having fun.” But when the 25-year-old hairstylist was a no-show at his family’s Christmas breakfast, they became concerned. Police eventually found Bacon’s car in a parking lot where a bag containing his phone, clothes, and wallet was discovered. Missing from the scene were his car keys. According to MLive.com, the young man’s body was found on December 28 at Latunski’s home in Shiawassee County’s Bennington Township, 25 miles west of Flint. Police were led to the suspect’s home after some Facebook posts about the home in question were relayed to the Clayton Township Police Department, according to Kevin Bacon’s dad, Karl Bacon. The medical examiner determined Bacon died sometime between late Christmas Eve and early Christmas Day. If found guilty, Latunski faces life in prison.
Mark Latunski (mug shot)
Bacon’s parents, Karl and Pamela Bacon, said at a press conference they didn’t know if their son had any previous contact with Latunski. But the father took issue with the folks at Grindr telling the press “They didn’t give us any info during the initial investigation.” Calling the people in charge at the dating app “rather uncooperative,” the father said,  “There’s no regulation of law on how they operate and how accountable they are to people’s activities on their apps.” “That was our biggest obstacle in this investigation,” said Karl Bacon. “We did not know where he was going and who he was meeting with. If he had relayed that information early on, it may not have been avoided, but it could have been accelerated a lot quicker if we knew who and where.” For its part,  a spokesperson for Grindr issued a statement which read: “We at Grindr are heartbroken to hear about this terrible tragedy, and share our condolences with Mr. Bacon’s family and friends. While for privacy reasons we do not offer public comment on individual user accounts, we remain fully committed to working with law enforcement in the event of any investigation.” The victim’s namesake – Kevin Bacon, the actor – expressed his own condolences on social media writing, “For obvious reasons I’m thinking this morning about the friends and Family of this young person Kevin Bacon. His life was taken from him much too soon. His love was hair dressing. I bet he would have done a great job on this mess on my head. RIP KB.”

This tragic incident, in the wake of previous reports of dating apps being used to lure gay men into dangerous situations, brings to bear the important topic of safety when meeting strangers on such apps. Grindr recently announced new features to protect users’ safety, but are they enough? Some years ago,  a friend told me he always left the web page of a dating website he used open on his laptop when he’d meet up with someone new. His intention was if he went missing people would find the info on his computer. Readers – do you take any specific measures when using dating apps? Tell friends where or who you are meeting? Does anyone have advice on how to help in these situations? Tell us in the comments section. (source: MLive.com)

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Tampa Man Threatened To ‘Wipe Out Whole Gay Community’

Ralph Perkins (mugshot via Tampa Police)
A 50-year-old Florida man has been arrested after threatening to commit a mass shooting against the LGBTQ community in Tampa, Florida. From The Gaily Grind:

Ralph Perkins was arrested Wednesday on a charge of making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting and is currently being held without bail in the Hillsborough County jail.

According to the arrest report, Perkins made the threats Monday after his offer for an unidentified person to move in with him was rejected.

“I like to take a gun I like to wipe the whole gay community out in Tampa and then kill myself,” Perkins wrote via a grammatically incorrect text message on his phone. “That’s going to be my ultimate present to Tampa Florida is the annihilator the gay community before I kill myself.”

Officers confirmed that Perkins sent the threats from his phone and took him into custody just after midnight Wednesday.

Perkins’s angry comment was apparently spurred by being rejected by another man on Grindr. No weapons were found during Perkins’ arrest, but a spokesperson for Tampa Police told the Tampa Bay Times, “We cannot predict what he would have done had he not been arrested.” The Times also notes that Perkins is a registered sex offender

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Podcast: Dangers On Grindr, ‘Special’ renewed, Plus Tips For The Holidays With The Family

The Randy Report podcast

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter' In this week’s podcast: • Two Dallas men plead guilty to using Grindr to commit hate crimes against gay men • The first LGBTQ-welcoming senior housing opens in New York City • An Elder at an anti-LGBTQ Missouri church has been charged with soliciting sexual favors from college guys • The acclaimed Netflix series “Special” is renewed for Season 2 • Plus, tips for introducing your significant other to your family during the holidays All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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Grindr Adds New Features For Increased User Safety

gay dating app Grindr

Popular gay dating app Grindr has announced new safety/security features to help protect users from identity theft and danger in locations where being gay is a crime. The new features include: • Being able to ‘unsend’ messages and photos from conversations with other users • ‘Expiring photos’ which will allow users to have their photos disappear from conversations • Screenshot blocking to protect content and photos of those in countries or locations unfriendly to LGBTQ people Grindr has also unveiled a “Holistic Security Guide.” The guide, released in six languages, provides advice for digital security, personal safety and emotional well-being while engaging others online. “We are so proud to introduce these new security features, along with the Holistic Security Guide, as we continue to promote safety and justice for our users around the globe,” said Jack Harrison-Quintana, the director of Grindr for Equality. “We are grateful for the feedback from users and the various organizations and activists around the world who have helped us to continue improving the quality of life for Grindr users.” The company says the new features are part of Grindr’s continuing efforts to encourage more awareness of personal safety after reports of crimes being committed against queer people using the app. The U.S. Justice Department announced today, for example, that two men in Dallas have pleaded guilty to using the dating app to lure unsuspecting gay men to a vacant apartment in order to rob them, force them at gunpoint to withdraw cash from ATMs, commit violent acts and other hate crimes.