Tag: Grindr

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News Round-Up: August 12, 2020

Danny Jones (via Instagram)
Some news stories you might have missed: • InstaHunks: I gotta say, we’ve all been there Danny “Tree Man” Jones (above), who shares, “Took four scoops of pre-workout and ended up at In N Out.” When you need the In-N-Out burger, you need it. You still got it going. #AintMadAtYou • LGBTQ Nation: Police have arrested four teenagers – three minors and one adult – who they believe attacked a gay couple, broke into their house, threatened to kill them, and destroyed their home. • Page Six: RuPaul sent followers into a frenzy last month when his Instagram posts began mysteriously disappearing from the app. Many assumed the drag icon’s account was hacked, but Page Six reports Ru deleted posts because he wants to “disengage” and lay low. “The truth is things like Black Lives Matter is overwhelming for someone like Ru. He gets backlash for appearing to not … support the community and [he receives] a lot of negativity, so he disengages,” a source told Page Six. • LA Times: “I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s never even had her first kiss,” reveals Alex Borstein, who plays Midge’s outspoken manager on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, sharing her thoughts on her character’s sexual orientation:  She’s absolutely in love with Midge to some degree, but I think she falls in love with minds.” • Andrew Christian: Check out this (NSFW) essay on the reality of shower sex from the popular underwear/swimwear designer’s blog. • Washington Post: Conservatives can’t decide if newly-announced Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris is a liberal extremist or if she’s a snub to liberal extremism. • COVID World: The UK’s first socially distanced concert is happening now in Newcastle. Attendees have their own private viewing area with 6-feet of space between them.

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Gays Are Hooking Up 84% Less Due To COVID-19

Congress is considering legislation that would require internet platforms to allow an algorithm-free version of the platform.

Who’s been on Grindr lately? (stock image via Depositphotos)
A new study of gay and bisexual Australian men found the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic reduction in casual sexual behavior. How dramatic? Researchers at the Kirby Institute surveyed 940 gay and bi men about casual sex practices and found the number of sexual contacts dropped 84 percent in the month of April. Other than monogamous relationships, all types of sexual intimacy saw a steep decline in the number of hookups. Additionally, 95 percent acknowledged they understood the risk of hooking up and/or having group sex represented an increased risk of contracting the coronavirus. Dr. Mohamed A. Hammoud, the lead author of the study, told QNews decades of coping with the HIV epidemic has taught gay and bisexual men how to be adaptive in the face of health threats. “Our community has a long history of creating innovative strategies to reduce risk,” explained Hammoud. “[We’re] seeing this continue with this new health challenge.” Hammoud added, “The results from our study show that an overwhelming majority of gay and bisexual men have adapted their behavior and are adhering to physical distancing guidelines.” There is an upside to the drop in hooking up. The decline in casual sex will likely result in “a reduction in new HIV and STI diagnoses in the short term,” according to Associate Professor Garrett Prestage, one of the co-authors of the study. “Trends in these diagnoses are likely to fluctuate significantly in response to changes in physical distancing restrictions,” said Prestage. The new study was published in the medical journal JAIDS on Friday. (Source: QNews)

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Viral Video: Homophobic ‘Karen’ Goes Full-On Anti-Grindr

Oh, lord have mercy, ‘Karens’ gonna ‘Karen’… This homophobic Karen caught on video in a Toronto shopping mall parking lot goes full-on anti-Grindr as she calls out “punks” and “young people” for recording inhabitants of the Karen-verse. It’s not clear how the incident began, but from the start of the video clip shared on Twitter, ‘Karen’ has parked her non-electric Hyundai Elantra at a charging station. From the beginning, ‘Karen’ is irritated by the presence of the camera recording her as she slaps her broadside announcing, “Take this!” Heading back to her car, the woman announces she’s going to record her own video as well grousing about “punks who think they own the world and can do what they want.” At this point, security guards have noticed ‘Karen’ parking in the wrong spot and approach her, but she dismisses them because “I have to do my video.” Turning to the person recording the episode, the woman unloads. “You’re disgusting and I’m so sick of these young people who think they’re all that,” she declares. “Here you go, sweetheart, let’s test you.” (Hand on hip, hand off hip) “My goodness, nothing better to do with your time, because this is what your generation does,” she says before making an odd observation: “You go on Grindr and do hookups. You show every part of your body, and you have no self-respect. Oh my goodness, none whatsoever.” At that point, one of the security guards tries to step in again, but ‘Karen’ is on a roll. “He! He comes and tells me what I can do,” she announces to the security guard. “He’s not my boss.” The guard points to a sign attached to the top of the electric charging station indicating the space is reserved for ELECTRIC CARS, but to no avail. “Oh well, I’m sorry – I can’t see. I can’t see,” she demures. “Need to make it bigger! Bigger!” As she climbs into her car, she tells the person recording, “Yours goes up, mine goes up, and it WILL have a lot to say!” In that the Grindr reference was so out of left-field, some folks in the Twitterverse asked why ‘Karen’ had to drag the gays wondering if she’d caught her husband cheating on the gay dating app. Others inquired as to who does her choreography because her ‘Karen-isms’ were so on point.

But this had to be my favorite shade thrown, LOL…

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Grindr Deletes Ethnicity Filter, Stands With #BlackLivesMatter

gay dating app Grindr

In response to the ongoing protests across the country in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man who died face down on the ground, handcuffed with a knee on his neck for several minutes, the gay dating app Grindr says “We will not be silent.” In posts to the company’s social media accounts, Grindr has announced the ethnicity filter on its app is history. Gone.⁣

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We will not be silent. Black lives matter. ⁣ ⁣ We were planning to announce our #PridePerseveres initiative today, but in light of the ongoing violence and injustices against our POC family, that no longer feels appropriate. How can we launch a month of celebration when so many of us are hurting? How can we celebrate Pride without acknowledging that we wouldn’t even HAVE a Pride month if it weren’t for the brave black, brown, trans, and queer folks whose uprising against the police at Stonewall gave birth to the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement? It is our responsibility to speak out against the hate and violence that such a vital part of our community continue to face.⁣ ⁣ We stand in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the hundreds of thousands of queer people of color who log in to our app every day. We will not be silent, and we will not be inactive. Today we are making donations to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute @mpjinstitute and Black Lives Matter @blklivesmatter, and urge you to do the same if you can (links in bio). We will continue to fight racism on Grindr, both through dialogue with our community and a zero-tolerance policy for racism and hate speech on our platform. As part of this commitment, and based on your feedback, we have decided to remove the ethnicity filter from our next release.⁣ ⁣ Tomorrow, we will announce our #PridePerseveres calendar, but in a different light. Yes, we can still come together in the spirit of Pride, but Pride this year has an added responsibility, a shifted tone, and a new priority that will be reflected in our programming—support and solidarity for queer people of color and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

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“We were planning to announce our #PridePerseveres initiative today, but in light of the ongoing violence and injustices against our POC family, that no longer feels appropriate,” begins the statement on Instagram. “How can we launch a month of celebration when so many of us are hurting?” “How can we celebrate Pride without acknowledging that we wouldn’t even HAVE a Pride month if it weren’t for the brave black, brown, trans, and queer folks whose uprising against the police at Stonewall gave birth to the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement?” Announcing the company stands “in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the hundreds of thousands of queer people of color who log in to our app every day,” the dating app says it will not be silent nor be inactive. “Today we are making donations to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute and Black Lives Matter, and urge you to do the same if you can.” “We will continue to fight racism on Grindr, both through dialogue with our community and zero-tolerance policy for racism and hate speech on our platform,” the statement continues. “As part of this commitment, and based on your feedback, we have decided to remove the ethnicity filter from our next release.” Grindr goes on to mention their previously announced #PridePerseveres calendar, a series of Pride events taking place each day of June, will go on but “in a different light.”

Noting that Pride this year “has an added responsibility, a shifted tone, and a new priority,” the programming for the series will be amended to show “support and solidarity for queer people of color and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.”
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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