Grindr president Scott Chen says he “supports gay marriage” following criticism
Grindr’s president Scott Chen has responded to criticism after Grindr’s publication Into reported that he had called marriage “a holy matrimony between a man and a woman.”
Grindr is wholly owned by Chinese technology firm Kunlun Group, which is best known as a mobile gaming company.
Chen made the comment when sharing an article about Cher Wang, CEO of technology company HTC, backing US-based anti-LGBTI groups’ efforts to influence the recent same-sex marriage referendum in Taiwan.
“Some people think the marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman. And I think so too. But that’s your own business,” Chen wrote.
Chen, who is straight, commented on Into‘s original article to clarify that his comments were based on his “personal experience” of marriage.
“I am a straight man married to a woman I love and I have two beautiful daughters I love from the marriage,” he wrote.
“This is how I feel about my marriage,” Chen said. “You can’t deny my feelings about my marriage.”
Chen went on to say that he is “a huge advocate for LGBTQ+ rights”.
“I support gay marriage and I am proud that I can work for Grindr,” he said.
Chen’s clarification suggests that though he personally holds a ‘traditional’ view of of marriage, he supports the rights of same-sex couples to marry.
He called the original report “unbalanced and misleading” and said it “hurts Into’s and Grindr’s reputation”.
On the original post, Chen stated that he would boycott the companies involved in funnelling money towards anti-LGBTI rights efforts.
The comments have caused unrest among employees at Grindr, with Into‘s editor-in-chief Zach Stafford tweeting his disappointment about the revelation.
We are reporting this as the media property owned by Grindr and will be updating this as the story develops.
— Zach Stafford (@ZachStafford) November 29, 2018
Earlier this year, Grindr launched a major campaign to combat discrimination on the app, banning exclusionary language from profiles.
The company was also widely criticised over privacy concerns in May after it was revealed that it was sharing HIV status and location data with third parties.
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Why is SSM still an issue today? Honestly this just makes me as a 32 year old atheist gay man very bored, old and completely tired & sleepy – oh please as a libertarian I voted YES, I just want both the government and religion not be involved in the institution of marriage at all in the bloody first place. It should be up to the 2 adult individuals themselves exclusively to make a marriage. So over the SSM issue…
I think the real story here is that a guy who’s made millions off the gay community has strayed close to suggesting that gay people are second class when it comes to civil rights. I don’t think standing up for your customer base is too much to ask? And remember, this is in the global context, not just Australia. This debate remains a struggle in many countries.