Dan Broadbent
Yes, you read the headline correctly and no, unfortunately, this is *not* The Onion. Only in 2018 – the year that started off with people eating tide pods (yes, that was in 2018) – would we have the president of the largest dating app designed for people of the same sex come out and say that he thinks marriage should be between a man and a woman.
This timeline that we’re on is getting really weird.
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According to INTO, which is an online magazine that is owned by Grindr (I swear to Zeus I’m not making this up), Grindr president Scott Chen posted a comment on Facebook that said:
There are people who believe that marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman. I agree but that’s none of our business. There are also people who believe that the purpose of marriage is to create children that carry their DNA. That’s also none of our business. There are people that are simply different from you, who desperately want to get married. They have their own reasons.
Chen had originally shared an article that was critical of tech company HTC for supporting US-based groups that are against people of the same sex getting married.
If you’re confused by this, welcome to the party.
Chen called marriage a “personal issue”, but asked that people stop donating to anti-LGBTQ groups and instead donated money to those in need of food or victims of disasters.
I guess it kind of makes sense for him to be against people of the same sex getting married though. The more people marry members of the same sex, the fewer clients Grindr has.
INTO published the full comment in their article:
After the INTO article was published, Chen released a statement that was sent to Grindr’s staff:
On November 26, I wrote a post on my personal Facebook account meant to condemn those advocating against same-sex marriage in Taiwan. The words I chose related to marriage between a man and a woman were meant to express my personal feelings about my own marriage to my wife – not to suggest that I am opposed to marriage equality.
I want to make clear that I am an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and have been since I was young. I support gay marriage and I am proud that I can work for Grindr. I apologize that my words did not clearly convey these feelings.
I am very proud of the work INTO does and stand by them as an important part of our business.
One of our greatest strengths at Grindr is our diverse team and our respect for one another. Together, we will continue the important work we do fighting for LGBTQ+ equality.
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For one, can we just call it “marriage” at this point? Why do people feel the need to differentiate it as “gay marriage”? When I got married last month, I didn’t call it a “straight marriage.”
Second, he’s apologizing for saying that he thinks marriage should be between a man and a woman, while still saying he thinks marriage should be between a man and a woman? That makes it a non-apology.
It’s absolutely no surprise that his logic behind this is religious-based. Referring to marriage as a “holy matrimony” leaves no doubt as to his reasoning. Religion poisons everything.
