Grindr has revealed the dating app will no longer allow users to filter profiles by ethnicity, in a statement posted to social media today.
In a show of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and queer people of colour, Grindr issued a comment on racism in the LGBTIQ+ community.
“We will not be silent, and we will not 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,” the statement reads.
“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.”
The app is pledging to remove the ethnicity filter as part of their next update, which allows paid users to hide chosen ethnicities from their feed.
We will not be silent. Black Lives Matter. https://t.co/K671PrwJc0 pic.twitter.com/93ninYt2u9
— Grindr (@Grindr) June 1, 2020
In 2018, Grindr launched the Kindr campaign, in response to concerns over bullying, racism and transphobia on the app.
The campaign featured high-profile users speaking on their experiences with discrimination in the queer dating world, and discussing how racism and the prominence of phrases such as “no fats, no fems, no asians” has affected them.
“I started to take on like, oh is there something wrong with me? Is there something about myself that I should be ashamed of when I’m interacting with these guys,” comedian Joel Kim Booster shared. “It opened my eyes to a hierarchy that I wasn’t participating in before.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race alum The Vixen also appears, speaking on her own experiences.
“You just start to wake up in the morning and look into the mirror and count all the reasons that nobody is going to love you.”
As part of the Kindr campaign, Grindr also implemented new user guidelines in place that will ensure profiles will be moderated for language that discriminates against others.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination, harassment, and abusive behavior. We want you to be yourself, but not at the expense of someone else. Anyone found bullying, threatening, or defaming another user will be banned.”
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