Gay men’s hook up app Grindr is finding new life—sort of—as a modernday Paul Revere, sounding the clarion and alerting an otherwise torpid citizenry about matters of political import. Take the case last summer when gay men in Saratoga County, New York received Grindr notifications that Republican State Senator Roy McDonald and others were possible “yea” votes in upcoming marriage equality legislation.

The evidence is far from empirical that the call “to arms” impacted the decisions of five GOP Senators (and one very religious Democrat), who eventually voted in favor of same sex marriage, but the final vote itself, 33 to 29, with McDonald and a handful of other GOP lawmakers in the “yea” column— and the fact that Grindr’s message was accompanied by an electronic option to connect automatically with McDonald’s office—shows the kind of legerdemain both sides in the gay marriage debate must employ to maximize message, and its impact.

Although location-based, the Grindr phenomenon is most assuredly a global one, with the app having about 4 million users spread across 192 countries. Although its primary use—and original intention—is to connect gay men for casual hook ups, it also serves as a way for men to offer recommendations to one another about sights and scenes in foreign locales, and to let gay men in less-open societies know that they are not alone. It also includes large user bases in such destination-lands as Brazil, France, and Thailand.

On its Web site, Grindr for Equality—which was launched in August 2010—notes that “Grindr has a greater capacity to provide assistance within the [LGBT] community, and harnessing the power of our global user base is where the idea for Grindr for Equality was born. The ability to contact people in specific geographic areas en masse aided us in swaying voters in California, and enabled users to contact their representatives in New York to vote in favor of the marriage equality bill. There is strength in numbers, and this initiative will enable our users to use our platform for the greater good of our community. The goal of Grindr for Equality is to raise awareness for [LGBT] issues, and spur action across the globe.”

Grindr’s muscle flexes globally. In November, Grindr for Equality directed over 57,000 people to an online petition to prevent politicians in St. Petersburg— the one in Russia—from criminalizing “gay propaganda,” a classification so broad that human rights organizations rightly argued that it would be tantamount to making homosexuality illegal in the former playground of the Tsars. The developer is also partnering with Web-based equality group All Out in a campaign to condemn violence against LGBT persons in Iraq.

In November, several states will include same sex marriage initiatives—either in favor of establishing the institution, or to ban the concept in the states’ constitutions—including legislation to legalize it in Maine, and a Washington State referendum to overturn it. In some ways, too, the presidential election in November will be a plebiscite on Barack Obama’s endorsement of marriage equality, which his likely Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, opposes. Says Grindr founder Joel Simkhai: “Electing officials that support gay rights is probably the most important thing you can do to support gay rights.”

In a statement, the Courage Campaign described Grindr as “the world’s largest all-male social network.” According to the company, more than 3 million people have downloaded the app. The Grindr campaign will entail the company sending messages to people who have downloaded the app, requesting them to sign a petition in favor of DNC support for same-sex marriage initiatives. The petition will then be sent to DNC Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz, whose 20th Congressional District includes parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

“There’s a social dating site for really every kind of person and flavor,” said Adam Bink, director of online programs for the Courage Campaign, of the petition, which is called “Grindr for Equality.” “We really have to reach people where they are,” he added. Bink noted that Grindr is just the latest in a long line of dating sites and software, including straight dating site OkCupid, and JDate, for Jewish singles. Straight people might have a physical relationship after meeting on those sites, Bink said. Grindr previously encouraged its members to support the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), as well as asking them to support a California law requiring the inclusion of the contributions of the LGBT community in social science lessons.

I am sure that you’ve heard the sound of the familiar click, boing or beep if you’ve participated in any of the several cellular chat sites such as the very popular “Grindr” app.

There is something addictive about being able to not only look at pictures of hot guys while at your local coffee shop, school, or even while waiting in traffic, but also to be able to see how close to you in proximity that sexy boy is.

Of course, there is always the possibility of instant gratification through the form of an anonymous hook up, but many guys use these sites for social networking, making new friends, or finding old ones.

I have imagined being pulled over by a State Trooper, and then having my phone “click,” “boing,” or “beep” to let me know that someone else using the app is just a few feet away. I think that I would definitely find a way out of  that ticket!

But there is a flip side to all of this: the possibility of rejection.  Believe me, rejection online is just as painful as it is in real life.  You can be blocked, or receive messages that read “ewww,” “gross,” “no thanks,” etc.  The three leading emphases–position preference, physical endowment, and age–may very well end a conversation before it begins.

I’m a novice to this and am still learning how to navigate some of the sites, but I was very interested in this form of socializing–not to mention the entertainment I got in doing the research for this column. For those of you willing to give it a try, here’s my advice. 1) Put up a face picture unless you are running for Congress, because you will not get anywhere fast without one.  2) Make sure your pictures are relevant and recent, especially if you intend to meet someone.  (It will be hard to explain that your belly grew so big overnight, or that your hair fell out on the morning when you meet face to face, especially after you just sent a picture of you from 1980.)

People bend the truth. I know that I did. I decided that since I look around eight years younger than I really am, I would list the age that I appear. Why? Because when I listed my real age, people were quick to discount me before they even talked to me. Many profiles will read “under 30 ONLY,” as if there are no attractive men over the age of 30. A lot of black guys put “mixed” or “other” for race in their profiles so that when people filter out “black,” their profiles will still appear.  According to a source at “Grindr,” the three most filtered criteria in order are “age,” “ethnicity,” and “weight.”

I have yet to determine whether or not these mobile sites are designed to bring people closer or to keep them further apart; to unite or to segregate. What I do know is that just as the secret behind Facebook was to ensure that the user becomes “addicted,” there is definitely something addicting about these types of social sites. My final word on all this is to take it for what it is.  Be real, keep your expectations realistic, and just have fun.

Okay, I have to go: I just got a “boing.”

AJ Cross

A.J. Cross is originally from Montreal and has written the “Cross-Eyed” column for seven years. He lives in Fort Lauderdale and serves as Budget Advisor to the City of Fort Lauderdale Commission.

Grindr has over three-million worldwide users. The hacking allows naked pictures of users to be broadcast over the internet, or spread through Twitter if a linked account is also available via the phone. The hacking has caused a security crisis for the developer, and has left its users vulnerable because of the vast amounts of private information that is traded through the app.

The hacker discovered a way to log in under another user name, and impersonate that user, including chatting and sending photos.

The founder of the apps, Joel Simkhai, conceded both Grindr and Blendr are vulnerable and that he was rushing to release a patch to address the issues. Simkhai said he had originally been waiting until new architecture was built “within weeks,” but was now releasing an update to both apps “over the next few days.”

It is believed the hacker changed the profile pictures of numerous Sydney Grindr users to ones containing
explicit images.