"If you don't put 'no Asians' in your profile, that doesn't mean you have to f*ck Asians now"
Gay app Grindr has introduced ‘Kindr’ to fight discrimination and champion diversity.
Grindr, the popular gay app, has launched a new initiative called ‘Kindr‘ to fight against abuse and bullying on its platform.
A new zero-tolerance harassment policy has been updated on its community guidelines, banning “bullying, or other forms of toxic behavior.”
Accompanying the initiative is a video campaign that features people from diverse backgrounds sharing their shocking experiences.
Comedian Joel Kim Booster is one of the men to feature in the video. “If you don’t put ‘no Asians’ in your profile, that doesn’t mean you have to fuck Asians now, it just means I don’t have to see it,” Booster says in the clip.
Booster goes on to say that it is racist to disregard people just because they are Asian. “It is not racist to not be attracted to me personally,” Booster explains. “But for you to say ‘I know what every Asian guy looks like and I know for a fact that I would not be attracted to any of them’, that comes from a racist place because you don’t know what we all look like. That’s ugly.”
Landen Zumwalt, head of communications at Grindr, said the company felt a responsibility to combat abuse on their platform.
“Sexual racism, transphobia, fat and femme shaming and further forms of othering such as stigmatization of HIV positive individuals are pervasive problems in the LGBTQ community,” Zumwalt said.
“These community issues get brought onto our platform, and as a leader in the gay dating space, Grindr has a responsibility to not only protect our users, but also to set the standard for the broader community that we serve,” Zumwalt added.
‘Kindr’ is encouraging people to report discrimination as a community effort to eradicate it from the app. “Together, we can amplify the conversation and take steps towards a kinder, more respectful community,” Kindr’s website reads.