Gay Dating Apps Chappy And Scruff Take A Stand Against Discrimination

In the wake of Grindr’s ‘Kindr’ initiative to stamp out sexual racism on its platform, two other gay dating apps are following suit.

UK-based Chappy recently announced a major relaunch and rebranding that includes both cosmetic changes and a zero tolerance policy for abuse. In a press statement, Chappy announced it has been working closely with Bumble on its redesign and strategy, which is focused on creating a safer and more inclusive space for gay and bisexual men to connect.

“At its heart, Chappy is engineered to empower gay men to form positive, healthy relationships based in kindness and mutual respect, and that’s something I’m extremely passionate about,” said Sam Dumas, Chappy’s Global Head of Brand as of August 2018. “Collaborating with tech titans like Andrey [Andreev, founder of Badoo and an investor in Bumble] and Whitney [Wolfe Herd, co-founder of Tinder and CEO of Bumble] is an incredible opportunity. I’m honored to be a part of what’s going to be an inspiring next chapter for the brand.”

Chappy says it will now have “zero tolerance for abuse or bullying of any kind.” This includes blatant discriminatory language and behavior, as well as “prejudice masked as preference.” All reported cases will undergo a review process that may result in a warning or a permanent ban from the service.

Chappy also introduced a policy that users must include their face in their profile photos to encourage transparency and reduce catfishing, and screenshot warnings to protect the privacy of users’ conversations.

Scruff, a gay dating app headquartered in New York City, also made recent changes in an effort to eradicate racism and discrimination on its platform. The company announced in August that it would no longer require users to include their race or ethnicity on their profiles.

Scruff co-founder Eric Silverberg addressed the update in a statement, saying, “We recognize that the queer community of color faces discrimination and racism as part of their regular lives. It is why Scruff is the only platform that vigorously enforces its community guidelines to ensure that harassment, racism and abuse doesn’t happen, and if it does it is dealt with swiftly.”

Silverberg indicated that plans are in the works for additional initiatives to create a "safe, affirming, and fun digital space" for queer people of color, although he did not reveal specifics.

As for Grindr, the Kindr campaign launched on September 18 with the first in a series of videos discussing issues currently facing gay dating apps. The inaugural video features Grindr users talking about sexual racism. More videos are set to roll out in the coming weeks.

“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,” said Landen Zumwalt, head of communications at Grindr. “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.”