Gay

Chappy, a dating app for gay and bisexual men, has announced a new partnership with GLAAD. As of November 2018, every chat initiated by Chappy users will raise money for GLAAD’S work to accelerate acceptance for the LGBTQ community through an initiative called “Chats For Charity.”

“Chats For Charity” is designed to unite and mobilize the LGBTQ community around a common interest, to support global LGBTQ voices, and to influence the community to be tolerant, respectful, inclusive and non-discriminatory.

“Every time Chappy users chat and connect with each other, they will be supporting GLAAD’s culture-changing LGBTQ work,” said Zeke Stokes, vice president of programs at GLAAD. “Chappy is making a powerful commitment to LGBTQ acceptance and we are proud to partner with them on this initiative as well as their broader work to build community.”

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.”

OkCupid announced that it has rolled out a new feature to allow users to prominently display their pronoun preferences in their profiles. This is an important step for the industry as a whole in acknowledging and including people who identify outside of traditional binary male/ female gender roles.

OkCupid users have had the option to include pronoun preference information in their bio (or “self summaries” section), so potential dates know how they identify. This wasn’t optimal for many daters, since not every potential match takes the time to read through a profile. Making it a feature and giving it a dedicated space allows users who identify outside of traditional gender norms more inclusivity in the online dating experience.

Grindr, the leading dating app for gay and bisexual men, is preparing to list its shares on international stock exchanges. The app’s Chinese parent company, Kunlun Group, said in a stock exchange filing to the China Securities Regulatory Commission that the listing will take place overseas at an unspecified time. The timing and locations of the share sale will be determined by regulatory approval as well as capital market conditions.

In the Shenzhen stock exchange filing, Kunlun Group said that financing arrangements would be made to support Grindr’s expansion following the completion of the IPO. The company’s board said that going public would “strengthen” Grindr’s competitiveness and support future development plans for the business.

“Grindr’s listing won’t exert a huge influence on the group’s revenues and profits,” Kunlun said in the filing, according to The Independent. “Meanwhile, Grindr can have an individual and direct financing platform which can support its expansion and long-term development.”

“It’s time to play nice.”

With those five words and a cryptic Instagram post, Grindr has hinted at what appears to be a new initiative to curb discrimination amongst daters. Its name, of course, is Kindr.

Grindr has long faced criticism from users who found the app to be an unwelcoming, and sometimes dangerous, place. Many have reported experiencing racism, transphobia, and violent hate crimes on or as a result of the platform. Some have sworn it off completely in response.

With Kindr, Grindr may finally be ready to tackle the issue head on. The Instagram post features an updated logo and a series of intertwining voiceovers describing their experiences with prejudice on the app.

With the explosion of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, there has never been a more public conversation around sexual assault, abuse and consent. Gay social network Hornet is the latest company to take a stand against sexual violence, partnering with Planned Parenthood and the Los Angeles LGBT Center to support survivors and provide education for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

“Sex education is where sexual assault prevention begins, for all people — not just LGBTs,” says Sean Howell, President of Hornet. “The public deserves this kind of information. We must work to take care of our community and will continue to provide helpful information that gives the community skills to navigate healthy relationships, sex and consent.”

As the largest global LGBT newsroom, Hornet stands to play an important role in this initiative.