Sex

Image: Feeld

Feeld, a dating app created for people interested in threesomes, has now launched a lifestyle magazine to enhance the brand for its app.

AFM stands for both A *censored* Magazine and A Feeld Magazine, which will publish an array of stories about peoples’ sexual experiences in order to build community, according to The Atlantic. It features commissioned articles by controversial and notable writers like Daphne Merkin (author of the 1996 New Yorker essay on spanking which went viral), and Tony Tulathimutte (author of this fall’s critically acclaimed incel novel).

“We’ve always been uniquely resonant with creatives in our community,” Feeld CEO and cofounder Ana Kirova said to Elle Magazine. She goes on to explain that she hopes the publication will help get Feeld users creative about “specifying the sex or connection they are seeking.” She also notes that half the magazine’s content was produced by Feeld users.

A former Catholic priest has brought a lawsuit against Grindr for allegedly selling his personal data without his knowledge or consent. He says the public “outing” cost him his job and his reputation.

In the lawsuit, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill claimed that Grindr failed to inform him that his data was being sold to vendors, thereby allowing people outside of the app to know he was using it and causing him “significant damage,” according to The New York Post.

This follows a class action lawsuit in the U.K. brought by 650 plaintiffs alleging that Grindr shared their data with third parties without their knowledge or consent, including sensitive data like HIV status. The lawsuit also alleges that some of the third parties might have retained some of this data for their own purposes.

Tinder, Bumble and Hinge have seen surges in downloads and user activity around the Athlete’s Village in Paris as the 2024 Summer Olympics get underway.

According to The Daily Mail, these dating apps have reported thousands of new downloads. Athletes have gravitated to dating apps in the past to hook up during the Olympics, with the exception of an intimacy ban in 2020 due to Covid concerns.

Paris officials have  a different agenda from athletes, providing single beds made of cardboard so that they would be discouraged from having so much sex during the competitions. This has created a lot of buzz on TikTok, with athletes testing out the sturdiness of the beds by jumping on them. (They don’t break or fall apart.)

Image: Grindr

Grindr has launched its new cross-country bus tour “Grindr Rides America” in celebration of Pride month.

“From the Castro to Stonewall, we’ll be getting around—hop on, get off, and get your dicks on Route 66,” Grindr’s cheeky press release reads. “This is all in celebration of YOU as we toast to 15 years and counting.”

Grindr’s bus tour is also in celebration of its fifteenth anniversary, and the company will offer free HIV testing, PrEP resources, and a full-service photography studio to LGBTQ neighborhoods on its route. According to Mashable, a team from medical service Q Care Plus will be along for the ride to discuss HIV and STI prevention with attendees, as well as screening, treatment options, and how to access prep and doxy-PEP to encourage discussion and support without judgment.

Image: Grindr

Grindr has announced it has partnered with Equality in Movement in Georgia and MPOWER in Ireland to connect its users in these countries with at-home HIV testing kits.

According to the company’s blog post, Grindr says it wants to address the global HIV epidemic by making it easier for its users to have access to testing. While many countries have local testing centers, they can still be difficult to access, expensive, and many people still don’t want the stigma of going to a public place to get tested.

Users in Georgia and Ireland will have dedicated buttons on the app’s interface to order at-home self-test kits, any time of day. The app wanted the access to tests to be as simple as Covid tests have become for most folks. The company also wants to encourage more people to test for HIV by alleviating the stigma with in-person tests and allowing them to test in the privacy of their own home.

Dating app Bumble publicly apologized after its new ad campaign about letting go of celibacy was not well-received.

The company debuted billboard ads reading: “You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer” juxtaposed against an introduction to “the new Bumble.” This was part of a brand redesign promotion, according to AP.

The ad appeared tone deaf to many women, some referring to it as “anti-choice” during a time when women’s decisions and control over their bodies are being taken away in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision regarding abortion. When the Bumble ad seemed to be telling them what to do with their bodies, coming from a dating app with a reputation that puts women first, it sparked outrage.