Grindr, the gay hookup app for men seeking sex with men, reportedly prevents users from adding “no Zionists” to their profile.
404 Media first reported that several users who tried to add “no Zionists” to their profiles were blocked from doing so. Those users were likely signaling opposition to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza or expressing support for the Palestinian cause.
When 404 Media reporter Samantha Cole tried adding “No Zionists” to a new Grindr account, she received an error message reading, “The following are not allowed: no zionist, no zionists” — the same message reported by users who had tipped her off.
However, the app did allow Cole to add the term “Zionist” to her profile, and allowed her to include any number of other ethnic, racial, religious, gender identity or political groups, including “no Jews,” “no Arabs,” “no Blacks,” “no Muslims,” “no Christians,” “no trans,” “no Republicans,” and “no Democrats.”
To verify Cole’s findings, Metro Weekly attempted to add both “no Zionists” and “no Zionist” to a profile several times and was blocked each time. It was permitted to add the other ethnicities and descriptors also tested by Cole.
Metro Weekly tested the same terms on Scruff, a competing app for men seeking sexual encounters with other men, and found no restrictions on profile content.
404 Media reported that Grindr users began seeing the error message as early as May 2024. It remains unclear when the restriction was implemented, and the term “no Zionists” still does not appear in the app’s terms of service.
“You will NOT post, store, send, transmit, or disseminate any information or material which a reasonable person could deem to be objectionable, defamatory, libelous, offensive, obscene, indecent, pornographic, harassing, threatening, embarrassing, distressing, vulgar, hateful, racially or ethnically or otherwise offensive to any group or individual, intentionally misleading, false, or otherwise inappropriate, regardless of whether this material or its dissemination is unlawful,” read the app’s terms of service.
Characterizations of terms like “indecent,” “obscene,” “distressing,” or “embarrassing” are often subjective. Yet Grindr’s rules seem to conflict with its practices. The app allows users to share private albums, many containing “pornographic” images or videos, and permits discriminatory language in profiles despite claiming a “zero-tolerance” policy on racism and hate speech.
In 2020, during worldwide racial justice protests following George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, Grindr removed its “ethnicity” filter. The filter had allowed premium users to view or exclude members of specific racial and ethnic groups.
At the time, Grindr said the decision was prompted by “dialogue” and feedback from users.
“How can we celebrate Pride without acknowledging that we wouldn’t even HAVE a Pride month if it weren’t for the brave black, brown, trans, and queer folks whose uprising against the police at Stonewall gave birth to the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement?” the company wrote in announcing the removal of the “ethnicity” filter. “It is our responsibility to speak out against the hate and violence that such a vital part of our community continue to face.”
However, the BBC reported that the ethnicity filter remained in place for several weeks after the announcement and was only removed following numerous app updates.
Grindr founder Joel Simkhai, an Israeli native, left the company in 2018 after it was sold to a Chinese gaming firm. The company later went public following a merger with Tiga Acquisition Corp. and named George Arison — a Georgian-born American businessman whose past tweets supporting anti-LGBTQ politicians sparked backlash on social media — as CEO in 2022.
In September 2024, the Jewish publication The Forwardreported that “pro-Israel Jews” complained that they faced hostility on dating apps for displaying Israeli flag emojis or identifying as Zionists. The article did not mention any response from the dating apps it named, including Grindr.
The fact that the app only prohibits discrimination against “Zionists” — a term that includes many non-Jewish supporters of a Jewish state, such as evangelical Christians — while actively allowing outright discrimination against actual Jewish people by allowing the phrase “no Jews,” is not only hypocritical but a bit of a head-scratcher.
A Grindr spokesperson did not respond to Metro Weekly‘s request for comment on the company’s terms of service and prohibited content.
Void, a Chicago-based Italian eatery, marked Pride Month with a pop-up parody targeting Chick-fil-A, the fast-food chain that has long been criticized for its past support of anti-LGBTQ initiatives and organizations.
"Chick-feel-Gay" appeared for one day only, on June 22, at a storefront at 2937 N. Milwaukee Street, in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood.
The menu featured chef and co-owner Dani Kaplan's version of the famous Chick-fil-A fried chicken sandwich, along with waffle fries, dipping sauces, and chicken nuggets.
D.C. resident Jevaughn Mark was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for selling fentanyl disguised as ketamine (“Special K”) to two gay men who died after using the drug.
Mark, 33, also known as "Ledo," ran what prosecutors described as a "prolific drug delivery service." He previously pleaded guilty to distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl, 500 grams or more of cocaine, and possessing a firearm.
As part of his plea deal, Mark accepted responsibility for the deaths of 38-year-old attorney Brandon Román and 28-year-old Robert Barletta, a historic preservation expert who owned a home renovation business.
Jackson Vogel has been sentenced to life without parole for strangling his cellmate -- 19-year-old Micah Laureano, a Black gay man -- inside Green Bay Correctional Institution in what prosecutors described as a racially and homophobically motivated killing.
The Wisconsin inmate was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide by a jury last month.
Before sentencing, Vogel -- who was already serving a 20-year term for attempting to kill his mother in 2016, when he was just 16 -- told Brown County Circuit Judge Donald Zuidmulder he was "sorry" for his actions, although he did not appear to show any signs of regret.
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