Grindr Comes To Politics... Florida First, Of Course

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My friend Irwing is a real looker-- looker like in head-turner. Everybody loves Irwing, regardless of gender. But whenever he's in my car there's this constant buzzing coming out of his pocket. The other day I asked him what it was and he pulled out his iPhone and showed me the popular gay hook-up application Grindr. I'm sure if I was born 30 years later I would be all over it too-- although I noticed scholarly author Daniel Mendelsohn enthusing over it in an Out featurette this week-- and he's around my age. And now it looks like at least two of Florida's less savory corporate hacks, corrupt insider Debbie Wasserman Schultz and lifelong Republican-posing-as-a-Democrat Patrick Murphy, have taken to Grindr like ducks to water. Just click on that image on the right. 

So now Grindr's not just about hooking up with loose boys; it's also about hooking up with loose politicians. And while Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan stood solidly behind the Indiana Senate candidate of their party who said women get pregnant from rapists because its God's will and they should grin and bear it, he did have the gay Republican organization disavow their claims that he promised the Log Cabin boys and girls to support ending ENDA in return for their endorsement. Don't look for this photo to show up on Grindr any time soon under "Grindwhores:"

UPDATE: It's Official-- Grindr Comes Out Of The Closet... Politically

The company founder and CEO, Joel Simkhai is urging Grindr users to get involved politically. He sent my friends who use his app a message suggesting them go to the Grindr website where they find this message:

Today Grindr officially announces its plan to mobilize gay men as a political bloc in the 2012 elections by delivering geo-targeted messages about equality issues to its 1.5 million U.S. users-- and to call those users to action. Grindr for Equality, a social effort developed by Grindr, is this call to action, informing gay men in the United States about the issues, urging them to vote for candidates based on those issues, and getting out their vote in order to have a decisive impact on this upcoming election.

Grindr for Equality will work to enhance GLBT rights this election season by doing the following:

• Creating awareness regarding GLBT equality issues being voted on in November;

• Encouraging Grindr users to register to vote, providing them with sources that’ll show them nearby poll locations, and prompting them to vote when the time comes; and

• Promoting knowledge of those presidential candidates and state and local candidates who support GLBT initiatives.

Grindr for Equality is about rallying Grindr’s mobile user base of gay men into a nationwide force of informed citizens who vote with equality as their unified goal. Grindr for Equality will utilize Grindr’s geo-location capabilities to deliver targeted in-app messages that spur users into action and produce noticeable change in November’s elections.

“We must elect not only a president but representatives and senators who are supportive of our community and our equality,” said Joel Simkhai, founder and CEO of Grindr. “Local elections have national impact, so we want to use Grindr as a tool for mobilizing and connecting gay men around the country to help make a combined national impact.”

The outcome of this November’s national elections will be decided in several swing states, and Grindr for Equality will use geo-targeted messaging to reach gay men in those states. Dozens of elections will impact the direction of Congress, so Grindr for Equality’s will work to ensure the gay voice is represented in those elections. Gay men won’t be heard unless they vote-- and driving them to vote this fall starts with raising awareness about GLBT issues on the ballots.

For example, Grindr for Equality will alert Grindr users in Minnesota to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that has been proposed and encourage them to contact their local representatives. Additionally, Grindr for Equality plans to assist Ohio and North Carolina advocates who are working to lift their states’ bans on same-sex marriage.

“All elections are won or lost on the local level,” Simkhai said. “There is no election or town too small to have a gay voice. We’ll use Grindr to unite gay men across the country, make that voice grow louder and have a nationwide impact.”