Grindr, the iPhone and BlackBerry “dating” app aimed at gay men, might have a trans problem on its hands. Already fighting off the notion that its app can be used by child molesters and murderers to find victims, Grindr now stands accused of deleting any mention of trans users transness. Scandal? Update: Grindr support says it doesn’t ban trans users, but evidence shows otherwise. Update: Grindr’s creator responds. And we’ve heard from more unhappy trans Grindr users.
According to an email sent to us, one trans user who found his profile being removed wrote in to Grindr:
“You say you wish to avoid inciting “racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind”? Then why in the hell do you prevent me from saying that I’m “FTM,” that I am “trans,” and that I am “transgender”? Do you think that’s something to be ashamed of? That it in any way prevents people from messaging me? That it is so hateful a state that it ought to be censored? Word to the wise, it’s not sexual. It’s not a reference to drugs. It’s certainly not profanity. It’s not a service or a massage or barebacking. It’s outright prejudice and bigotry on your part, and it’s wrong. I hope you get seriously sued for discrimination. But mostly I hope that whoever made that decision doesn’t get laid for at least 7 years. Because you suck.” Grrr.
Adds the user’s friend and Queerty reader Will:
I am a nontrans gay guy who uses the service to hook up with both nontrans men and transmen, and I’m completely disgusted with Grindr’s latest variety of gaystream discrimination. Myself and a number of my friends are boycotting the service by deleting our accounts until Grindr shapes up and ends transphobia against its trans users and their lovers.
We know Grindr actively monitors profile text and photos — because it has to. The app faced banishment from the app store before creator Joel Simkhai promised Apple it would police photos for anything sexual (or sexually suggestive). Which means it’s quite possible Grindr’s moderators are purposefully deleting trans profiles.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Which begs the question: Why? Because trans men are somehow not man enough for Grindr?
We’ve reached out to Grindr for comment and will share what we hear.
UPDATE: Additional emails between the above trans user and customer support have Grindr claiming it does not ban trans users:
Thank you for contacting us.
We do, from time to time, get requests from certain users to ban/remove girls/transexual/transgender/transmen from the application. Below is the response we give to the individuals requesting a ban.
“Hello,
Thanks for contacting us. While Grindr is primarily marketed towards Gay, Bisexual, and Questioning men, we do NOT discriminate on a basis of race, religion, orientation, or gender identity. All users are freely welcomed to use Grindr.
If you do not wish to see this user in your cascade, feel free to block this user as we would recommend you do with any user you do not wish to see.
Regards,”
So – if your friends(trans/non-trans) were banned, it was NOT due to the fact they are trans. It was due to the fact that they violated our terms of agreement and posted content(be it picture, or text) of an inappropriate nature. If they would like to contact our review team and provide us with their device ID information, we would be more than happy to advise them on the reason for their ban.
Regards,
Jared—
Jared P.
Grindr Customer Support
Customer Support Assistant Manager
But when the user tried changing his profile? Terms like “FTM,” trans,” “FTM/trans,” and “transgender man” were blocked. A list of each user profile edit he tried:
1. “Well mannered southern boy into some NSA fun. FTM/trans so best be hep to that or step.”
2. ““Well mannered southern boy with a penchant for oral linguistics. FTM/trans so best be hep to that or step.”
3. “Well mannered southern boy with a penchant for all kinds of fun. FTM/trans so best be hep to that or step.”
4. “FTM/trans so best be hip to that.”
5. “FTM, so be hip to that.”
6. “Trans, so be hip to that.”
7. “Transgender man, so be hip to that”.
NOTA BENE: Describing myself as a “transgender man” – ewww. So not a sexy identifier. It’s like saying “vagina” instead of “pussy” or “anal cavity” instead of “butt.” But I did it since you know you need to disclose the fact that you’re trans on there. It’’s not visible, and it’s not everybody’s thing – I get that. But still…. not sexy. But even that didn’t cut it, so I arrived at (hoping to confound the search terms they were using)…
8. “Trannytranstranstrans. Apparently Grindr doesn’t like profiles that use that word.” At the moment they still haven’t deleted that one yet.
UPDATE 2: Grindr’s Joel Simkhai responds: “Under no circumstances do we delete/ban/censor transgendered users. We have thousands of users who identify themselves as transgendered and they are welcome members of the Grindr community. I am disappointed that you would post an article like this based on what looks like an anecdotal and inaccurate report from one user. Did you investigate or ask any other users about their experiences with this issue before you ran this story? I would understand if you received several reports, but running a post like this based on one report seems presumptuous and is a disservice to the transgendered community. I ask that you revise the inaccurate headline ‘Grindr: No Trans Guys Allowed’ since Grindr welcomes everyone including transgendered users.”
Actually, since posting our original item we’ve heard from four trans Grindr users who report very similar experiences. “I’ve listed myself as ‘trans’ since installing Grindr about four months ago but after updating my profile about 3 wks ago, for some reason I wasn’t allowed to list myself as ‘trans’ or ‘transgender,'” writes one user. “I thought it was just a fluke until I read your item.” Adds another, from the Chicago area: “THANK YOU QUEERTY! Same thing happened to me. I have been banned for using ‘MTF’ and ‘trans’ in my profile.” Here’s one from outside Boston: “I didn’t try to change my profile as many times as the person in your article because I gave up after two or three times and now just list myself as ‘t*r*a*n*s.’ Somehow that worked.”
Red Meat
Am I suppose to feel sorry for Grindr users? lolno.
Will Rockwell
Grindr deserves a boycott. I’m sick of all these gaystreamers getting up in my junk. Let’s take our business back to the streets.
@Red Meat: I wish I could say I was as indifferent to your poor spelling and grammar as you are to us Gindr users, but please just do us both a favor and go back to Kindergarten.
Chase Fresno
Bilerico.com – the Trans website has some great stories on this. plus, they have a contest to get more readers.
Nathan
@Red Meat: Too much of a snob to care about discrimination against transmen, very impressive of you.
Ted
Do people still use Grindr???? How sad.
Devon
There are simply no words to convey how little of a fuck I give.
Trevor
Why are we always thrown into the same category as the trans people?
It’s 2 entirely different things.
Some gay men are trans, some trans men are gay, but the 2 terms are not interchangeable.
Why should grinder put trans profiles on their sites? I don’t think I really care. I don’t need or use the site, but I can’t imagine gay guys going to that site wanna hook up with a dicked chick. Just my 2 cents.
Eric
Trannytranstranstrans is my new favourite word.
reed
@ron: i agree! it’s like these women i see in my office demanding equal pay! HA!
John K.
As a non-trans gay man, I find the trans indifference/overt transphobia of what seems so far to be a majority if the commenters on this article to be disgusting. Wise up.
John K.
As a non-trans gay man, I find the trans indifference/overt transphobia of what seems so far to be a majority of the commenters on this article to be disgusting. Wise up.
Tori
I find it funny all the people who complain about trans stories and yet they click on the article. A lot of you guys on here are bigoted assholes.
TomMc
It is a “dating” site we’re talkin’ ‘out, and as long as everyone is representing themselves accordingly, I don’t see too much of a problem. Does Grindr allow women?
D.R.A.
Ron; Devon; Trevor: You are all tremendous fuckhead douchebags.
Why the hell do people feel the need to air their bigoted, dumb shit comments to the world?
I mean, really…do you guys feel proud about being prejudiced against an incredibly small minority that is violently discriminated against in most countries? Do it make you feel good?
Dino
@John K.: Yeah, it’s kind of really sad that the comments section of a blog called *Queer*ty consistently contains so much bigotry and hate.
I’m all for free speech, but it would be nice if they moderated comments so that all queer people could feel safe and welcome.
Like, keep posting stories about bullying, Queerty. I approve. But when you allow it to happen on your own site? That’s like… it’s stupid. I don’t approve.
kayla
Oh the humanity!! I weep for whores everywhere! Tranny whores included!! May Justice roll down like water and these tranny whores regain their right to whore themselves via Grindr like the biolgocial men can!! Amen.
me
Wait–if trannies want to be treated as real women, and real women aren’t allowed on grindr, shouldn’t they celebrate the fact that their profiles get deleted?????
Pny
@me: Reading comprehension is good. And a moment of critical reflection following said reading comprehension is even better.
Eric
@me: what you can’t see right now is me banging my head against the wall.
Javier
What percentage of gay or bisexual men are looking for transgendered people? I know that relatively few are even looking for effeminate non-transgender dudes, let alone transgendered ones. Why must Grindr include Transgendered people on a site for men seeking men? Should they be forced to include other women too?
Seth
Personally, i have no problem with letting FTMs use grindr or any other gay-related service. But that is because these FTMs are gay, not because they are “trans”. “Trans” has nothing to do with being gay, and we are doing all of ourselves a real disservice by letting people suggest otherwise by using ridiculous made up terms like LGBT.
It would be offensive to tell these FTMs that they should just remain female, since they are attracted to men and it is surely easier to land a man as a straight woman than as a gay FTM. Anyone saying such a thing would be told that gender identity is a separate matter from sexual orientation and you can’t simply choose to be a straight woman just because it will facilitate your meeting men. It is a separate matter and that is why it is an insult to both gay people and trans people to try to combine them into one artificial group.
Unheimlich
@Javier: First: let’s take a moment to distinguish between transmen and transwomen. Secondly, Transmen are men. Many transmen, albeit not all of them, are not effeminate in the least. Some of them are more masculine than a lot of other Grindr users. Although it varies from place to place, a lot of men who have sex with men enjoy hooking up with transmen for a variety of reasons. Transwomen, although women, also appeal to some men who use Grindr. And lastly, this is probably because NOT EVERYONE DEFINES ‘GAY’ LIKE YOU DO.
Will Rockwell
Given the clear failure of commentators to understand the rudimentary basics of gender identity, let’s have a first lesson in Trans 101: transgender males (a.k.a. ‘FTM’ to some) exist and some of them sleep with nontrans men, and vice versa (e.g., I am a nontrans guy who sleeps with trans guys and I like it!). There are also transgender females (a.k.a.’MTF’ to some), and these women are also excluded from Grindr according to the recent updates. For a much more nuanced understanding, read http://srlp.org/trans-101.
If you aren’t trans, imagine what it would be like for a trans male to be prohibited from describing the fact that he is transgender on Grindr. Every conversation is another disclosure, and often a disgusted rejection on the basis of perceived genital status alone. This can easily be avoided! All that trans users and their lovers and allies are asking is to allow them to describe themselves in the description portion as trans without censor.
Given Mr. Simkhai’s impassioned rebuttal, it appear to me that he genuinely doesn’t want Grindr to discriminate on this basis, but the similar experiences this piece has uncovered has lain bare the problem. Perhaps there is an automated censor that he is unaware of, or some of the reviewers do not understand the policy and there needs to be a standardized policy set in place. Until these necessary changes are made and the reports of banning cease, however, I stand by my commitment to boycott Grindr.
PatrickB
@TomMc: yes it does actually. try it.
Red Meat
@Will Rockwell: Why should I waste my time of day defending any slutty GLBT website? This article is about one issue and that is trans people being discriminated on a website for lowlifes such as yourself. Wouldn’t waste my time defending any GLBT rights on such a stupid concept.
Oh and you can take your Grammar nazi comments right up your ass (or mine).
J.
There’s a lot and I mean this a lot of hatred and ignorance in these posts. Sad.
J.
Let’s rack up all of the problems posted so far:
1) Transphobia
2) Apathy
3) Sexual shame
4) Dangerous homonormativity
5) Misogyny
6) Identity politics
7) Anti-intellectualism
8) Broad stereotypes
9) Broad definitions
10) Basic ignorance
But sure…just keep turning on shows like ‘The A-List’ and keep buying into the next iPhone craze. Being gay used to mean something. And after the HIV/AIDS crisis, we lost our history — and well — we became commodities and well — stupid.
Tragic really. We could be so much more.
Obama DID say DADT would happen on his watch... (John From England)
I can understand FTM but MTF is female gender identity so I don’t see the issue here? If you’re a guy and you like MTF, why does that make you go? Go to South America or Thailand where a lot of men who seek this will punch you in the face if you called them gay!
Why would gay guys seek women? The whole point,sigh,is that is hard to date if you’re a gay dude because of homophobia and lack of gay bars in your area. If you’re gay and you want to sleep with women, that’s not hard, just get out of your door and you can pull in minutes.
Likewise I think the lesbian grindr should allow MTF people.
Queertys obsessed with slagging off grindr. Lol.
GeriHew
I have s transman friend who is bi and he thinks anyone male or female who knows he’s trans and is still attracted to him must be at least a bit bi themselves. And transphobia and biphobia are totally interrelated in his personal experience – especially when it comes from gay men and lesbians.
I see grindr says it’s for bi and curious guys as well as gay guys, so it has absolutely no business discriminating against FTMs or MTFs or any trans and/or genderqueer folk – or even a cisgender woman who’s interested in hooking up with bi guys.
If grindr wants to be homonormative then it should just present itself as a place for strictly gay men. Then the nonconformist nonnormative queer guys should know to go elsewhere or stay in their closets.
loogie
Instead of putting any label on an ad, why not simply put a descriptor that is honest. Gay man with vagina seeks other men who are pansexual and into any kinds of genitals. There. No labels, no bigots. Just truth in advertising. If you go to buy a chair and they give you a table, the problem is not chairs and tables but the concept of language and naming. The issue here is can a female with a vagina who takes hormones to get male characteristics be a “man”. No one seems to care except when it comes to sex. Most men are either attracted and bone over the vagina or the do not. Those bi and pansexual men are out there. But many homosexual “gay” men do not and should not be hassled because of innate desire!
WilliamG
Who gives a fuck?
If you’re desperate enough to be using grindr, fine that’s one thing. But to launch a campaign against them over getting banned? Surely your time would be better spent getting your dick sucked at a tranny bar bathroom?
Daez
Perhaps Grindr desires to protect its clients from “men” with a vagina and “chicks” with dicks.
After all, it is an ap for MEN that like MEN.
I totally support the right of transgendered people to exist. I also support my right, and the right of others, to not have to fuck them.
Daez
@me: I don’t think we are talking about MTF here, we are talking about FTM. So in short, “chicks with dicks” aren’t bitching but “men with vags” are. Maybe, Grindr bans these “guys” because no one actually wants to fuck them that uses Grindr.
If transgendered people want an ap that allows them to meet up with each other, then they can create one.
Trevor
Y’all need to get a life.
All I said was that I don’t like being included with people who are trans, just because I’m gay.
That’s all.
I didn’t put down trans people. I am not discriminatory toward trans people (you people toss around the “discrimination” word quite freely). I am simply saying I do not understand why I have to be lumped in with a group of people who were born in the wrong body. It’s a completely different…er..uh…ball game folks. So settle down.
That said, grindr can do what it wants. I’ve never visited it in my life, but based on the description it sounds like yet another trashy hookup site. Yet ANOTHER facet of our community that I don’t want to be associated with.
If they don’t want trans men or trans women on their site and you don’t approve of that, GO TO ANOTHER HOOKUP SITE! It’s not like grindr is the only game in town you idiots.
Daez
@Will Rockwell: If you want a vagina so badly then fuck a woman. Seriously, there is no logical reason to fuck a transgendered person other than being warped in the head.
Every national “couple” that involves a transgendered always has a spouse that couldn’t get a real member of the opposite sex if they tried.
Transgendered people have every right to exist, they just don’t have every right to expect people that didn’t have their genitals mutilated through surgical procedures to want to fuck them.
Fitz
There is something very stupid going on, somewhere in this. I mean, why wouldn’t you want more customers? Why wouldn’t you want people on a cruising site (cuz it IS a cruising site, NOT a “dating site” lol) to say who they are, what they are looking for, etc??? I mean, where is there possibly ANY logic to this? It’s idiocy.. and though I don’t think “equal access to cruising sites” is at the top of my personal agenda, I can see why it is so hurtful and offensive.
Alex
Queerty shouldn’t moderate the comments.
Seeing gays trash trannys on a queer website is the iciest reality check. Reminds me that we have a long way to go.
Wagnerian
I don’t think that not including trans guys on a gay male hook-up site is ‘discrimination’. Bio men have every right to have bio male exclusive spaces.
Fitz
@Wagnerian: I’m a little out of my depth, because I don’t use Grindr, but couldn’t you just select what you are into? I mean, aren’t there a LOT of parameters that are important? bio-gender is just another one. I’m not sexually attracted to FTMs either, but I am also not attracted to smokers, guys with huge or tiny dicks, guys on the DL, etc. Isn’t Grindr sophisticated enough to let you be selective?
Franky
Damn. A lot of you are really f*cked up.
I’ve seen an extreme amount of transgendered bashing, bisexual bashing, misogyny, heterosexual bashing, bashing of anyone who dares uses a social site to meet mates, basically bashing of anyone and everyone who doesn’t fit the extremely myopic and in many ways discriminatory view of what being “gay” is about to some of the responders’ on here. It’s really pathetic. But then again, I guess I can’t be surprised many of you are damaged.
I don’t know much about this grindr thing, but anyway, some FTM’s identify as gay/bisexual, and some gay/bisexual men are into FTM’s. So therefore, there should be an option for FTM’s to identify as such, so that the gay men can seek and identify these individuals. That’s basically it, why it has to turn into a more or less trans-bashing or this “I’m gay and that’s all I want to associate with” crap is ridiculous. I can’t believe some of you are adults.
Franky
@Daez: Damn, you actually think you aren’t the one warped in the head.
Franky
What’s the average age of people who use this site? Because a lot of the bigotry in all kinds I see on this site daily against pretty much everything and against each other, I’m hoping it’s more of an old head thing instead of younger peeps who would hopefully and probably be more enlightened.
Unheimlich
I’m a transman who has used Grindr. Not because I’m a lowlife, because chances are actually rather good that I am more educated, in better physical shape, and have better social and conversational skills than Daez. And not out of desperation, because I also meet folks in plenty of other ways. And I can assure you that the fact I am trans does not in the least deter a number of men in bars or on Grindr from messaging me or meeting up with me. That’s their prerogative, and you needn’t worry your little head over it if it’s not your bag. Just because a tranny has a profile on Grindr in no way means that anyone *has* to fuck them. It just means that the world that everyone gets to move around in is a little larger, a little more interesting, and you get the opportunity to order off the specials menu and not just à la carte.
Oh, and I can furthermore assure you that no tranny would ever be so desperate to want to hit on to such a bigoted mess of a gay like Daez et al. So sleep easy tonight! No tranny invasion of your pants is under way; we prefer pretending people like you don’t exist.
Daez
@Franky: Its not about being gay. Its about being male. No surgery will ever put a woman in the same status as a male. All of the transgendered people I ever knew were really messed up in some way. I don’t believe that being transgendered is a mental disorder, but I’ve yet to meet anyone transgendered that hasn’t multiple mental disorders associated with it.
Daez
@Unheimlich: You can make any claim you want. Hell, you might even be more educated and in better physical shape (although I have a natural penis which means I am actually more masculine than you will ever be…go ahead and lift those weights and run those miles hoping to become something you never can). However, unless the first thing that comes out of your mouth when you meet someone in a bar or on the street or on Grindr that you want to hook up is, “Hi my name is and I have a vagina,” then you are lying to everyone you meet.
If you have ever had any sexual contact (including kissing) with any guy before you bothered to tell him you had a vagina, you are being completely dishonest with that person, and I am willing to guarantee you have. So, your social skills consist of lying about yourself to give some head. Go you!
Daez
@Unheimlich: If you have ever had any sexual contact (including kissing) with any guy before you bothered to tell him you had a vagina, you are being completely dishonest with that person, and I am willing to guarantee you have. So, your social skills consist of lying about yourself to give some head. Go you!
Daez
I’m not even against transgendered people. What I am against is the dishonesty that most transgendered people use in order to have sex with people. There is so much dishonesty that goes on in that community. When you deliberately mislead someone because you know they would not be interested in you if they knew the actual truth about you, then you are, in a sense, raping that person just by touching them.
Keeping the profiles of people that would deliberately mislead others off of gay “hook up” sites is just a smart decision. Next, everyone will be advocating that people that are knowingly HIV+ but don’t disclose it should be all over Grindr as well.
Jeffree
@Unheimlich: & @Fitz: thanks for putting troll “Daez” in his place. He wants to be in his gay bubble safe from transpeople and can’t imagine just how naive & uneducated he sounds.
@Daez: if you don’t want to meet up with a transperson, a redhead, an obese guy, or someone who lacks whatever you’re seeking, don’t. Easy enough. The profiles in question clearly identified the status of the individual, so there was no attempt to cover up or “pass.”
Simon
Hrm. I’m a trans guy and use Grindr. Haven’t had any problems with censorship so far…
Pny
Is anyone surprised that Daez knows a lot of people who are “really messed up in some way”? Birds of a feather and all that, hm?
Tori
@Daez: And you know this because you know all trans people. It’s people like you who perpetuate that outdated jerry springerish stereotype. A great majority of trans people I know, including myself, are open and honest about ourselves.Yeah, you have nothing against trans people alright, except you obviously do. Get to know at least one trans person before buying into and promoting a generalization you got off of tv.
Charlie
Wow what’s with the trans hate? And more than that what is with people not actually reading the article. People ask “why should grindr be forced to include Trans folks?” Their representative CLAIMS their position is they do not discriminate based on gender. No one is “forcing” them, they claim to have this position on their own.
And I really loathe the “I’m a gay man why am I associated with trans people?” position. I’m a gay man myself and we’re all in this together buddy!
And to the people saying “I’m not interested in finding FTM guys” well then take Grindr’s advice (also in the article) and block those profiles when you come across them. These people are going out of their way to let you know they are Trans right off the bat – help them help you! Don’t like bears, twinks, jocks, goths, furries? Block ’em.
loogie
Is a vagina the same “preference” as red hair? Is desiring only cock on men now a bad thing? Is it now a bigot thing? Someone said that gay men should now order off the menu, snicker snicker. Wow. All those centuries of being told how bad it was to love and fuck only other men with cocks and now we are being told the same thing by trans men and their pansexual lovers. Why can’t people do their own thing. If you are a woman looking to fuck a man becuase you get off on that — then say so. If you are not, big deal. Only when some gay men want to be able to be sexuall exclusive with each other (like less than 2% of the population), we still get attacked for our sexual desire (or lack of desire for vaginas). Why can’t transmen and their pansexual lovers give gay men a break who just want honesty? If I as a gay man hit on a hetero man and he says politely sorry I am not sexually aroused by the penis, then that is fine. Why when a transman hits on a gay man who says politely sorry but I am not aroused by the vagina, then that man is a bigot and pig whom pansexal men attack as less open than they. Why attack one sexual desire group because it is not the same as yours?
Charlie
@Daez: But hon… let’s use logic. You are worried that Trans people are going to trick gay guys? Then LET them use the word Trans. If people cannot tell you that they are trans then how can they be honest and open?
Franky
@Daez: Actually, you are more or less saying being transgendered makes one more apt to being disordered, essentially rendering being transgendered disordered by connection. Which is BS.
Also, a man is a man, biological men, FTM, it is what it is. And what does “a woman isn’t in the same status of a male” supposed to mean, other than misogynistic garbage.
gina
This is why online dating can be so intimidating… you might end up with a Daez. Paranoid, delusional haters are out there and they often try to fool you into thinking they’re somehow normal.
missanthrope
@J.:
Queerty is pretty the Free Republic of the online gay world. And it’s sadly pretty reflective the IRL gay community sometimes.
As for all of the assholes getting having panic attacks about trans guys on gay dating sites: no one cares about your bigoted opinion.
If you don’t want to date a trans guy, then don’t date one. Shut up with the horrible abuse you’re heaping on trans people, your insecurities, like the sexual insecurities of all homophobes, are painfully obvious in your remarks. Get a life, a therapist and just stop the trans bashing.
missanthrope
lolz
“Next, everyone will be advocating that people that are knowingly HIV+ but don’t disclose it should be all over Grindr as well.”
You fucking moron. Being yourself is not equal to unkowingly passing on a deadly decease. And I’m not going to even touch the “lying” part. Go eat shit and die.
TomMc
@PatrickB: Thanks PatrickB. Will do.
Fitz
Ay ay ay. I mean, saying “I am not into that person” is one thing, but saying “I am not into that person, so they shouldn’t be allowed here” is really gross.
Alex
daez is worried he’ll be on too much tina to notice the lack of penis.
Franky
@Daez: The fact you more or less compared transgendered individuals to people who knowingly spread HIV says everything needed about your view of these individuals. What a sad comment. You’re making so many ultra broad assumptions, when it has absolutely nothing to even do with the matter at hand, in fact, it’s the opposite of what’s going on here. You just wanted to basically bash trans individuals, that’s all you’re here to do. Honestly, it’s pathetic as I guess most other commenters notice. You really should be embarrassed……I am for you.
Xtincta
Umm realistically speaking if I wanted to hook up with someone off Grindr I think knowing they are Trans would be essential information, so why not allow them to list it? This just doesn’t make sense. If I was on Grindr I’d be ecstatic at the thought of someone being upfront about that kind if information instead of lying to lure me in.
J.
I love how people are fixated with this idea of male and female.
In any other aspect of humanity or even life, have binaries WORKED? Has one or the other, black or white been helpful.
People like @Daez are just continuing the normalization of bodies. Ever hear of intersex bodies? Where do they fit into the scheme of male or female? And what exactly makes you male?
And what exactly makes you female? Tits? Because I’ve seen some men with pretty big tits. A uterus? A vagina? Well after a hysterectomy – does that mean you’re no longer a ‘member’ of a female body?
We need to rethink these rigid roles we subscribe to. Before 1880 – gay wasn’t even an identity. There was no homosexual vs. heterosexual, sex was just an action. But somehow we consolidated these actions into rigid identities that have brought us to this really fucked up place in life.
It’d be nice to see people actually think for once. But I guess on a site like Queerty – that’s asking too much for self-identified idiotic gay men.
Garrett
@Daez: So let’s stick to the topic. Exactly how does banning trans guys who post on their profiles that they are trans help in keeping those evil trans guys from deceiving gay men and not posting that they are trans? How is the possibilty of someone spreading a deadly STI like AIDS at all like people identifying and disclosing themselves as trans on a dating app? Simple logic would be useful.
Your experiences around trans people is in no way an accurate representation of trans reality. On another day, I might find your ideas disheartening, but your conclusions are taken to such a level of illogicality that the resulting posts are just hilarious. If you are a troll, well done. If you are serious and unrelenting in your claims, there is really nothing more to say other than you are a very misguided and uninformed person the level at which is quite disturbing. I love the queer community, but could really give it (and certain members of it) a good hit upside the head for being so willingly ignorant at times that it’s painful.
Garrett
As a trans guy myself, I don’t use Grindr and don’t see myself doing so in the future. I am disappointed in their apparent choice not to include my trans brothers who identify as, but they are privately owned and that is their choice (although they need to be upfront about it). My friends who might have used the app will also make a choice to not have anything to do with it and we’ll let capitalism take them down a notch through boycott.
Dana
@missanthrope: “Shut up with the horrible abuse you’re heaping on trans people,”
Or else what? You’ll banish us from the website the way you and your fellow gangsters smeared and banished a writer on Bilerico? Or maybe you’ll assault us the way you assaulted your own mother (by your own admission on your pathetic attempt at a blog)?
Sorry, Tony, but you have no power here. Your moral judgments and preaching are irrelevant because no one in their right mind would take moral advice from someone like you.
You are an unbalanced individual with a persecution complex. What you perceive as abuse is actually gay men speaking their minds. This sort of conflict would be much less prevalent if people like you hadn’t hijacked gay identity and transformed it into some weird genetically engineered creature called LGBT. You and others like you created this mess for your own tactical political advantage, so now enjoy the consequences.
PS
Good luck on your run for a Congressional seat. LOL! It should make for the funniest trans-focused entertainment since Ticked Off Trannies With Knives.
missanthrope
Who in the fuck is Tony?
Tori
@Dana: Is that you Daez? Just as ignorant and bigoted. Him speaking his mind doesn’t mean people can’t disagree and argue against it.
Daez
@Jeffree: Jeffree, dear sweet Jeffree, don’t you ever get tired of stalking me. You know what I want now? Hmm. Funny!
Who really reads profiles that carefully. Maybe the better way for Grindr to have handled this would have been to put a huge FTM over each of their photos. In that case, it would have been obvious enough that people knew what they were seeking.
@Tori: Note, you don’t argue with this generalization other than to say that it doesn’t apply to you. You can’t argue against it. There are still plenty of those Jerry Springer era transgendered people running around. I knew quite a few of them back when I actually frequented the gay bar scene, and they used to dress up and frequent straight clubs where they never bothered to tell any of the guys that hit on them that they were really transgendered.
@Charlie: I think the real argument should be that there is no reason that I should have my rights stripped away because of this ridiculous idea that we need to let trans people get on the bus. Lets be completely honest, we are much further along as a gay population if we run over the trans on our way to the top than if we let them ride on the bus. There will NEVER be a DADT or ENDA passed that includes trans people. If they are post op, they already have the right to get married in the vast majority of states already. I don’t see them refusing to get married because gay people can’t get married, do you? The two fights are nowhere near similar enough to be in the same category.
Daez
@Franky: It means that they weren’t born with a penis. They can never have a penis. A penis is what makes a man a man. I feel really bad for these people that are so messed up that they honestly believe they should have different genitalia, but no genetic proof has ever been given to explain this situation, so its based completely in sociology and psychology. We should be helping these people rid themselves of delusions not to mutilate their own bodies.
@missanthrope: What anger from a bitch that wants so much to have what I have but can’t. No matter what doctor makes a fortune by helping you mutilate your genitals, you will never have a penis. Deal with it.
@J.: Intersexuality is so completely rare that its not even a valid argument. Normally, in these cases either the person gets to chose their gender at an older age or they are assigned whichever gender helps them to reproduce. However, there is proven science in these cases. There is absolutely no proven science in the case of transgendered individuals.
@Tori: No, its not me, I will always support someone’s right to speak their minds. However vile it might be, I respect honesty much more than PC bull shit.
Daez
@Franky: It means that they weren’t born with a penis. They can never have a penis. A penis is what makes a man a man. I feel really bad for these people that are so messed up that they honestly believe they should have different genitalia, but no genetic proof has ever been given to explain this situation, so its based completely in sociology and psychology. We should be helping these people rid themselves of delusions not to mutilate their own bodies.
@missanthrope: No matter what doctor makes a fortune by helping you mutilate your genitals, you will never have a penis. Deal with it.
@J.: Normally, in these cases they are assigned whichever gender helps them to reproduce. However, there is proven science in these cases. There is absolutely no proven science in the case of transgendered individuals.
Daez
@Franky: I feel really bad for these people that are so messed up that they honestly believe they should have different genitalia, but no genetic proof has ever been given to explain this situation, so its based completely in sociology and psychology. We should be helping these people rid themselves of delusions not mutilate their bodies.
@missanthrope: No matter what doctor makes a fortune by helping you mutilate your genitals, you will never be a man. Deal with it.
@J.: Normally, in these cases they are assigned whichever gender helps them to reproduce. However, there is proven science in these cases. There is absolutely no proven science in the case of transgendered individuals.
missanthrope
@Daez
I’m MtF you moron. Your so stupid you can’t even get your insults right, never mind your facts.
Jeffree
@Missanthrope: I’m surprised Daez didn’t request you include the letters MtF after your screen-name 🙂 so that he doesn’t get confused again…..
@Daez: Once again, you present opinions without knowing the facts, as you have done repeatedly. Seeking an ecucation might be a good thing.
J.
@Daez: So because something is rare, it’s not a valid argument? Are you saying that because intersex people are rare, they don’t count? Because I can name many other RARE instances of people who count.
And when you use the word, ‘NORMAL’ or ‘NORMALLY’ — really your argument goes invalid. And do your homework, people don’t get to chose their gender — the doctor does! And reproduction? Give me a fucking break. I love how you distort facts completely and then try to argue ‘science’. Give me a break. You’re uneducated, plain and simple. I’m finished this debate – not worth my time.
Evan
@Daez: Nobody says you have to fuck us. But it would be awfully nice if we could give you the information you need to know that you don’t want to fuck us in our fucking profiles so that we don’t have to get a message from you saying you think we’re hot, tell you we don’t have a dick, and then hear your angry disgusted response.
I don’t want to fuck you if you don’t want to fuck me. Chances are I don’t even want you at all…you talk like the worst homophobic straight guys, you think just because I’m gay and trans I’m some sort of sex maniac predator who’s going to find you irresistibly attractive and try to force you to have sex with me or something.
Guess what: I’m a human being, with my own interests and preferences and all that crap. And one of my preferences is not to have the stupid “I don’t have a dick” conversation with yet another total stranger on a dating website and get personally shot down yet again by someone who thought I was totally hot before he found out what’s in my pants. Let me put it in my profile, and that way you won’t even talk to me. Which is just the way I like it.
Vulcano
How dare these evil “cis” gay men to like other “cis” men. A vag is exactly like a penis. These guys are soooooooooooo transphobic.
fabio
stupid,,my brother opened my grindr put some dirty words then i was banned that was not my fault now i can not have that back,,,tha is so rude,,i deserve my profile back…
Simon
@Daez: Actually, that’s incorrect – medical science has proven that being transgender is biological, caused by a hormone imbalance in the womb, and not a social or psychological problem. In the womb, a XX foetus is exposed to too much testosterone at around 6 to 10 weeks gestation, causing their brain to form as male, while the body forms as female, with XX chromosomes and primary sex organs. Google “transgender brain scans” and you’ll find numerous medical journals and scans that the show pre-T trans men do indeed have male brain structures.
@Vulcano: I just wanted to note that your comment seemed rather pointless – there’s no need to put cis in quotations, as cisgender/cissexual are an actual adjectives, and no one was claiming that a vagina was exactly like a penis, or that a cisgender man was exactly the same as a transgender man. That’s what people have been saying – that trans man should be allowed to state on their profiles that they are trans. So that way if a man doesn’t want to date a trans man, he knows right from the bat, the same if a man didn’t want to date a goth or a furry or whatever. Also, saying that it’s transphobic in quotations is nothing more than a strawman – that trans people claim that everyone that disagrees with them is transphobic is untrue.
Zoe Brain
1 in 60 people have some kind of Intersex. 1 in 300 men don’t have 46,XY chromosomes for example.
White matter microstructure in female to male transsexuals before cross-sex hormonal treatment. A diffusion tensor imaging study. – Rametti et al, J Psychiatr Res. 2010 Jun 8.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that the white matter microstructure pattern in untreated FtM transsexuals is closer to the pattern of subjects who share their gender identity (males) than those who share their biological sex (females). Our results provide evidence for an inherent difference in the brain structure of FtM transsexuals.
Regional cerebral blood flow changes in female to male gender identity disorder. – Tanaka et al, Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2010 Apr 1;64(2):157-61.
RESULTS: GID subjects had a significant decrease in rCBF in the left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and a significant increase in the right insula compared to control subjects.
CONCLUSIONS: The ACC and insula are regions that have been noted as being related to human sexual behavior and consciousness. From these findings, useful insights into the biological basis of GID were suggested.
Discordant Sexual Identity in Some Genetic Males with Cloacal Exstrophy Assigned to Female Sex at Birth by Reiner and Gearhart, N Engl J Med. 2004 January 22; 350(4): 333–341.
RESULTS Eight of the 14 subjects assigned to female sex declared themselves male during the course of this study, whereas the 2 raised as males remained male. Subjects could be grouped according to their stated sexual identity. Five subjects were living as females; three were living with unclear sexual identity, although two of the three had declared themselves male; and eight were living as males, six of whom had reassigned themselves to male sex. All 16 subjects had moderate-to-marked interests and attitudes that were considered typical of males. Follow-up ranged from 34 to 98 months.
CONCLUSIONS Routine neonatal assignment of genetic males to female sex because of severe phallic inadequacy can result in unpredictable sexual identification. Clinical interventions in such children should be reexamined in the light of these findings.
i.e. Boys born without genitalia still aren’t girls, and can’t be made into girls. There’s more to being male than having a dick.
greenmusic23f
@Daez: That is why they want to identify themselves as trans — so people like you don’t waste your time with their profile.
Shaun
Just seen this post about getting banned on grindr and wanted to pass on this page http://www.GrindrSucks.com on how to get back on the grindr app (Xtra too). Just follow the steps and your back on in no time, just like I did! Enjoy and pass on the link!
Shaun
free doom
Every web site should be able to set that criteria themselves.The politically correct, all inclusive attitude isn’t use full, seems unauthentic, and uninteresting. The internet offers an endless parade of choices, why want to make it about being the same?
maki
@Trevor: excuse me QUEEN….i never used grindr EVER but i saw this article for somne links saying the supid grindr is banning trans profiles….chick with dick??? seriously dude….we so called chicks with dicks got more then whats IN OUR PANS going on for us…where such ignorant GAY MEN like u dont…..we have more courage facing everyday of lifes difficulties more then u do…we are beauifull with class and yes SRAIGHT MEN GOES GAGA ON US….yes SRAIGHT MEN…those who u fantasize to sleep with but guess want….wont coz hes not into ur PHYSICAL APPEARANCE…all these GAY queens who segregates us well fuck you all…i have so many gay friends and im so happy with them….theyre funny theyre cool and obviously we have 2 different types of men so we wont be fighing for same guy….howevere grindr have bisexual profiles…who dates girls or guys and trans is such a perfection….so excuse me…besides…grindr is just for people who can photoshop good….and doesn look good and aint approachable in public :-)….EAT IT!!!
SomeItalianMafiaBoss
@Daez: @Daez:
Hey Yo Daez, if a penis is what makes a man a man, and would you be de-man’ed if someone chops it off from your body?
effyoudaez
grindr is a peice of shit anyway, it’s as trashy as hooking up from craigslist