#alternate alternate Grindr President Defends Same-Sex Marriage Comments After Backlash (BUTTON) (BUTTON) Sections (BUTTON) SEARCH Skip to contentSkip to site index Business (BUTTON) Subscribe (BUTTON) Log In (BUTTON) Log In Today’s Paper Business|Grindr President Defends Same-Sex Marriage Comments After Backlash * * * * (BUTTON) * Supported by Grindr President Defends Same-Sex Marriage Comments After Backlash By Daniel Victor * Nov. 30, 2018 * + + + + (BUTTON) + In a Facebook post last week, Scott Chen, the president of the gay dating app Grindr, vowed to boycott a company he perceived as hostile toward same-sex marriage. But it was a line earlier in the post that had some users of the app questioning his support of gay rights. “Some people think that marriage is a holy union between a man and a woman, I think so too, but that’s your own business,” he wrote in Chinese. The content of the post was first reported by Into, a publication owned by Grindr. Mr. Chen responded in the comments section, saying the article, which included a clumsy translation of the post automatically generated by Facebook, was “unbalanced and misleading.” “The reason I said marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman is based on my own personal experience,” he said. “I am a straight man married to a woman I love and I have two beautiful daughters I love from the marriage. This is how I feel about my marriage.” He also chided the publication for not asking him for comment before publishing its story. Zach Stafford, the editor in chief of Into, said the reporter had asked for comment through a Grindr spokesman but didn’t receive a response. Mr. Chen’s original post was in response to the overwhelming defeat of a same-sex marriage referendum in Taiwan, where he was educated and has family. On the same day he posted it, Mr. Chen shared an Into article about the founder of HTC, the Chinese tech company, backing groups that opposed same-sex marriage. Here is Mr. Chen’s full post, translated from Chinese: Some people think that marriage is a holy union between a man and a woman, I think so too, but that’s your own business. Some people think that the purpose of marriage is to bring up children with your own DNA, but that’s your own business. But there are people who aren’t the same as you, and desperately hope that they can also get married; they have their own reasons for wanting that. Getting married is personal. If you have money, can’t you donate to people suffering from poverty, hunger, war or natural disasters, those who are truly in need of it? Why do you spend so much money to prevent people in love from getting married? Aren’t there other important things in your life? It’s true, I won’t buy HTC products for the rest of my life, and I won’t donate any money to Taiwan’s Christian groups ever again for the rest of my life! Grindr did not respond to a message seeking comment. As Mr. Chen’s comments caromed through social media, some of Grindr’s millions of users expressed disappointment that the president of the app held such a view. And other publications latched on as well. An article by Out Magazine was headlined: “The President of Grindr Just Said He’s AGAINST Gay Marriage.” In his comment on the Into article, Mr. Chen flatly claimed the opposite. “I am a huge advocate for L.G.B.T.Q.+ rights since I was young,” he wrote. “I support gay marriage and I am proud that I can work for Grindr.” On Facebook, Mr. Chen has at times posted in support of gay rights. He posted a photo in early November of Grindr’s presence at the National Taiwan University supporting the marriage referendum. IFRAME: https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebo ok.com%2Fsc%2Fposts%2F10155756396922483&width=500 He also reposted an illustrated graphic in Chinese emphasizing the importance of teaching children how to respect people with other sexual orientations at school. “A child who doesn’t learn about gender equality, sex education and gay education will grow up to be an ignorant person,” one of the illustrated panels read. Mr. Chen studied at National Taiwan University for his undergraduate and master’s degrees, and he worked for Facebook and Instagram after earning a Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology. In January, Grindr was sold to Kunlun Group, a Chinese gaming company, and Mr. Chen was installed as chief technology officer. He became the president in August. Tiffany May contributed reporting. * * * * (BUTTON) Related Coverage Grindr Sets Off Privacy Firestorm After Sharing Users’ H.I.V.-Status Data April 3, 2018 Image Advertisement Site Index Go to Home Page » news * home page * world * U.S. * politics * New York * business * tech * science * climate * sports * obituaries * the upshot * today's paper * corrections opinion * today's opinion * op-ed columnists * editorials * op-ed Contributors * letters * sunday review * video: opinion arts * today's arts * art & design * books * dance * movies * music * television * theater * watching * video: arts living * automobiles * crossword * food * Cooking * education * style * health * jobs * magazine * real estate * t magazine * travel * weddings listings & more * Reader Center * Wirecutter * Live Events * The Learning Network * tools & services * N.Y.C. events guide * multimedia * photography * video * NYT store * times journeys * manage my account news * home page * world * U.S. * politics * New York * business * tech * science * climate * sports * obituaries * the upshot * today's paper * corrections opinion * today's opinion * op-ed columnists * editorials * op-ed Contributors * letters * sunday review * video: opinion arts * today's arts * art & design * books * dance * movies * music * television * theater * watching * video: arts living * automobiles * crossword * food * Cooking * education * style * health * jobs * magazine * real estate * t magazine * travel * weddings more * Reader Center * Wirecutter * Live Events * The Learning Network * tools & services * N.Y.C. events guide * multimedia * photography * video * NYT store * times journeys * manage my account Subscribe * home delivery * digital subscriptions * Crossword * Cooking * email newsletters * corporate subscriptions * education rate * mobile applications * replica edition Site Information Navigation * © 2019 The New York Times Company * Contact Us * Work with us * Advertise * Your Ad Choices * Privacy * Terms of Service * Terms of Sale * Site Map * Help * Help * Subscriptions IFRAME: https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-P528B3>m_auth=tfAzqo1 rYDLgYhmTnSjPqw>m_preview=env-130>m_cookies_win=x