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Dutch Politicians Using Grindr To Attract Votes

Two Dutch politicians have uploaded profiles on Grindr to drum up support for their liberal party ahead of elections.

Jan-Bert Vroege and Pieter Rietman are both D66 party candidates in the Amsterdam municipal elections on 19th March.

Vroege, who is openly gay and has a partner, uploaded a profile to Grindr which says: “Have I got a date with you on March 19?”

Speaking to Reuters, the 37-year-old said: “We are very fond of new technology and new media.

“We are also into making Amsterdam a lively gay destination – and using Grindr we can get that message to all the gay people of Amsterdam.

“We’ve been doing this for two days, and in the first night I got 35 connections. People thought this was a great way to bring attention to the elections and D66.”

D66 is a liberal opposition party in the Netherlands, who support gay marriage, drug tolerance and euthanasia.

Peter Rietman, a bisexual frontrunner in the polls in Amsterdam, also uploaded a profile, to connect with voters and encourage them to come along to party events.

Speaking to the NL Times, he said: 

“Next Sunday evening, the D66 is having a meeting about being LGBT in Amsterdam West.

“Via Grindr, we’ve already invited dozens of people. We also use the somewhat more conventional communication methods, of course.”

Simon Edmunds

Simon is the former editor of Global Dating Insights. Born in Newcastle, he has an English degree from Queen Mary, London and after working for the NHS, trained as a journalist with the Press Association. Passionate about music, journalism and Newcastle United.

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