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.”