Grindr’s Communications Director Resigns After President’s Gay Marriage Post

Grindr’s Communications Director Landen Zumwalt has stepped down following the controversy surrounding the GBTQ dating app’s president.

Scott Chen has seen a severely negative reaction to comments he made about Taiwan’s decision to vote against legalising same-sex marriage. He published a post on Facebook that appeared to suggest he opposes gay-marriage.

Zumwalt, who describes himself as an “out and proud gay man”, posted a statement regarding his departure on his personal blog.

He wrote: “I refused to compromise my own values or professional integrity to defend a statement that goes against everything I am and everything I believe,”

“It has been a privilege to come to work every day to fight for our community. I am – and will continue to be – immensely proud of the work we were allowed to do during my time at Grindr.”

“I will never forget the heart-tugging messages, emails and more that we received from the queer community as a result of our Kindr initiative. Nor will I forget being a witness firsthand to the amazing activism work Grindr for Equality is doing globally or working alongside the award-winning reporting team at INTO.”

Chen claimed he was referring to his own marriage when he said he believed “marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman”, and insisted he will always be an advocate for equal rights.

The Washington Post recently produced an article covering Grindr’s eventful 2018 – which also included users being concerned their data would be shared with the Chinese government.

Read more here.