No.

This is thinly veiled racism. Learn to build the bridge and get over your fear of difference.

A lot comments here saying “I only date <ethnicity>“

Ethnicity has no impact on a personality or even how great they are in bed... and frankly I’ve already made my mind up about what shit awful personality you have if you have “just a preference”.

I’m a white guy and even I think you should keep your preferences to yourself.

All ethnicities are beautiful.

Please forward this email to the person/team who made the decision to remove the ethnicity filter from the app.

The purpose of my letter is to request the ethnicity filter be reinstated by presenting a viewpoint that perhaps wasn’t considered when the initial decision was taken to remove the filter.

My understanding of the rationale behind the removal of the ethnicity filter was a well intended act in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and racial equity in general. I applaud the position Grindr took as a corporate citizen, however despite the decision being well intended, I believe it to be flawed in what it achieves practically.

I am a paid member, which grants me the opportunity to view a larger number of profiles as well as filter groupings of profiles that don’t happen to be ones that I don’t happen to be sexually attracted to. For me, and I realize that there is the potential for others to use the filter differently, I use it so as to maximize the number of potential profiles that fall within the characteristics that I just happen to be attracted to. I don’t use it to remove those who I am offended/disgusted/racially biased towards etc. and again I realize that there are those people who do. As a result of the removal of the ethnicity filter, I am now scrolling through numbers of profiles that I wouldn’t normally see, nor would choose to message. However what are the other results that have been created due to removing the filter?

Besides scrolling through additional profiles that I am aware that I’m not attracted to, there are also profiles with which I’m not sure of their ethnicity. So what happens in those cases? Well if I message someone and they message me back (eventually) with a face picture of themselves and I’m not attracted to their ethnicity (and here I must defend myself because it is not a conscious biased choice anymore than is my dislike of broccoli. They are both just something I don’t have an attraction to but in no way does that mean I’m going to discriminate against broccoli or treat broccoli poorly or less than an ear of corn for example. I just don’t happen to have a taste for broccoli. In a grocery store I don’t go to the broccoli section, I filter it out, but with no malice to the broccoli it’s just not my thing). So getting back to receiving a picture from someone who I thought might have fallen into one ethnicity but was actually another and now I am put in the position to essentially reject them. (Fortunately given the fact that I’m not a revolting human being, I politely explain that sadly they are not my type, not going into detail of course, and I wish them good luck. But think of all the different ways that that could go wrong given a different person’s view of other groups of people. So then the recipient is subjected to vile behaviour for no other reason than being there ethnicity. Had the filter still been in place that person wouldn’t have a come across that other persons profile and the exchange never would have taken place thus sparing the recipient the sender’s vitriol.)

I also have a feeling that part of the rationale for the filter removal was that if all ethnicities are visible this will somehow temper peoples’ racism by way of exposure instead of using the filter and falling under the ‘out of sight out of mind’ mentality rendering them invisible ergo unimportant etc. but I would be hard-pressed to believe that. As if someone who holds the mentality that one ethnicity is somehow inferior to another, is somehow going to be swayed by seeing thumbnail body parts/profiles of these other ethnicities and suddenly have a revelation that makes them no longer racially biased/racist. Not happening.
So other than the symbolic gesture of removing the filter, what is the practical benefit of doing so, if there was one? Don’t get me wrong I think it’s a lovely gesture of solidarity but what is the lesson are you trying to impart to your users, and are they getting that message by doing so?

Sadly I don’t think so and all it’s really been achieved is other problems. Therefore I would ask that you put the ethnicity filter back into use please and Look for a better alternative for supporting ethnic and racial equality.
Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
A well-meaning and frustrated customer

PS And by no means am I equating any of the other characteristics that can be filtered on Grindr to the significance of ethnicity and racism given the current climate, but by removing the ethnicity filter it opens the door to a conversation regarding filters for weight, height, body type, and age. Just a thought :-)

PPS Please acknowledge reception of this email and I would appreciate a considered response from the person/team who took the decision to remove the filter. Thank you.

@tariano I don’t believe they took it away to make money bc they don’t offer it on the UNLIMITED version either, or at least they took it away for a while. They actually got rid of the ethnicity feature at the rise of BLM and I’m sure it was to save there asses or veer far from any sort of racial issue to be conflicted during our treacherous times of 2020..

Grindr, it’s all good bring it BACK! It’s too damn hard weeding out what we’re not sexually interested in. Thanks

It’s all a ruse for grindr to sell their unlimited feature so you can keep scrolling to see what u really want to see. ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY!... FOR I HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON WITH ANYONE FROM RUSSIA!... EG. WE DONT SPEAK THE SAME DIALECT.... YET MAYBE SOMEONE FROM RUSSIA MIGHT WANT MY BBC. So theoretically it’s all about cock blocking too!... BLACK PEOPLE IDENTIFY WITH BLACKS!... SHIT SOME WHITES ONLY EVER LIKE BLACK COCK!... just like they saaaay, ONCE YOU GO BLACK YOU’LL NEVER GO BLACK!... hmmmm

Can also be looked at forcing people to live with what they don’t want. Less blacks on the app now, like where all the black dudes are?!... gone back over old faithful A4A!

Grindr needs some competition!...
LARGEST GAY HOOK UP APP MY ASS!

Even when you’re using the unlimited feature what is it are you actually paying for? To keep scrolling????

They take away a future yet the price remains the same for unlimited.

Pffffff!

It’s all a ruse for grindr to sell their unlimited feature so you can keep scrolling to see what u want to see. ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY!...

It’s all a ruse for grindr to sell their unlimited feature so you can keep scrolling to see what u really want to see. ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY!... FOR I HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON WITH ANYONE FROM RUSSIA!... EG. WE DONT SPEAK THE SAME DIALECT.... YET MAYBE SOMEONE FROM RUSSIA MIGHT WANT MY BBC. So theoretically it’s all about cock blocking too!... BLACK PEOPLE IDENTIFY WITH BLACKS!... SHIT SOME WHITES ONLY EVER LIKE BLACK COCK!... just like they saaaay, ONCE YOU GO BLACK YOU’LL NEVER GO BLACK!... hmmmm

Can also be looked at forcing people to live with what they don’t want. Less blacks on the app now, like where all the black dudes are?!... gone back over old faithful A4A!

Grindr needs some competition!...
LARGEST GAY HOOK UP APP MY ASS!

Even when you’re using the unlimited feature what is it are you actually paying for? To keep scrolling????

They take away a future yet the price remains the same for unlimited.

Pffffff!

I'm a poc. I don't find it racist or helping. Bring back the ethnicity filter.

So glad I’m not the only one! Ugh it’s been soooo time consuming lately!

My preference for certain ethnicities for dating is akin to my preference for men vs women. It is simply a preference not discrimination. Removing the filter makes subscribing to the Grindr Xtra of no value to me. I am glad to resubscribe should the filter be reinstalled.

the most stupid thing ever !!! a preference for a certain race has nothing to do with racism, it is just a preference. This is the Reason why I stopped my Premium Membership. I don't want to go through 100's of profiles to find the type I am interested in. I have 56 years of age. Does the age filter has to stopped as well because young guys don't want to date people my age and I might be offended by that ???? seriously ???? That would be just insane !!! Everybody has their own preferences and a good app is about finding the people you are interested in, in an easy and rapid way !!!

Having a preference in the men one has is a only preference, my preference, an individual preference, NOT racism. A filter to encounter those men eliminates racism. I’ve been asked my race and when it was not what he preferred, I was ignored. My guess, it put him in an odd situation and he chose to ignore then block me. It didn’t bother me because I’m happy in my own skin, but for others, this could have had a negative affect. Do you not agree that the race filter would have eliminated this situation all together?

replying to @m:

I am a White man, raised in an English speaking household in the American South West. I became bilingual in Spanish through study in highschool.

I am not attracted to white men like myself because the overwhelming majority of them are circumcised

I myself was circumcised and being exposed to circumcised genitals reminds me of my trauma, bringing up uncomfortable emotions which take me out of the moment.

Hispanic men in this region are circumcised at a rate ranging from 5 to 10 percent. Meaning for every 19 encounters I will meet 1 guy who I have to let down.

With White men I encounter an intact one for every 9 I have to awkwardly reject their sexual advances, which wastes their time and mine, and through that conditioning I’m just not attracted to them anymore because I know we’re likely not sexually compatible. The same way I am not attracted to straight guys. Or women.

Based on your definition provided I am lead to believe you would consider that racist . If so, why?

Gay Hookup culture/ cruising FOR SEX [not professional contacts] is an integral pillar of gay culture dating back to Ancient Greece. Less than a Century ago Gay men used an entire code language, called Polari, with which they could openly solicit sex with strangers in a manner which a gay man would recognize overtly and for an uninitiated straight man the message would pass covertly. Grindr represents yet another step in This cultural evolution as a means for gay men to express their counter culture sexuality openly in a way that is invisible to the uninformed. Grindr is the industry leader, which is important in a medium where the user population itself IS the experience. I was going to say it is some late capitalist neoliberal degeneracy that you would insult gay history to the point of denying the gay legacy to claim that Grindr is, at its heart, nothing more than a Queer LinkedIn Woke Networking app... but Then I realized oh. That’s the point Grindr IS a sex app which has revolutionized dating across the Kinsey spectrum. BUT, just like in the mid 20th century it cloaks itself in an image of Respectability, a camouflage of cliche politically correct woke capitalism

So consider yourself initiated.

If, however, knowing the historical context You still insist that grindr is “not for sex” that would make you a literal Nazi.

The brick and mortar cruising scene, bathhouses and public spaces have been wiped out by The advent of the gay dating app, covid-19, and the privatization of the commons. Meaning, to deny that THE Gay Hookup App IS a hookup app and should function to facilitate gay hookups is to deny Gay people the means of cultural production: and thus advocacy for the Erasure of Gay Culture, subordinating it to a commodified- sterile- lobotomized- hegemonized LGBT culture robbed of its revolutionary, subversive elements to become just another homogenous faction of the identity politic: another demographic to market products to; all of its rough edges sanded down to fit perfectly where heteronormative patriarchy wants it to.

I pay for Grindr Unlimitd.
By removing my ability to filter out all but the men of color I am personally attracted to, you are actually preventing me from practicing anti-racist behavior.

Its ridiculous that you removed ethnicity. If we pay for a subscription, we should be able to filter based on our preferences.

There was never anything wrong with it to begin with. Besides double standards and the easy low blow that white men can’t prefer other white men without being racist.

But BBC Only is a commonly used acronym.

Whats more is this app is designed for men to meet other men. The growing number of “trans only” account types which is fine, but it’s not inclusive of pre or post op ever. Might as well bring in lesbians to use the site now too. But don’t allow them to filter out the men obviously.

It’s on the staff to explain preference is not racism. That should be common sense. I’ve been flamed by and I’m sorry for pointing fingers but black men. I always tell them it’s not personal and I’m sorry. Some get it and are cool.

There’s one account that I just saw is still up in my area that called me a lot more than racist for not being interested. And it happened at least twice. Logic falls through here. I brought up the bbc example and explained any other ethnicity, even a white guy, can be attracted to a black man and they are not considered racist.

So the Point I want addressed along with how this feature is essential and needs to come back is that minorities don’t have an exclusive right to being made victim of racist comments and hate in a gay community. Or any community but it’s a much more serious concept here.

So the account that called me little Hitler, and an idiot and every other thing he could should have been warned the first time he was reported and banned the second.

If people have a problem with preference to race in any way then they need to find a way to get past that or keep it to themselves. And we don’t need to open a moral discussion on the topic every-time someone is insulted over this.

It’s not a moral or ethical concept to be diagnosed. Not like profiles asking for certain types and request for you to message them one way just to ignore you and have no explanation. That’s misrepresentation in most cases. But that won’t change, it’a never been something the team would solve and it’s getting to be more common then not.

Oh last note: I don’t see substantially more white men over any other race. I do see that almost every time just the ethnicity field is blank it’s a black man. So you guys are there, you just don’t advertise yourselves most of the time. Sorry it’s not fun for anyone to set themselves up to be rejected. But by being sneaky about it you’re only making it harder to find eachother. So do what you need to but be careful assuming this is another white man dominated community. Because it’s not.

I also think its hard enough not being straight especially in Rochester. We don’t need to be bringing in more paranoia and anger here so don’t allow the protests and rioting in a place it serves no purpose other then further alienating the gay/bi/curious male community.

That’s just being fare to everyone, truly fair and not the skewed fair we often get as gay men.

As in malaysia, we have 4 major ethnic
Malay/ Chinese/Indian/others(aboriginal/sabahans/sarawakians/ etc perhaps let us fill up the ethnics. Southeast asians are asians too...let be more country specific.better i guess

Some of us just like to date within our own ethnicity/culture. By removing the filter, you’re limiting us and actually inciting racism. No one is being racist for simply wanting to find a mate that’s the same ethnicity.

I agree I only date Middle East guys

I feel if we are paying the least we can have is the with ethnicity filter back. I’m not racist I love all people but I’m not into white Americans I strictly prefer men of my ethnicity background and culture. I support BLM ✊🏿✊🏾 But you guys did not need to remove the favorite filter all us customers enjoyed

Without the ethnicity filter my options for what is desirable to “me” is hindered as I’m forced to “sift” through tons of guys not my type to the point where there only a few in all the thumb nails in the entire allowed tiles. And I pay for this? Choosing ur ethnicity of what ur looking for is no different then saying u only want a Twink or a chub or bear is that diminishing the rest of the people. NO it’s just what turns u on. If I could control what turned me on I’d like pussy. But sadly I can’t. Thank you

I think it’s sad that Grindr is afraid of a little flack for letting there members have choices that they want. If I do not fix the filter I will be canceling my membership