Grindr, the geosocial dating and hook-up software, has basically changed the way in which queer individuals interact, but could the software be employed to fill the void it itself has added to?
This Pride Month, physical queer spaces (spaces dedicated to the queer community, such as gay bars or clubs, LGBTQ+ community centres, and bathhouses or cruising grounds) which helped kick-start the LGBTQ+ rights movement, face increasing pressure to shut down in the wake of the Stonewall Inn Riots’ 50th anniversary. The rising acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, and social media/dating apps like Grindr become even more prominent, many queer spaces are left with no other option than to shutter their doors 1 as threats from gentrification.
The absolute most current target? Fly, certainly one of Toronto’s most well-known queer nightclubs, is defined to shut at the conclusion with this thirty days after twenty years, a historic place that is known as an institution to numerous in Toronto’s Church and Wellesley Gay Village. While this is certainly certainly unfortunate news, Fly’s situation is certainly not unique, as towns all over the world are losing their queer areas one after another.
But who’s to be culpable for this decline? Academic articles, the news and lots of when you look at the queer community report that queer social networking and dating apps like Grindr or Scruff are mainly accountable for the decrease of queer areas. Some also argue that hookup apps are destroying culture that is queer together. As the pressures queer spaces face from gentrification plus the increasing acceptance of LGBTQ+ people definitely occur, is Grindr actually to be blamed for the changes occurring to queer areas? Continue reading