The world’s most popular gay hookup app, Grindr, has opened its first offices in Asia.
Grindr has just opened its new digs in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The company said it chose to Taiwan as its Asian base because of progressive attitudes to the LGBTI community.
Grindr launched in 2009 and is the world’s largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people. It has about 40 million registered users globally.
Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legally approve same-sex marriage and leads the region on LGBTI issues.
‘Taiwan is the first nation in Asia to legalize gay marriage,’ the company’s chief technology officer Scott Chen Jun-yang told E27. Chen will also run the Taiwan Grindr office.
‘It is an open society that is tolerant of sexual minorities. It also has strong tech talents that are relatively affordable.’
Grindr’s arrival in Taiwan is a win last year’s same-sex marriage ruling faces a legal challenge.
Conservative Christian groups are trying to get a national referendum off the ground on the issue. It would ask three questions, one of which is if eligible voters agree the law should be changed to allow two people of the same-sex to marry. They also want the referendum to ask if LGBTI education should be allowed in schools.
The Alliance of Taiwan Religious Groups is pushing for the referendum to happen and must get 281,745 signatures in order for it to become a reality.
