Story by Erin Keller• 18h
Love – or at least a spike of users on the gay dating app Grindr – was reportedly in the Milwaukee air this week while the Republican National Convention was in town.
Over 1,000 users reported a Grindr outage in the Milwaukee area around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Downdetector, a website that collects online service status information.
The Grindr app also allegedly experienced problems in the Cream City on Thursday— the fourth and final day of the RNC — as well as in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. However, Grindr’s official status updates show there hasn’t been an outage since May.
Nevertheless, a Grindr user who did not want to be identified told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he noticed an influx of anonymous users this week.
“On any given day, you’ll go on there and see a headless torso or blank profile,” the man told the outlet Thursday.
The LGBTQ social networking platform Grindr displays its banner outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as the company goes public following its merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Tiga Acquisition Corp. on November 18, 2022, in New York City. Getty Images© Getty ImagesThe source explained that a headless photo on someone’s Grindr profile usually means the person is looking for a fling and not a relationship. On a normal day, the Grindr user said he usually comes across around 10 users who don’t show their face, but claimed he stopped counting at 50 anonymous profiles when he checked the app Thursday.
Newsweek has contacted Grindr for comment but has not heard back.
The buzz surrounding allegedly increased Grindr traffic in Milwaukee rapidly spread on social media. Even ex-Congressman Geroge Santos, who said he met his husband on Grindr, got involved.
“Grindr executives are calling the RNC convention the Grindr Superbowl,” Santos said in a video posted Wednesday.
“Let me tell you something: just come out of the closet boys. Come on, it’s fun. You can be gay and conservative,” he added. “But look, Grindr is already outing you anyway based on the hits and guess who is in town? It’s all you conservatives.”
A balloon drop marks the end of the 2024 RNC on July 18 in Milwaukee. Getty Images© Getty ImagesThis wouldn’t be the first time Grindr saw increased traffic in cities hosting the RNC. In 2016, the Cleveland area saw a 66% increase in Grindr traffic while the convention was in town, according to a Vice article. Comparatively, Grindr hotspots like Times Square, Capitol Hill, Disneyland, and South Beach, Florida did not see any comparable traffic increase at that time.
This trend isn’t just exclusive to the Republican convention, either, according to the same Vice article. Grindr saw a reported 148% increase in traffic around Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Arena during the week of the 2016 DNC.
Grindr Dating App Crashes in Milwaukee During RNC: Everything We Know
Scottie's Playtime 
snork. That just makes me laugh. Though I hope no one local missed a love connection thanks to Republicans.
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Hi Ali. That has been the way historically. The data shows male escorts services go way up during any republican gathering. I have posted before about so many republican politicians who talk family values and hate on the LGBTQ+ who then get caught having sex with guys. They are desperate to pretend they are something they are not to keep their job instead of working to make what they feel acceptable in their party. If they simply stood up or changed party’s they could make so much difference. Hugs. Scottie
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Oh, I don’t know-I know there are conservative gays, and gay conservatives, and I don’t know that either would be good Democrats! 🙂
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Hi Ali. I think you miss the point. These same anti-gay hate all LGBTQ+ family values protect the kids republicans always cause a huge spike in gay escort services and gay sex hook-ups everywhere they gather. It is historic with them. They mean nothing they say, it is all a game to them and they don’t care who gets hurt. Look at Matt Schlapp, who spouted the most horrible things about gay people and it turns out it was well known he was gay and hitting on all the young guys that worked for the organization and around him. He got caught when he sexually assaulted a straight fundamentalist young man who had a right not to want his penis touched against his will and for a long period of time. He dropped his case right after nearly 500,000 dollars was put into his account. Strange coincidence? That was what I was getting at. Hugs. Scottie
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Actually, I think we’re agreeing on that part. It’s only the part about them changing parties where we disagree. As a strong but now only somewhat active Dem, I don’t want conservatives joining the party, whether they’re gay, or not. Conservatives joined the Dem party after the Tea Party revolution, and look what happened to the Dems. Also to the Overton Window; right is now left, and out-of-the-universe is rightwing.
Now, I don’t mean to be inhospitable. Using more (yet more!) words, if people change parties, they have to understand that they will have to support, or at least not undercut, the party’s guidelines, platform, and policies. They don’t get to demand that we change things so they’re more comfortable. That’s the part I don’t like about when conservatives join the Dem party. They can be unaffiliated; we’ll still take care of them, but they can be not-Dems unless they want to be real Dems.
I hope that’s not too rude! I actually hope it’s not rude at all. Taking it for granted we know me, though, and so know my spirit in this.
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Hi Ali. My good friend I doubt you know how to be rude, you are such a nice kind person. That is a complement. I wish I could be as nice as you are in your writing.
I know what you mean now, sorry I was focused on the first part. But what I was saying was if they would accept themselves and give up the republican conservative hates and become a true left liberal they would feel so much better about themselves.
I agree that we do not want any more Joe Manchin’s or Kyrsten Sinema’s. Hugs. Scottie
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Aww, Scottie. No worries!
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Here’s another Substack I just read. This one would be difficult to post, but it is fun down until it’s not, and makes the precise point you make about MAGA and Republicans. https://open.substack.com/pub/weirdmusic/p/no-cross-dressing-gay-people-are?r=1pk2l&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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