BY: SAMANTHA TAPP
Grindr, a gay-dating app, is urging its American users to get out, get loud and vote. Before the huge presidential debate on September 26th, the app took a poll on their American users’ opinions on the upcoming election and the candidates. The results have now been released and they show the users’ overwhelming support for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
With nearly 70% users likely to vote, 68.7% of the support went to Clinton, while only 15.1% showed support for Republican candidate Donald Trump. These results come as no surprise given both candidates stances on LGBT policies. Even though Clinton has been criticized for once openly discussing her support for anti-gay marriage legislation, her new campaign is in total support of equality.
She has released a LGBT policy sheet in which she outlines her plans to support, protect and honour LGBT rights. The Human Rights Campaign unanimously voted to endorse Clinton in the upcoming election, and amongst the general LGBT community, Clinton sustains an overwhelming favourability compared to Trump.
Trump, on other hand, has never outlined any pro-LGBT policies. In fact this week, he has publicly stated his commitment to “religious liberty,” by confirming he would sign the American First Amendment Defence Act. This would make discriminatory acts against LGBT people legal in every sector from employment to health care if the person discriminating claimed it was due to religious purposes. This means that President Obama’s Executive Order to protect LGBT workers would be void.
Trump may be the only person surprised with the undeniable results. This summer he said that he believes he is “far better” for the gay community than Hillary, even with his clear anti-gay marriage stance. Unfortunately for him, the majority of the LGBT community disagrees. The Grindr users even named Trump as their main reason for voting this election.
‘Grind the Vote,’ is Grindr’s online campaign to encourage voting and also acts as a spot for Americans to register to vote. The page states it recognizes that the results of the upcoming election will have a major impact on the LGBT community and the app is doing everything it can to make that impact a positive one.
