(GayWebSource.com – Gay News & Press Network) – Posted by Michael Lamb – Echelon Magazine

WHILE MAJORITY OF GRINDR USERS ARE OUT AND PROUD,
MANY STILL HESITATE ABOUT DOING SO IN THE WORKPLACE

18 Percent of Users on Grindr are Still in the Closet

In honor of Pride events happening all over the globe, Grindr, the premier all-male meet-up app, surveyed its huge user base to find out how Grindr guys came out, why they decided to come out and how they’re helping out the LGBT community. It turns out that 82 percent of Grindr users surveyed have already come out and 18 percent have yet to come out of the closet. In fact, 6 percent of users say they do not ever plan to come out.

When asked the age Grindr users decided to come out of the closet, users in their thirties and forties came out in their twenties (44 percent and 32 percent, respectively). However, 50 percent of users in their twenties came out when they were still teenagers, showing the growing progression and acceptance of LGBT youth. With more than 5 million active monthly users worldwide, Grindr has become a resource for men even before they come out. The survey revealed that nearly a third of respondents were using Grindr before they came out.

“It’s a great time to be gay – not just because it’s pride season, but because the tide is shifting for our community,” said Joel Simkhai, founder and CEO of Grindr. “Our voices are being heard as laws are changing, people are getting married and we have more allies than ever before. Every day, more people are getting involved with our community and our latest survey showed an overwhelming 89 percent of Grindr users support the LGBT community by donating, volunteering or participating in equality initiatives. We are doing our part by helping to increase awareness through our Grindr for Equality campaign and have done some amazing work for equality and to advance the cause of our community worldwide.”

Grindr’s survey also put to test the saying that blood is thicker than water. Apparently not in regards to coming out – 72 percent of respondents said the first person they told was a friend, while only 22 percent told a family member first.

When it comes to how out Grindr users are, a large majority (96 percent) came out to friends and 81 percent have come out to family, but only 68 percent have come out at work. This means workplace discrimination fears are still top of mind for many Grindr users. This may be surprising considering the main reason respondents hesitated about coming out of the closet was the fear of rejection from family and friends. That 81 percent beat out other fears such as gay slurs, threats, excluded by religion and unfair treatment in the workplace.

So, why did Grindr users decide to come out of the closet? Sixty-one percent said it was time for them to be true to themselves. This is refreshing, considering 12 percent of respondents were out-ed by someone. Grindr conducted the survey on June 16, 2014 and more than 3,000 users responded; other interesting findings from the survey include:
More than half of respondents – 53 percent – have had a sexual encounter with a woman.
Seventy-five percent had their first gay sexual experience when they were teenagers.
Over a third – 36 percent – have had less than 10 sexual partners.

More than 1.4 million Grindr users log on to the app every day, and exchange 38 million-plus chat messages and three million-plus photos to one another. Grindr users spend about two hours using the app daily, and they log in an average of nine times per day. Up to 300,000 users are logged onto Grindr at any given moment. The Grindr and Grindr Xtra Apps are available for free and $.99, respectively, from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at AppStore.com/Grindr. The apps are also available at the Google Play Store for Android devices GrindrAndroid.com.

The post Survey Reveals 82 Percent of Grindr Users are Out appeared first on Echelon Magazine: LGBT Business, LGBT Money.

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