Here’s the Truth About Gay Dating App Grindr Crashing During the RNC: ‘They Hate Themselves'

When the Republican National Convention (RNC) rolled into Milwaukee this week, it wasn’t just political chatter that spiked. Reports have been swirling that the gay dating app Grindr has been experiencing unprecedented crashes, especially during the convention. Is there a deeper truth behind this phenomenon, or is it just another myth? 

Google search trends have shown a spike in interest around Grindr’s performance in Milwaukee this week. According to several sources, the app has seen an unusual number of users and a prominent increase in anonymous profiles. One anonymous user told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “On any given day, you’ll go on there and see a headless torso or blank profile.” While on a normal day, a user of the app might encounter around 10 such profiles, the anonymous person in question ended up counting around 50+ such accounts on Thursday.

Moreover, as per the same report, this aligns with past patterns seen during major political events. For instance, during the 2016 RNC in Cleveland, user traffic around the convention’s main hub increased by 66%. Similarly, the 2016 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Philadelphia saw a 148% rise in Grindr activity. Despite these anecdotal accounts, Grindr’s official status page shows no reported outages since May. 

However, Downdetector, a site that monitors app service issues, highlighted a surge in user reports of the app crashing, specifically in Milwaukee. Adding to the intrigue, a satirical post on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that a Grindr executive referred to the RNC as 'basically Grindr's Super Bowl.' The post went viral, accumulating over 50 million views and drawing a reaction from none other than former Republican Congressman George Santos.

As per Newsweek, in a video, Santos urged, “So, Grindr executives are calling the RNC the ‘Grindr Super Bowl. Let me tell you something,” the openly gay former Congressman continued. “Just come out the closet, boys. Come on, it’s fun! You can be gay and conservative. But, look, Grindr’s already outing you anyway based on the hits, and guess who’s in town? It’s all you conservatives. Bye!”

The claim was quickly debunked as satire, as per Snopes, yet it resonated with many due to the long-standing stereotypes about closeted gay men in conservative circles. One user even said, “People would respect them if they just came clean about it; this is a new Republican Party. What we don't like is people lying to us.” Someone else echoed a similar sentiment and remarked, “It’d be horrible if the site was hacked and the names were published.” A woman even stated, "No doubt. Many Republican men are narcissistic and closeted gay while they act like they can’t stand gay men. They hate themselves. I am a conservative woman, and this has been true in my experience with them."