The hook-up app has a higher purpose.
Nontraditional Grindr pic?
For whatever clearly absurd reason, Grindr isn’t a popular tool among charitable foundations. But some people—well, maybe one person—thought that the app best known for inspiring low quality hook-ups/high quality dick pics, could also inspire social change. That person was US Air Force Captain Anthony Interrante, a huge fundraiser in this year’s AIDS/LifeCycle, and an openly gay military captain/Grindr user.
Interrante knew that if he simply emailed his friends and asked them to fund his 545-mile ride, it wouldn’t quite work. So the captain got on Grindr and Scruff, started responding to “woofs,” then got to chatting. Eventually, Interrante told The Huffington Post, he’d explain to guys that, “I was going to be riding 545 miles to help end HIV and that I'd appreciate their support. I was amazed by how generous people were.”
Interrante has been out in the military throughout his entire eight-year career, even before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed. And he’s definitely not ashamed of using these apps: “Why should we be afraid to talk about using them? We're all sexual creatures … We’re all here for the same thing and shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it.”
Joey Dube, Vice President of Marketing at Scruff, said he was “gratified to know that guys are using Scruff to connect in meaningful ways.” While dick pics are no doubt meaningful, $59,372 to fight against one of the world’s most virulent diseases ain’t too bad, either.
Image via Flickr User Isaac Ben Sanchez
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