But what about the dangers of using a location based app in a country where homosexuality is taboo? The GPS technology could potentially allow a user’s location to be pinpointed and targeted by authorities or predators.Ī serial killer in Pakistan who “wanted to teach gays a lesson” used local dating app Manjam to track down and murder three gay men in the city of Lahore in 2014. So it is that many gay men turn to apps such as Grindr and Blued as an outlet. This is quite remarkable in a country where many young gay men and lesbians often partake in sham heterosexual marriages in order to appease their parents fulfilling cultural expectations of their filial duties to wed and have children. With more than three million daily users, Blued is expected to soon become a publicly-listed company. That title belongs to Blued, a locally-produced app founded by former policeman-turned-tech entrepreneur, Ma Baoli. It’s actually China’s queer dating market that has come into particular focus recently with the news last week that Grindr sold 60 per cent of its shares to Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun.ĭespite homosexuality only being decriminalised as recently as 1997 and the scene still largely underground due to social stigma, Grindr is actually not even the most popular gay dating app in China.
