Have You Ever Been Stigmatized in a Mobile Dating App Like Grindr?

For those living with HIV, the stigma could affect their life even from the place of happy endings, like Grindr or Hornet, — mobile dating apps for gays. In this viral video from the Real Conversations of Grindr online awareness campaign, Australian-based HIV Foundation Queensland picks real conversations people have with HIV-positive on Grindr and brings it to life with live role-playing, and it’s amazingly eye-opening.

Check this viral video by the link on Youtube.

Mobile dating apps, like Grindr and Hornet, unfortunately, provide a breeding ground for people to use anonymity as a cover to commit discrimination and stigmatize. Because of stigma, many HIV-positive gays do not disclose their HIV status in the profile, even if an app provides a checkbox «I am HIV-positive.» In the other hand, people, who were disclosed their status in a chat, often being discriminated and exposed to hateful words.

So much of it comes from a lack of understanding and knowledge, and that is why IV Foundation Queensland volunteers had a role to play in educating themselves and others about the facts.

The video started off as a social experiment at a queer festival earlier this year and revealed that HIV stigma is very real within the LGBT community and that it often trickles into the gay hookup culture. Such a viral action wound up becoming something much more substantial — and a lot more real.