Grindr is facing backlash after the incoming CEO of the successful dating app, George Arison, has been found to be conservative.

Arison was announced to be the new CEO after the LGBTQ+ app was declared a public company through a $2.1 billion merging deal with Tiga Acquisition Corp (TAC). In the announcement, the company proudly stated that Arison was an openly gay businessman and stated, “Grindr, with George at the helm, will succeed and grow as a public company at the same time as it deepens its support for the LGBTQ community.”

Arison steps into his role as CEO on October 19, but has already been a target of immense backlash on Twitter, with various Grindr users finding tweets Arison posted supporting Trump’s conservative agenda.

https://twitter.com/georgearison/status/1233469085725396993

Additionally, he responded: “Should totally run for President”, to a tweet made by Glenn Youngkin, who is known to have very strong conservative beliefs. Youngkin previously publicly stated that he doesn’t believe in marriage equality and he has pushed for the government to roll back protections for Trans children in America.

https://twitter.com/georgearison/status/1496906681858486274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1496906681858486274%7Ctwgr%5E5cbf93b79cbe20cba268491d2b9dbf77060c9d7a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advocate.com%2Fnews%2F2022%2F10%2F13%2Fgrindr-faces-boycott-after-gay-ceos-right-wing-tweets-are-revealed

With these tweets being unearthed, many users have decided to delete their accounts from Grindr if Arison moves forward as the CEO of the company. Twitter users have even started using the #DeleteGrindr hashtag in objection to Arison’s conservative beliefs and are concerned for the safety of the millions of LGBTQ+ users on the app. LGBTQ+ activist, Diana Adams, spoke out, referencing the resurfaced tweet.

New CEO of @grindr is a conservative tool who 'agrees with some Trump policies.' Do you feel safe sharing personal data on that app with someone who clearly doesn't care much about LGBTQ rights/sexual freedom? Have any doubt he wouldn't sell your data or out you?? #DeleteGrindr! https://t.co/407rH9DLxK

— Diana Adams (they/them) (@DianaAdamsEsq) October 12, 2022

Grindr has a history of controversies, including being fined €6.5 million by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority for selling sensitive personal data to hundreds of potential advertising partners.

This is also not the first time that the company has had an executive with anti-LGBTQ+ opinions. Back in 2018, then-president Scott Chen wrote a Facebook post where he agreed that marriage is a “holy matrimony between a man and a woman.” Although this post was made against the anti-gay marriage campaigns in Taiwan, he declared his opinion was based on religion.

At the time of writing this, George Arison has refrained from responding to this sudden backlash from the Twitter community, but the company has addressed the controversy with a statement to The Advocate.

“George is an out gay man, proudly married to his husband and the father of two children. George is passionate about fighting for the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ people around the world,” the organisation commented.