Scott Chen, the president and former
CTO of the gay hook-up app Grindr, reportedly wrote in a now-deleted
Facebook post that he's opposed to same-sex marriage.
According
to INTO,
the LGBT site owned by Grindr, Chen made the remark in a November 26
post.
“There are people who believe that
marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman. I agree but
that’s none of our business,” Chen wrote in Chinese, according to
INTO. “There are also people who believe that the purpose
of marriage is to create children that carry their DNA. That’s also
none of our business. There are people that are simply different from
you, who desperately want to get married. They have their own
reasons.”
Chen made his comments in the course of
sharing an INTO article about Cher Wang, the president and CEO
of Taiwan-based HTC, and her support for groups vying to influence
Taiwan voters to reject a recent referendum on marriage equality.
(Related: Taiwan
voters reject same-sex marriage.)
“I'll never buy HTC products ever
again, and I'll never donate a cent to any Christian groups in
Taiwan!” Chen also wrote.
Chen claimed that INTO had
incorrectly translated his comments.
“First, let me translate the comments
in Chinese here correctly. 'Some people think the marriage is a holy
matrimony between a man and a woman. And I think so, too. But
that's your own business,'” Chen wrote in the article's comments.
He explained this is how he feels about
his own marriage as a straight man.
“Different people have their
different feelings about their marriages. You can't deny my feelings
about my marriage,” Chen wrote.
“I am a huge advocate for LGBTQ+
rights since I was young,” he continued. “I support gay marriage
and I am proud that I can work for Grindr.”
Chen moved into the role of CTO after
China-based tech firm Kunlun Group acquired Grindr in 2017.