Gay Immigrants and Grindr: Revitalizing Queer Urban Spaces?

Abstract

In this (open-access) essay, I assess the idea that Grindr and related apps render urban gay spaces obsolete, and offer three counter-arguments based on my research with immigrants and tourists who use Grindr. In short: newcomers who use Grindr might actually bring new life to queer urban spaces, because...

1. Newcomers don’t use Grindr in the same way they use (physical) queer spaces;

2. Newcomers use Grindr *in* queer spaces; and

3. Newcomers often have better luck finding sex offline.