Sinakhone Keodara, founder and CEO of Asian Entertainment Television, announced his plan to file a national, class-action lawsuit against Grindr for racial discrimination.
In a Twitter post on Monday, Keodara called for co-plaintiffs across all 50 U.S. states who have been “offended, humiliated, degraded and dehumanized” by the app’s tolerance of gay white men who write statements such as “No Asians” in their profiles.
“I’m planning to bring a national, class-action lawsuit against gay hook up app Grindr for racial discrimination and I’m looking for co-plaintiffs across all 50 states.
“Please spread my call for co-plaintiffs to all your gay Asian men in your life that has been offended, humiliated, degraded and dehumanized by Grindr allowing gay white men to write in their profiles ‘No Asians,’ ‘Not interested in Asians,’ or ‘I don’t find Asians attractive.’
“This is complete bullsh*t and I’m suing Grindr for being a breeding ground that perpetuates racism against gay Asian men.”
Born in Laos, Keodara immigrated to the U.S. in 1986 as a refugee seeking political asylum. He founded Asian Entertainment Television, the world’s first and only Asian American streaming service, in 2016.
Grindr itself may have acknowledged its racism problem in a social experiment last year when an Asian man and a white man swapped profiles for a day.
At the time, the Asian man’s profile received offensive and stereotypical comments, including “most Asian dudes are good at bottoming” and “Why the f*ck are you ignoring me? That pisses me off chink.”
In 2015, a study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior also found that 15% of Grindr users wrote “Not attracted to Asians” on their profiles — most of which were white.
“Sexual racism, therefore, is closely associated with generic racist attitudes, which challenges the idea of racial attraction as solely a matter of personal preference,” the authors wrote.
Keodara pointed out that only Grindr’s paying customers can join his lawsuit against the app.
“Now, in order to join my lawsuit, these gay Asian men Grindr users must be paying customers and they can’t join if they’re using the free app. Please have your friends contact me at [email protected].”
Grindr was acquired by Chinese gaming firm Kunlun Group Limited earlier this year for a total estimated worth of $245 million.
Featured Images via Instagram / frogseatmoon
