WEBVTT - CZM Rewind: My RNC Grindr Adventure 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:03.240 Cool zone media. 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:10.480 Grinder. I hardly this is it could happen here where 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:14.320 today the it is gay flirting and or harassment, and 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:17.960 the here is Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During the twenty twenty four 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:23.000 Republican National Convention. I'm gare also known by my undercover 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:27.960 alias Garrison Davis, and I was lucky enough to be 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:31.920 one of our on the ground RNZ correspondence. A few 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:35.080 weeks ago. We provided daily coverage of the GOP Coronation 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:39.120 festival based on our conversations with delegates, lobbyists, and think 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:42.720 tank ghoules, and reported on the general trends in rhetoric 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.159 used by popular speakers at the event. We'll have some 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:48.560 more in depth episodes about those topics in the weeks 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.320 to come, using more of our recorded interviews we collected 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.640 at the convention. But on top of our regular coverage, 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:57.880 I also had a special assignment that I'm more or 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:01.840 less assigned to myself. On this show, we often talk 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:05.680 about right wing extremism and issues facing gay and trans people, 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:09.080 including the various ways conservatives and Christian nationalists are trying 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:11.679 to make life harder for queer people, whether through legislation, 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:16.440 online harassment, and physical violence as These are two of 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.960 our most frequently covered topics. Being at the Republican National 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:24.160 Convention provided me with the perfect opportunity to investigate the 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:30.760 intersection between conservatism and homosexuality. For years, I've heard rumors 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:35.240 and urban legends about a massive influx of Republicans flocking 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.640 to the gay hookup app Grinder to get laid during 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:42.640 the RNC. Whether they be twenty year old Republican twinks 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:46.280 from Miami or fifty three year old self hating, closeted 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:51.000 gay men from Idaho trapped in loveless marriages, curiosity has 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:54.240 often gotten the better of me, and I needed to 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:58.720 know how many homosexual Republicans were actually logging onto Grinder 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:02.600 in case if you're unfamiliar, Grinder is technically a dating 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:07.000 app that serves the LGBTQ community, but in actuality, it 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:09.600 is a mediocre hookup app that mostly serves as a 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:13.000 way for strangers in their forties to completely unprompted send 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:16.840 you unflattering pictures of their penis. Grinder was launched in 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.800 two thousand and nine and is arguably the largest and 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:23.560 most popular gay dating app, especially among men. Grinder has 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:27.160 only been around for two In person RNCs prior to 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:30.320 this point twenty twelve and twenty sixteen, since all convention 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:34.080 activities moved online during twenty twenty for the pandemic. So 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:38.120 this July, for the first time in eight years, Republicans 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.840 from all around the country could gather in one city 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:43.960 and once their wives fell asleep, log on to Grinder 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.160 and this episode, I'm going to tell you about my 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:52.840 RNC Grinder experience. Before traveling to the city that was 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:55.160 about to be invaded by all of the weirdest Republicans 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:58.280 in the country, I needed to do some prep to 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:02.440 help ensure safety and success in my investigative endeavor. I 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:06.040 hope you queers liked that terrible pun. Based on the 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.960 massive increase in violent anti trans rhetoric coming from the GOP, 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:12.040 I already knew that I would be dusting off my 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:16.040 old boy motor skills and going undercover as a cisgender male. 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.840 Although my ability to pass as a straight mail is debatable, 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.400 I can at least easily pass as a not quite 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:27.600 straight male. My trans feminine fashion taste has been skewing 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.359 more mask lesbian in recent years, so clothing wasn't really 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:33.520 an issue. I packed up basically all my button up 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:36.600 collar shirts, three ties, two black suits, and a beige 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.840 London fog trench coat. Basically, the vibe I was going 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:44.160 for was half young Republican, half Roman towel boy dressed 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:47.280 as a nineteen fifties FBI agent. I refer to this 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:50.960 as Dale Cooper Moting. I was unwilling to cut my 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:53.960 hair to match most of the young Republican frat boys, 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.600 so I settled on styling my wavy blonde locks like 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:01.760 Baron Trump meets Total Swinton. In Constantine. I was kind 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:05.240 of Gabriel maxing for most of the convention, and though 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.960 most attendees were unable to pick up on my diikish undertones, 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.720 the one day I wasn't wearing a tie, I did 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.240 get she heard by the Secret Service when entering the 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:18.760 convention through a security checkpoint. They're going woke. So that 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:22.080 was my general look for the convention. I also completely 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:26.040 remade my Grinder profile for the RNZ For simplicity's sake, 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.719 I got to emphasize my twinkish past and removed the 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:33.960 explicitly non binary transgender aspects of my profile, replacing some 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:37.400 of my more trans coded photos with pictures of my 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:41.920 light yagami and Dale Cooper cosplay. Perhaps next rn C 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:45.040 I can experiment with discovering how many of the RNC 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:48.040 attendees are chasers. But for safety's at sake, I went 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:51.600 to more stealth, both online and in person at RNZ 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:55.400 related events. For my main profile picture, I chose a 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:58.479 pretty basic photo of me with disheveled hair, wearing a 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:01.120 light gray shirt and thin black tie, I looking just 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:06.520 frankly exhausted. I chose the simple yet elegant user name Twink, 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:11.120 and for my bio wrote gen z in town for Convention, 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.560 which I thought was pretty funny and signals to people 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.559 that yes, I am here for the RNC, but leaves 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:22.160 the exact reason why still a bit mysterious. So this 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:25.440 was my bait. On my way to the airport, I 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:28.039 was already dressed for the part, as I suspected the 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:30.919 flight from Atlanta to Milwaukee would be part of the 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:35.080 whole RNC experience. I arrived at the gate and the 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:39.440 vibe shift was immediate. Older white men with even whiter 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.200 hair wearing a mix of poorly tailored suits and country 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:46.760 club polo shirts fit for the driving range. They all 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.839 kind of looked like my Republican grandfather. The women, meanwhile, 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:54.280 regardless of age, were all cause playing their favorite female 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.760 Fox and News anchor with bleached blonde hair. There were 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:01.400 a handful of delegates as well as Republican super fans 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:05.039 wearing Trump buttons and mega hats, just really excited to 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.440 be going to the convention, the way a NERD would 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.520 be excited to go to San Diego Comic Con. Others 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:12.960 at the gate were more subdued, perhaps not wanting to 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.719 attract too much attention in the Atlanta airport, but I 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.839 could still overhear them getting into quiet small talk about 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:24.320 their RNC expectations and in hushed tones, asking others at 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:28.480 the gate if they were going to the convention. And 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.359 that's what everyone called it, not the Republican Convention, not 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:36.560 the GOP convention or the RNC the convention. As I 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.400 was bording the plane, an older woman with straw like 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:41.880 blonde hair, sitting a few rows in front of me 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.479 waved me and asked, young man, are you going to 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:50.559 the convention? I gave my best yes, ma'am, took my seat, 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:53.240 and then heard her remark to her friend about how 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:56.640 happy she was that more young people are attending the convention. 0:06:57.200 --> 0:06:59.760 And I would suspect she would be quite disappointed to 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.760 learn why I was attending the convention and what I 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.960 was doing there, mainly trying to collect as much information 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:10.880 about these weird RNC Grinder Republicans as I can. And 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.360 you will hear more about those weird Grinder RNC Republicans 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.320 after the break. This episode is brought to you in 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:20.880 part by the top Gun soundtrack, which I was listening 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:23.440 to as I was coming out from adderall while writing 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:26.640 the second half of this episode, as well as these 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:41.760 products and sponsors. Okay, back to the Grind. Most convention 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:45.600 activities took place in the Peiser Forum, which it took 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:49.040 about four days to learn how to pronounce. This venue 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:52.400 is usually home to the NBA team, the Milwaukee Bucks, 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:54.560 and this is where I would do most of my 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.720 Grinder cruising so I could see other profiles within the 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:01.280 radius of the convention area. Every time I walked into 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:03.640 the Pfiser Forum, which was multiple times a day for 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.040 four days in a row, I would find a little 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:08.320 corner or a place to sit and discreetly boot up 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:10.920 Grinder and refresh my feed to see what profiles were 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:14.960 in my proximity. Now, if you're unfamiliar with Grinder. One 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:20.679 of its more terrifying features is the proximity detector, telling 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.760 you what users are near you, whether that be five 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:27.480 miles away or five feet away. Every night, when I 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:30.680 got back to the hotel after recording with Robert and Sophie, 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:33.079 I would once again check a Grinder to see if 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:35.880 any unlucky delegates were put up in the hotels by 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.880 the airport. The hotel we were staying at was also 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:42.640 home to the Idaho and North Dakota delegates, and though 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:45.480 I don't believe anyone from our hotel was on Grinder, 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:49.480 save for maybe an anonymous profile or two, there definitely 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:53.000 were RNC attendees at some of the nearby hotels roughly 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:57.000 fifteen hundred feet away from my bed. The Grinder proximity 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.880 detector was quite useful to me and locating profiles act 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.560 around the footprint of the r and C, as well 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:05.520 as when sorting through all my messages back home to 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.280 confirm who attended the rn C from out of state. 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:11.880 Because Milwaukee is about six hundred and fifty miles away 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:15.800 from Atlanta, if someone's distance marker was substantially different from that, 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:17.840 I could assume that they were in Milwaukee for the 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:19.760 r and C from out of state, even if I 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:23.520 wasn't able to confirm through any brief text exchange. I've 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:25.840 also done my best to follow up with certain profiles 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:29.800 to rule out possibilities of secondary traveling or other random 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:32.960 reasons for why their distance markers might not line up exactly. 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:36.800 And I think they have it narrowed down pretty well. Okay, 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:39.160 you've been very patient, and now I think it's time 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:43.200 to read through the highlights from my grinder in box. 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:45.800 And I gotta say I think I started off pretty strong. 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:49.440 While attending the RNC kickoff party the night before the 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.280 convention officially started, I got one of the very first 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:55.640 messages I received from a twenty one year old Republican 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:58.360 with the profile picture that's just a close up picture 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:02.120 of a dark suit with a dark blue shirt and 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:06.080 vgenta tie, already horrendous vibes. He asked me if I 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:10.120 was quote unquote with the GOP and I said I 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:12.920 was attending with friends, and then I got no further response. 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:16.120 I saw this guy online throughout the convention, and then 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:19.320 after the convention was over, he moved like three hundred 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:21.680 miles away, so I'm pretty sure he was there for 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:25.400 the RNC. I got a message from someone who identified 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:29.679 himself as a local conservative quote but not a hardcore 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:33.559 Republican unquote, and he was excited the convention was in town, 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:37.880 hopeful that he would quote meet my future husband unquote. 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:43.000 The first chaser I encountered with the bio looking for 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:46.600 some lady dick to feel in my ass, saw through 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:50.800 my sister gender disguise and messaged me cock question mark. 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:54.120 I got one other message from a chaser who was 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.559 pretending to be Tea for Tea, who asked me if 0:10:56.559 --> 0:11:00.360 I was in town for Kitsu Khan an Anima in 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:04.400 Green Bay. A nice local messaged me, quote hope you're 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.640 finding what you're looking for, smiley face, which was very 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:10.160 nice and just kind of amusing if you consider that 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:12.920 he thought I was just a gay Republican looking for 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:17.520 some other gay Republican. Another local with the name older 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:21.319 for young sent me the message quote boomer, who will 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:25.480 talk politics with you or we can just fuck. I 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:29.520 asked him if the quote unquote talk politics pickup line 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:33.600 works very often, and he replied quote less often than 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:38.440 I would hope for On here zero unquote, he mentioned 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.400 that he had noticed some convention attendees on the app 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:45.440 telling me that they have infiltrated Grinder. He then asked 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:47.280 me what exact hotel I was staying at. So that 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:50.360 was the end of that conversation. A minority of the 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:54.840 Milwaukee locals who messaged me identified themselves as conservatives and 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:58.520 were largely excited that the RNC was in town. They 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:01.600 vicariously questioned me about how the convention was going, as 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:05.480 most were disappointed that they themselves cannot attend. One such 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:10.200 fellaw who described Trump's first RNC entrance as electric and 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:14.520 a very emotional moment for him and the entire crowd unquote, 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:17.560 would have liked to attend, but he was busy working 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:21.720 at the hospital because they needed quote extra staffing just 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:27.080 in case unquote. Now, the worst profile picture I found 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.240 was an older guy wearing a baseball camp and one 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.600 of those half faced skull masks like Adam Offfen used 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.400 to wear. He said he was from Florida and claimed 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:39.120 to be in town not for the RNC but to 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:43.440 visit family, and mentioned that Vance had completely sold out 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:47.640 his morals for the VP spot. This guy's politics were impenetrable. 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:51.760 Maybe this was just like your average Florida Independent. Very 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:56.200 baffling fella. A younger guy messaged me, asking you're a 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:59.400 Republican and I said not really putting it lightly, and 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:01.679 he never got back to me. I did find a 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.240 thirty one year old chaser named Greg who I do 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:08.199 believe was attending the convention and his bio read quote Anon, 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:14.560 come drain me trans CD as crossdresser sissy fem to 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:18.160 the front of the line. I asked, you like trans 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:23.120 and he responded yes. We had no further conversation. I 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:24.880 did talk with two other people who happened to be 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:27.600 covering the convention, including one guy who thought I was 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:30.719 with CNN because the Grinder proximity sensor put me near 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:33.959 the CNN area when I was actually using Grinder at 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:38.679 the Heritage Foundation party. And lastly, really the only guy 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:42.600 I saw who openly claims to be attending the RNC 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.680 in his public bio was a thirty two year old 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:49.880 from Shreveport, Louisiana with the user name suck me Off 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:55.520 one Word. He described the convention as exhausting but awesome 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:59.079 and told me he was quote proud to support President 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:04.000 Trump unquote and called Trump's speech on the final day amazing. 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.000 A lot of the RNZ speakers, including Trump, talked about 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.440 Corey Compretour, the man who was killed at the Trump 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:15.360 rally during the attempted assassination. So after mister suck me 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.960 Off talked about how awesome Trump's speech was, I just 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:23.440 replied to him, poor Corey, and he messaged me back 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:27.200 Corey who, and that he told me what exact hotel 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:30.560 he was staying at. Now, part of the danger of 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.840 trying to use Grinder directly in the middle of the RNC, 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.880 even discreetly, is that even if I'm hunched over on 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:40.560 my phone, there is a non zero chance that some 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.800 passer by or person sitting right above me might catch 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:46.880 a glimpse of an unsolicited dickpic that fills my phone 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:49.640 screen as I try to check my messages. And this 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.800 is simply a non negotiable part of the Grinder experience. 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:58.240 Whatever you do, grainy, unflattering, bizarrely angled photos of some balding, 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:03.520 forty three year old married man will appear in your inbox. Ordinarily, 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:05.800 I would check the profile first to see who might 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:09.040 be sending me a photo, to weed out the undesirable 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:13.239 prospects before even considering to open up a DM. Unfortunately, 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.000 multiple factors prevented me from doing this. For one, this 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:18.200 was research, so I needed to collect the most amount 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:22.040 of data possible. But moreover, even if I still wanted 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.760 to vet for applicable profiles in my dms, this was 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:30.080 impossible without opening up each DM individually and clicking through 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.600 to their profile from the chatlog. Due to one of 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:36.240 the many glitches I experienced using Grinder at the RNC, 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:40.560 about halfway through the week, the app started crashing pretty frequently. 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:42.680 But the main glitch I had to deal with, which 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.640 has since been fixed, is that I could not access 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.720 anyone's profile from the DM's page. I had to click 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:52.840 into each individual chat log to open up a user profile, 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:55.560 which meant I had to look at a lot more 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:59.960 unsolicited Dick pics before even being able to check anyone's profile. 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.760 So there I was watching Ted Cruise's speech, sitting underneath 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:07.160 about fifty Republicans and right next to both of my bosses, 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:10.680 scrolling through an endless stream of dick pics to see 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:12.320 who was local and who was here for the R 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:16.960 and C, hoping that whatever Republican voter from Alabama wasn't 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:21.360 looking over my shoulder at the plethora of dimly lit hog, 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:25.000 but I was far from the only one reporting issues 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.960 with the app during the r and C. Around midday 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:30.560 on Tuesday, the second day of the convention, over one 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:34.040 thousand users reported a Grinder outage in the Milwaukee area 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.800 on the website down Detector. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:40.040 on the final day of the r and C that 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:43.480 quote reports that the Grinder app crashing increased by more 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.400 than ninety percent in the past forty eight hours across 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:50.000 the country unquote. The down detector heat map showed grinder 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.520 outages in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, as well 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.440 as a hot spot of outages in Milwaukee near the 0:16:56.560 --> 0:17:00.160 end of the convention, indicating users were experience and some 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:04.399 issues with the app, possibly due to an increase in activity, 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:08.240 and you will hear more about that activity after this 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:11.159 ad break. This episode of It Could Happen Here is 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:15.040 brought to you in part by the Challenger's soundtrack remix 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:18.840 by Boys Noise, which I was listening to as I 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.800 wrote most of this episode while on the plane back 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:25.000 to Atlanta. This episode is also brought to you by 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:38.920 these products and services. We once again returned to the grind. 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:41.840 We got to keep on grinding. We're almost done, but 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:44.080 we got to grind a little more. Just one more 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:46.560 grind bro I swear about addictors. One more grind broachs, 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:50.359 one more grind. During the influx of reports about the 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:53.960 Grinder app breaking during the RNC, a post from the 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:58.280 Twitter account for the Halfway Post went extremely viral, bolstering 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:02.439 claims of a massive increase in activity. Quote breaking, an 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:06.320 executive of the gay dating app Grinder says, the Republican 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:12.159 National Convention is quote basically Grinder's super Bowl unquote. This 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.680 quote from a Grinder executive went super viral, prompting discussions 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:19.080 all over the Internet about five different articles and even 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.679 disgraced former New York Congressman George Sentos commented on the 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:26.080 phenomenon content warning, gay Republican. 0:18:26.240 --> 0:18:30.600 So Grinder executives are calling the R and C Convention 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:38.919 the Grinder super Bowl. Folks. Look, I'm openly gay, no 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:43.720 qualms about it. Proud conservative Republican. I met my husband 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:46.960 on Grinder and we've been together for six years going 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.719 on seven, married for almost three. Let me tell you something. 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:55.440 Just come out the closet, boys, come on it's fun. 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:59.800 You can be gay and conservative, but look, Grinder's already 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:02.720 anyway based on the hits, and guess who's in town. 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:05.240 It's all you conservatives. 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:09.360 By now, I certainly did observe a lot of blank 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:12.320 or anonymous profiles, at least more than I'm used to. 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:16.600 I also received messages containing variations of hey sexy from 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:20.159 at least five accounts that have since been deactivated. And 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:22.680 this does line up with a report from a Milwaukee 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.760 area Grinder user who spoke with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:29.520 saying that he noticed a major bump in anonymous users. Quote. 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:31.800 On any given day, you'll go on there and see 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:34.720 a headless torso or a blank profile, said the source, 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:37.280 who did not want to be named. The Grinder user said, 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:40.040 on a normal day, you'll encounter maybe ten users with 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:43.080 no public profile. But Thursday, when he checked the app, 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:48.560 he said he stopped counting at fifty blank profile photos unquote. Now, 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:51.480 we don't have any official data yet on Grinder usage 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:53.919 near the twenty twenty four R and C only the 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:57.640 down detector reports which our user submitted, but we do 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:01.119 at least have data from the last in person convention 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:04.400 in Cleveland, Ohio all the way back in twenty sixteen, 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:08.000 a Vice article by Candice Brian spoke with sources from 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:11.400 Grinder and wrote that quote, Grinder usage near the Quicken 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:15.200 Loans Arena showed a sixty six percent increase during the RNC. 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:19.920 Other active destinations including Times Square, Capitol Hill, Disneyland, South Beach, 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:25.600 and Trump Tower showed no comparable increase in active users. Unquote. 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:28.560 Many of the local twinks and trans folks certainly were 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:33.080 concerned about possible RNC freaks hiding on the app. People 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:35.800 would often first ask me if I was a Republican 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:37.959 or why I was in town before trying to hit 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:41.359 on me. One such twink told me, quote, I would 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:43.679 be surprised if you were a delegate or something, but 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:47.959 I had to check. As the week progressed, more locals 0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:50.120 told me that they had found a handful of out 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:54.240 and proud patriots online, but really not many. In fact, 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:58.000 multiple Milwaukee locals I chatted with on Grinder did claim 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:02.040 to notice an uptick in users, but mostly recognizable local 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:04.760 users who were online for the same reason I was 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:08.040 to see if there was an influx of closeted Republicans. 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:11.440 Someone told me quote for the record, it's like three 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:14.640 times busier here than normal. Everyone is out to see 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:17.320 what the Republicans are up to, and the chasers have 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:20.840 come out of the woodwork unquote. Far from being the 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:24.840 app's super Bowl. According to Weiss, the twenty sixteen rnc's 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:28.560 sixty six percent bump in activity is less than one 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:31.920 half of the increase in Grinder activity that was seen 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:35.800 at the last in person DNC, an event which was 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:40.640 also a whole day shorter i'lade from Wess. Quote. However, 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:43.879 from Sunday to Monday, the week of the Democratic National Convention, 0:21:44.240 --> 0:21:47.240 there was an even higher one hundred and forty eight 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:52.480 percent increase in activity around the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. Quote. 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:56.520 It's also worth noting that of that sixty six percent 0:21:56.560 --> 0:21:58.600 increase in activity around the twenty sixteen r and C, 0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:02.840 only about forty percent of those users were visiting Cleveland, 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:07.240 most were locals. Meanwhile, sixty percent of Grinder users active 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:11.560 near the DNC in Philadelphia were visiting the city. Oh 0:22:11.640 --> 0:22:14.639 and that quote from a Grinder executive calling the RNZ 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:18.080 Grinder's a super Bowl, as well as George Sandos's other 0:22:18.080 --> 0:22:21.800 claim about Grinder purposely outing gay conservatives. Both of those 0:22:21.880 --> 0:22:25.119 claims originate from Twitter satire accounts. 0:22:25.560 --> 0:22:29.480 It is totally made up, pure fiction. It's fiction. It's fiction. 0:22:29.960 --> 0:22:31.720 We made it up. We made this one up. 0:22:31.840 --> 0:22:32.760 It's a made up tail. 0:22:32.920 --> 0:22:35.320 It's a total fabrication. It never happened. 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:39.679 It's an urban legend that never happened. So no, the 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:43.680 RNC is not Grinder's a super Bowl. I got messages 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:46.879 from over one hundred and fifty different people. Over ninety 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:51.040 percent of the messages I received and profiles visible online 0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:55.120 even while inside the Pfizer forum were from locals completely 0:22:55.200 --> 0:22:58.840 unaffiliated with the rn Z and any boost activity that 0:22:58.840 --> 0:23:01.600 can be attributed to people this for the RNC is 0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:04.920 a minuscule drop in the bucket compared to the proverbial 0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:08.919 orgy festival of out of town gay Democrats who travel 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:12.920 to the DNC and like, if you think about this logically, 0:23:13.640 --> 0:23:16.720 this shouldn't at all be surprising. The Republican Party has 0:23:16.760 --> 0:23:19.480 spent the past two years screaming about how all drag 0:23:19.560 --> 0:23:22.600 queens are child groomers, and though this was the first 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:25.720 year the GOP has removed opposition to gay marriage from 0:23:25.720 --> 0:23:29.520 their party platform, they have massively increased their opposition to 0:23:29.680 --> 0:23:32.919 and attacks against trans people, and really any display of 0:23:32.920 --> 0:23:36.359 a visible queerness, like come on, this is the Republican Party. 0:23:36.960 --> 0:23:41.160 There's this kind of fucked up cultural conception that homophobic 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:45.439 politicians must be so because they are secretly gay. And 0:23:45.520 --> 0:23:49.199 while there is the occasional like Lindsey Graham or repressed 0:23:49.400 --> 0:23:54.000 homosexual preacher, this is not the norm and all Republicans 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:58.680 being secretly gay is not the driving force of legislative homophobia. 0:23:59.080 --> 0:24:02.080 It is an idea log drive largely in furtherance of 0:24:02.119 --> 0:24:05.879 hegemonic Christian nationalism, and now for people like Elon Musk 0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:10.359 and more young Republicans of fascistic notion of reproductive futurism 0:24:10.400 --> 0:24:14.119