Cha's premier gay datg app is n by an ex-p - Asia Tim

Contents:

• HOW A CLOSETED POLICE OFFICER CREATED THE WORLD’S LARGT GAY DATG APP
• THE EX-P BEHD CHA'S LARGT GAY DATG APP
• CHA’S PREMIER GAY DATG APP IS N BY AN EX-P
• HOW GRDR, A POPULAR GAY DATG APP, POS EXPLOATN RISK TO MORS
• GAY POLICE DATG
• WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE

HOW A CLOSETED POLICE OFFICER CREATED THE WORLD’S LARGT GAY DATG APP

Right the middle of Pri Month, last week saw the owner of a Che gay datg app file for ial public listg on Nasdaq, wh a 50 ln USD offerg size. While the app is primarily ed by homosexual men, acrdg to the filg, s servic ter to the broar LGBTQ+ populatn.

The notn of beg queer was still alien to the Che public, let alone open discsns around — while homosexualy had been legalized Cha sce 1997, remaed a mental illns on paper until 2001. He was ightened, but foreign webs told him a different story — that homosexualy was not an illns, and there were many others jt like him Cha and elsewhere. Fearg that misrmatn about homosexualy on the Che web would do harm to his peers, Ma, unr the alias Geng Le (耿乐), lnched an onle discsn board for Che gay men 2000.

THE EX-P BEHD CHA'S LARGT GAY DATG APP

That was why, when I found out on the ter that there were other people like me, and that homosexualy was not an illns or disorr, I felt a tremendo sense of relief and excement.

He had only two goals: to rm the public about homosexualy and to provi members of the LGBTQ+ muny wh a platform to tell their stori. Several tim each year, Geng had to play a t-and-moe game wh lol thori who often shut down his webse, though there was nothg illegal about homosexualy — ironilly, Geng was then a puty divisn director the Qhuangdao police force. Between his 16-year reer as a policeman and an uncerta future as a gay entreprenr, he picked the riskier path.

CHA’S PREMIER GAY DATG APP IS N BY AN EX-P

“I n a webse for gay men, ” he said to Li, who psed for a send before givg him a firm handshake. Public perceptn of homosexualy was also changg rapidly the untry. In addn to the ntued existence of homophobia Cha, regulators the untry are often ut of onle activism, makg certa LGBTQ+ topics sensive the ey of ter censors — both of which may well create uncertaty for the pany the long n.

Ma Baoli helms Blued, Cha's largt datg app for gay men. Browsg the ter as a young policeman Cha, Ma Baoli rells the sheer volume of web pag tellg him he was a pervert, diseased and need of treatment—simply bee he was gay. Two s later, the softly spoken 43-year-old now helms Blued, one of the world's largt datg platforms for gay men.

HOW GRDR, A POPULAR GAY DATG APP, POS EXPLOATN RISK TO MORS

The app went public last July wh an $85 ln but on Nasdaq, a remarkable tech succs story om a untry that classified homosexualy as a mental illns as recently as 2001.

GAY POLICE DATG

Ma's journey to the apex of Cha's tech dtry began the early 2000s when he began publishg, a blog about his life as a gay man.

There were few plac Cha at the time for gay men to socialise, Ma says, addg that "people would wre on the walls of public toilets, sayg meet here at this and that time.

WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE

"I thought I uld build a webse, to tell gay people like me...

That clus s efforts to tackle the stigma around HIV that has fuelled discrimatn agast gay men and prevented people om seekg medil re.

"They said they had really wanted to reach the gay muny, " Ma told AFP, "but they didn't have the channels and didn't know how to fd them. "I thk there will eventually be a day when gay marriage is legal Cha, " he says.