It Seems Like Grindr Also Had a Lot of Attendees During Charlie Kirk's Memorial

Back in 2009, Grindr was launched by Joel Simkhai, a gay man who understood that necessity is the mother, or in this case, father, of invention. The dating app was designed for gay men interested in hookups and perhaps a bit more. According to The Guardian, like all dating apps, Grindr changed the way people interacted. This includes using gay bars to meet potential mates, whether it was for one night or a lifetime.

More than 15 years later, Grindr has become an incredible source of data in the most unusual ways. According to Vice, the number of users on Grindr increased significantly during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. In 2024, users reported outages during the RNC in Milwaukee, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Perhaps the same issue popped up again in 2025 for a different event. Did Grindr crash at Charlie Kirk's memorial service? Here's what we know.

According to Downdetector, a website that tracks outages for various websites and services, Grindr crashes were reported during Kirk's memorial in Glendale, Ariz. Several people shared screenshots of the outage on X, commenting that MAGA flew in for the memorial and broke Grindr. There have been no statements from the app regarding the reported outages. According to Grindr's website, no incidents were reported on Sept. 21, 2025.

People on social media had a field day with the potential connection between a Grindr outage in Arizona and the increase in conservatives in the area, presumably for Kirk's memorial. Several people pointed out the hypocrisy needed to condemn people for being members of the LGBTQ-plus community while allegedly being members themselves.

While searching for posts about Grindr outages during Kirk's memorial, a post from the Turning Point USA founder popped up. Back in August 2024, @kklamonty shared a screenshot of a post to X from Kirk that included a screenshot he took of his phone's storage. The colors used to indicate what was using up memory formed a rainbow. Kirk joked that this was the "gay agenda" at work. Just below that, however, was a notification of when Grindr was last used, which was the day Kirk took the screenshot.

In March 2024, an attendee at a Turning Point USA event asked Kirk if he, or his organization, had anything against the LGBTQ-plus community. "I do not have hate for a group," said Kirk. "I do not have hate for a people." He added, "How can I hate that which I have a heart for?" Kirk went on to say that while he doesn't agree with some of their lifestyle choices, he doesn't hate people for what they choose to do, even if it's against what he believes God wants.

Two weeks before Kirk's assassination, he met a young man at a Turning Point USA event who told him he identified as gay for a decade until he found Jesus. This young man wanted to know what Kirk said to those who claim conservatives and God hate people in the LGBTQ plus community. Kirk said his provocative answer was one's identity should be based on more than what they do in the bedroom. He argued that being gay is a behavior that can be changed, as evidenced by the young man's decision.

Although Kirk talked a pretty good talk in those two exchanges, he also made pretty inflammatory statements about the LGBTQ-plus community. Back in April 2022, on an episode of his podcast, Kirk said, "[They] are not happy just having marriage. Instead, they now want to corrupt your children," reports Reuters. Two years later, he likened doctors performing gender-affirming care to Nazis "committing atrocities."