The president of one of the world's most recognised gay dating apps has shocked the LGBTQ community after claiming marriage is between a man and a woman.
Scott Chen, the president and former CTO of Grindr, made the comments on Monday in a now-deleted Facebook post, reports Into, a digital magazine owned by Grindr.
"Some people think the marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman. And I think so too. But that's your own business," he wrote in Chinese which was translated into English.
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The Grindr-owned magazine took the unusual step of reporting on its parent company and revealing Mr Chen's remarks, after the original post reportedly led to criticism within the Los Angeles-based corporation.
"Some people think the purpose of the marriage is to have a child who carries your DNA. But again, that's your own business," Mr Chen added in the post, which appeared to be his commentary on a recent gay marriage debate in Taiwan.
But Mr Chen went on to say that marriage is a "personal issue", and that there are "people that are simply different from you, who desperately want to get married. They have their own reasons."
He questioned why people donate to anti-LGBTQ causes, saying they should instead donate to "places that are in dire hunger, poverty, or suffering from war".
"Why spend all that money to stop people who love each other from getting married?" he asked. "Aren't there more important stuff in life?"
Despite his comments about marriage, Mr Chen told the Guardian he supports same-sex marriage, saying, "The reason I said marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman is based on my own personal experience.
"I am a straight man married to a woman I love and I have two beautiful daughters I love from the marriage. Different people have their different feelings about their marriages. You can't deny my feelings about my marriage."
But Mr Chen's comments have been criticised by his colleagues, with Into editor Zach Stafford saying his statements were out of step with the company's values. He said marriage, for many, is an "end goal for our app", which boasts some 3.8 million daily global users.
Mr Chen called the Into article "unbalanced and misleading".
His comments came after voters in Taiwan rejected a referendum this month to legalise same-sex marriage in what would have been the first country in Asia to do so, after a constitutional court declared it legal in May.
Newshub.
