Grindr for Equality 2025 Awards: Harnessing Grindr’s Reach to Support Communities Around the Globe

At Grindr for Equality, our mission has always been simple: to use the reach of Grindr’s global platform to improve the health, safety, and rights of LGBTQ+ people everywhere. 

Grindr’s reach is truly global, about 80% of our users are outside the U.S., including many in the roughly 65 countries where it’s still a crime to be gay and the 150+ countries where same-sex couples can’t marry. Our goal is to meet communities where they are, especially in places where access to services, safety, and equality are most at risk. 

Despite significant advances, 1.3 million people acquired HIV in 2023, and PrEP access remains critically low in the regions that need it most. The groups we partner with are supporting the global response, leveraging Grindr daily to share life-saving information and support. 

This year, I’m proud to share that we’re supporting five partner organizations whose work shares our mission. These groups are driving critical progress in HIV prevention, marriage equality, and community safety. These awards strengthen that work by pairing trusted community leadership with Grindr’s digital Gayborhood.

Each organization brings unique expertise to urgent community needs:

• International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC Global) supports LGBTQ+-led organizations across Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe/Central Asia to fill urgent HIV service gaps and launch digital prevention campaigns through Grindr.
• Sustained Health Initiatives of the Philippines pilots in-app HIV outreach that connects users to self-testing, TelePrEP, and mental health support in one of Asia’s fastest-growing epidemics.
• Freedom to Marry Global brings advocates from more than 20 countries together to coordinate regional marriage equality efforts in Europe and Asia, while using Grindr to extend their reach beyond traditional advocacy spaces.
• Marriage For All Japan leads a national mobilization campaign ahead of an expected Supreme Court ruling, using Grindr to share videos and surveys that turn widespread public support into visible action.
• Solidarity and Action Against The HIV Infection in India (SAATHII) launches a community safety pilot in India, providing legal helplines, harm reduction resources, and safety information through discreet in-app messages.

Each of these partnerships reflects the same idea: when community leaders have the resources they need and the ability to reach people directly, they can accelerate change at scale.

We’ll be sharing updates from these projects over the next year as they roll out. I’m continually inspired by the ingenuity and dedication of our partners and grateful that Grindr for Equality can help amplify their work.

Together, we’re building a world where LGBTQ+ people can live openly, safely, and with the knowledge and resources to thrive.

‍Learn more about Grindr for Equality and our partners.

The 2025 Awards are disbursed through the Grindr for Equality Fund at the Tides Foundation.