NYC Chosen as Gayest US City in Grindr's Inaugural Travel Awards

Robert Doyle READ TIME: 3 MIN.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Grindr, the premier all-male geo-social network app, announced the winners of its inaugural Grindr Gay Travel Awards, in conjunction with its attendance at the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association conference in Florianopolis, Brazil.

Grindr polled its global network of 3.5 million users in 192 countries to determine their vote for the Grindr Gay Travel Awards. With votes from all over the world, New York City received the award for Gayest U.S. City, while London, was chosen as the Gayest International City.

"Grindr users have their finger on the pulse of gay culture and destinations," said Joel Simkhai, Founder and CEO of Grindr. "They use Grindr when they travel, and they ask other Grindr users about the best places to go out, where to eat and what to do on their trips."

"So it's only natural that we'd ask them about some of their favorite places. From the best gay beaches of Rio de Janeiro to the best gay festival in Sydney, Grindr users have voted, and our results show that major cities across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the U.S. are now considered top picks for gay travel."

In addition to surveying users, the Grindr team honored Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the Best International Destination to Get Married. Since Argentina became the first Latin American nation to legalize gay marriage, granting same-sex couples all the legal rights, responsibilities and protections that marriage brings to heterosexuals, Grindr wanted to show their admiration by honoring the city with the award.

Subsequently, in honor of being situated in the first state to legalize gay marriage back in 2004, Grindr awarded Provincetown, Mass., the Best Destination to Get Married in the United States.

Complementing the Guinness Book of World Records' naming of Sao Paulo, Brazil, as the biggest pride parade in the world in 2006, Grindr has also awarded Sao Paulo with the Best Gay Pride Celebration Award. The rest of the winners of the 2012 Grindr Gay Travel Awards are:

Gayest U.S. City: New York City
Gayest International City: London
Best Gay Beach U.S.: Miami
Best Gay Beach International: Rio de Janeiro
Best Gay Resort U.S.: Palm Springs, Calif.
US City With Best Gay Festivals: San Francisco
International City With Best Gay Festivals: Sydney
Hottest Grindr Guys U.S.: Los Angeles
Hottest Grindr Guys International: Tel Aviv
Best Destination to Get Married U.S.: Provincetown, Mass.
Best Destination to Get Married International: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Best Gay Pride Celebration: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Nearly 908,000 Grindr users log on to the app daily and transmit 7 million chat messages and 2 million photos to one another. In fact, Grindr users spend about an hour and a half using the app every day, and they log in an average of eight times per day. Up to 71,000 users are logged onto Grindr at any given moment, and nearly 10,000 new users around the world join the app every day.

Launched in 2009, Grindr is the premier all-male geo-social network that uses location-based technologies to bring together a global community of more than 3.5 million users in 192 countries. Since launching on Apple iOS devices, Grindr has created versions for iPad, Android and select Blackberry models, and they've devised an enhanced, subscription-based upgrade called Grindr Xtra.

Currently, Grindr is available on the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android and the following Blackberry models: Curve 8300, Curve 8310, Curve 8320, Curve 8330, Curve 8330m, Curve 8350i, Curve 8520, Curve 8530, Curve 8900, Bold 9000, Tour 9630, Bold 9650, Bold 9700, Torch 9800.

For more information about Grindr, please visit www.Grindr.com

Or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/Grindr

Or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/grindr


by Robert Doyle

Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.

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