Fortune reported that Hinge received a 30 percent increase in gay men using the service since April 1, about the time Buttigieg’s popularity began to soar. Other demographics have remained flat.
Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, came out in a 2015 op-ed for the South Bend Tribune. He met Chasten two months later on Hinge. The couple married last year.
On the campaign trail, Buttigieg, 37, has repeatedly said that he came out because he wanted to begin dating.
(Related: Pete Buttigieg, husband Chasten cover TIME magazine.)
Speaking with The New York Times, Chasten said that he decided to try Hinge because he “wanted a platform where you’re not necessarily inundated with hookup culture and sex.”
“We’re proud of all of the relationships we’ve helped set up – including Mayor Pete and Chasten,” Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod told Fortune. “We’re happy to see that their love story has inspired even more members of the LGBTQ community to find their person on Hinge.”
