Political candidate places ads on Grindr, wants to come out ‘top’ in election
Grindr to secure support from the gay community.Stephen Bates, 29, is standing for the Greens in federal elections in Brisbane.
He’s looking to unseat the incumbent, Trevor Evans, 40, of the center-right Liberal National Party. According to ABC, Bates is in with a “fighting chance” after the Greens doubled the number of votes they received in the last election held in the district.Both Bates and Evans are gay men.
Bates says he’s turned to Grindr as he wants the LGBTQ community to know they have a choice. Evans has also unimpressed some by previously voting in favor of Australia’s controversial Religious Discrimination Bill.Related: Lauren Boebert’s gay rival just put out a shocking campaign ad… and wow!Bates has placed four adverts to rotate on Grindr, and they use humor to get his message across.One says “Put Stephen Bates on top this election.”Another says, “The best parliaments are hung,” while a third promises, “You always come first with the Greens.”The reference to “hung parliament” echoes Bates’ view that the Greens worked successfully and effectively with Labor under Julia Gillard between 2010 and 2013.
A post shared by Stephen Bates for Brisbane (@batesforbrisbane)Bates, who works in retail, told Pedestrian, “I’m gay myself and I know Grindr itself plays a huge role in the queer community, if it’s for relationships or just meeting other people who are like you and knowing that there’s other people like you out there,” he said.“As weird as it will sound to any gay person [hearing] this, it is a big place of community where a lot of people do come together.”Bates says Brisbane has a higher LGBTQ population than many other areas in Australia and a younger demographic.
