Grindr backs gay pair’s surrogacy bid

Fundraising can be a real grind. Just ask anyone. But starting Wednesday and lasting for a week, gay, bisexual or “curious” men can find the closest similarly oriented man to them and also financially contribute to a gay Israeli couple hoping to start a family.

For seven days beginning April 10, Grindr, the popular all-male location-based social network, will donate 100 percent of revenue from new subscribers to its premium Grindr Xtra service to Liran and Yuval’s fundraising campaign to finance a final attempt at having a child by surrogacy. The couple’s desperate quest first came to light in early February when they released a YouTube video asking people for money.

“I read about Yuval and Liran’s emotional personal story and was impressed by their creativity in pursuing their dream of fatherhood, and their persistence, recruiting international celebrities such as Joan Rivers, to help raise awareness that in so many parts of the world the joy of parenthood and other aspects of family are still not available to gays who are not equals in the eye of the law,” said Joel Simkhai, Israeli-born CEO and founder of Grindr.

“With our ability to reach millions of users, Grindr is in a unique position to provide real and meaningful assistance within the community and advance the cause of our community worldwide,” he continued.

Four million users have joined Grindr since it began in 2009. With thousands signing up daily, could the fulfillment of Yuval and Liran’s dream be just around the corner?