US Government Spent $432,000 Researching Gay Hookup Apps

The government, courtesy of the US taxpayer, somehow finds the extra cash to spend on useless studies like how kids view fat characters in movies, voice therapy for transgender folk, why lesbians are hazardous drinkers and fat, and other bizarre and useless studies.  Frankly, who cares.  These studies have cost up to 99 million.  That was for a grant study in China!

Yes, I'm sure the National Institutes of Health (NIH) does conduct research studies on legitimate and worthwhile subjects, but do we really need (or want) to know whether GPS dating apps will encourage gay men to have risky sex, and how aroused they get using the app? Yep, that's the latest NIH waste.

Columbia University received $432,000 to study how gay "hookup apps" like Grindr, Scruff and GROWLr might increase risky sexual behavior.

“Smartphone technologies have provided a new venue for sexual partnering among men who have sex with men (MSM),” the grant for the project states. “Indeed, there are a rapidly growing number of smartphone applications designed to facilitate sexual partnering among MSM.”

The project argues that dating apps that use the Global Positioning System, or GPS, has “accelerated” the rate that gay men can find sexual partners, compared to online.

“Furthermore, given the expediency with which men are able to arrange sexual encounters using these applications, there is cause to question if, when, and how sexual negotiation and serostatus disclosure occurs,” the grant said. “The overall study goal is to understand how sexual risk behaviors among MSM may be facilitated by the nature of GPS-enabled smartphone applications, the way they are used, and the process by which sexual partnering occurs via smartphone applications.”

60 gay men were interviewed for the study.

Who cares about the dating habits of gays or straights.

I'd like them to conduct a study: find out why the government spends money on stupid research projects.

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