An unexpected series of Grindr outages in Arizona coincided with the memorial service for conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, leading some social media users to draw tongue-in-cheek conclusions.
The memorial, held on Sunday 21 September at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, drew tens of thousands of mourners, following Kirk’s fatal shooting earlier this month during an open-air debate.
According to Downdetector, over 168 reports of Grindr malfunctions were logged around the same time, with numbers climbing to more than 200 by the following morning. The baseline for reports in the area is typically just two.
A heat map of the reported outages, widely shared online, showed a clear concentration of issues centred in Glendale — prompting widespread speculation across social media platforms.
Social Media Reacts to “Hypocrisy”
Although there is no confirmed link between the Kirk memorial and the Grindr outage, that didn’t stop users on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit from offering commentary — some serious, most not.
One X user reposted the outage heat map with the caption:
“The Charlie Kirk memorial has caused a Grindr outage in Glendale. Just a gang of hypocritical closeted LGBTs angry at their own coward a*ses and anyone brave enough to be themselves.”
On Reddit, another added:
“A gay friend of mine in Glendale just reported Grindr is down, with the outage centred directly on a stadium or arena.”
Commenters joked about the perceived irony, with one quipping:
“There are no Republican gay or bi men.”
Coincidence or Just a Glitch?
Despite the jokes and conjecture, there’s no official explanation for the Grindr outage. Neither the app nor its parent company has released a statement about the reported disruptions in Arizona.
Still, the overlap of location and timing has sparked online conversations about the intersection of queer culture, conservative politics, and digital irony.
