Three months ago, a 14 year old trans girl was brutally murdered and subsequently dismembered by a 30 year old self-identified gay man who she arranged to meet with on the notorious dating and hookup app, Grindr. There are few things that can be done to prevent trans specific hate crimes as the police are not trustworthy allies; however, one step I know we as a community should take to discourage the presence of pedophilia, child sex abuse, and disproportionate murder of trans people, which plagues the progression of queer rights, is to implement barriers that prevent minors from creating profiles on dating or hookup apps. This culture has unfortunately been glamorized in our media. 

While adult trans people are still subject to a likelihood of disproportionate murder and assault, there are resources available to adult trans communities that are not offered as frequently to trans kids. We believe that limiting the spaces in which predators can gain access to vulnerable trans children is an integral part of keeping our community safe.

One feature commonly implemented by online escort services, and other sites inaccessible to children, is the use of facial recognition involving submission of a government issued ID alongside a photo identifying one’s face, in which the subject displays a photo with their name, date of birth, and that date. We've decided to focus on amendments that can be made nationally so as to not affect individuals who reside in countries where queerness or queer sex is illegal.

Thus, we’ve created this position to encourage a universal demand that Grindr CEO, George Arison, and Chairman, James Lu, as well as the apps investors, implement these tools to ban children from creating profiles on the app. If you are interested in creating a culture where the life expectancy of trans people can grow longer, we urge you to please sign this petition.

 - Rosalina Michele, Founder of P2C Collective