Landon Rafe Zumwalt, head of communications at Grindr, has resigned from the position following President Scott Chen’s comments that marriage is a “holy matrimony is between a man and a woman.”
Chen had posted a story about HTC president and CEO Cher Wang supporting groups that are against same-sex marriage on Facebook.
“There are people who believe that marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman. I agree but that’s none of our business. There are also people who believe that the purpose of marriage is to create children that carry their DNA. That’s also none of our business. There are people that are simply different from you, who desperately want to get married. They have their own reasons,” Chen wrote in Chinese.
Chen later claimed that the comment, which was translated from Chinese to English, had been mistranslated and that he does support same-sex marriage.
“The reason I said marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman is based on my own personal experience. I am a straight man married to a woman I love and I have two beautiful daughters I love from the marriage. This is how I feel about my marriage. Different people have their different feelings about their marriages. You can’t deny my feelings about my marriage,” Chen said in a statement.“I am a huge advocate for LGBTQ+ rights since I was young. I support gay marriage and I am proud that I can work for Grindr.”
Despite the apology, Zumwalt announced in a post on Medium that he was stepping down from his position.
“As an out and proud gay man madly in love with a man I don’t deserve, I refused to compromise my own values or professional integrity to defend a statement that goes against everything I am and everything I believe. While that resulted in my time at Grindr being cut short, I have absolutely no regrets. And neither should you.”,” Zumwalt writes.
Zumwalt added: “For those who remain, those who will continue to fight for our community from within, know I will be cheering you on from the sidelines,” he wrote. “Persist. Make your voices heard. And never compromise who you are for someone else.”
