A gay dating app has snagged the former chief of staff of a top Republican senator to lobby on its behalf.
Joe Hack, Republican Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer’s former chief of staff and a current Daschle Group lobbyist, will lead a team working on behalf of Grindr to influence policy in Congress, he confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Hack and the Daschle Group will work to advance policies supported by the Grindr for Equality initiative, which seeks to expand access to in vitro fertilization and surrogacy for LGBTQ individuals while also pushing for expanded LBGTQ rights in countries around the world, Politico Influence first reported.
For the time being, Daschle Group will not be working to advance Grindr’s interests as it relates to data privacy, labor or tech policy issues, according to Politico Influence.
Grindr for Equality was founded by the eponymous gay dating platform in 2012 as an effort to get members of the gay community to support pro-LGBTQ candidates in that year’s election. It has since broadened its mission, opposing laws that seek to curb transgender medical procedures on youths as well as advocating for gender identity to be displayed on government identification, according to its website.
“Grindr is all about connections,” Grindr for Equality program manager Drian Juarez said in a 2022 video promoting the initiative. “Most the time for love, dating or sex.” (RELATED: Lobbyists Love These Swing State Democrats)
“With [Grindr for Equality] we’re able to connect activists and their work with local Grindr users,” she continued.
Jack Harrison-Quintana, the initiative’s director, cited in the video a program called “Grind the Vote,” where the group worked with local organizations to register voters to ensure that the gay community is represented at the ballot box as an example of this work.
Hack worked for Fischer between 2012 and 2021, and was the first Republican lobbyist to be hired at Daschle Group, according to the firm’s website. Fischer opposed gay marriage while he worked for her, and in 2022 she voted against a bill that provided federal protection for same-sex marriages.
The Daschle Group was founded by former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, according to its website. Daschle, a Catholic, opposed gay marriage during his time in office, and also opposed 2004 constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as being between one man and one woman, The Ledger reported.
“Marriage is a sacred union between men and women,” Daschle said at the time, though qualified his statement by adding that there was “no urgent need” for an amendment, according to the Ledger.
The Daschle Group and Grindr did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
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