THE HOOKUP SERIES

Warning: The Gay Hookup World May Be Addictive. It Is for Me.

It’s a slippery slope.

Online “dating” is where it’s at! According to Pew Research, about one-third of all U.S. adults have used a dating site or app. However, in the same study, 51% of the LGBTQ population reported using online dating. Fifty-five percent of all users are 18–29. Tindr is the #1 app among all users, with Grindr at #1 among the LGB community. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.

I have something to confess: I may be “hooked” on gay apps and websites.

For two or three years, I’ve been writing the occasional article about what I’ve learned from using gay hookup apps. I don’t seem to be able to stop looking at them every day—five or six different apps multiple times a day.

All of the twelve-step programs say that the first step to solving an addiction is admitting it.

I hate twelve-step programs.

More than once, I was thrown into them as a result of alcohol and drug addiction and suicidal thoughts and ideations. It’s just what you’re supposed to do.

But my overarching nemesis was depression and bipolar disorder. It took becoming an addict to figure out that I had this illness.

The principles of the program never stuck. I was never sober for more than seven months. I did not like being a member of this club. We were the antitheses of the “normies.” Normies can drink normally, and that pissed me off. All we could drink was coffee, and I was tired of that. It was also expensive.

Sober parties are so dull.