Grindr has all sorts of clientele: those looking for hookups, those hoping to date, those just browsing and chatting for entertainment’s sake. But there’s one demographic on Grindr that’s always had the gays scratching their heads: the faceless profile.

The discourse around faceless profiles was reignited with a viral post on X, employing the age-old queer tradition of the Grindr screenshot. “This was so funny to me,” wrote X user @AKofo2 along with a screenshot of a Grindr conversation where he asked a profile for a face pic. 

When the other user replied that they’re DL, AKofo2 said, “I still wanna see if you cute tho.” That was a dealbreaker, apparently, as the other user told AKofo2 “nvm” and to enjoy his night.

Naturally, gay folks had questions about what the other user was expecting. “Is he gonna show up with no face?” asked one commenter. “Why would I link with someone whose face I can’t see?” wondered another.

To be clear, there are plenty of valid reasons not to have a profile picture on Grindr. Maybe you’re still in the closet and don’t want anyone to see you. Maybe you just value your privacy and don’t want to lead with your face. But refusing to privately send a selfie when you’re asking someone to meet up, expecting them to go out of their way to hookup with someone who’s face they’ve never seen — it’s simply not very realistic.

Other folks pointed out that if faceless profiles’ concern is their privacy, there’s not much to worry about. Odds are, no one will know who you are from a picture of your face alone — and even if they did, they’d likely have no reason to out you.

Still, faceless profiles must get some action, or they wouldn’t stay on the app. Who’s actually hooking up with them without seeing what they look like? Who knows, but it goes to show there’s someone for everyone — even for people without faces.

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