When I first started on Grindr, there were a number of offensive gay men who would say, "What are you doing on this site?" My response would be that I'm gay, that this is a gay site, and that gays come in all ages and sizes. You weren't daunted by the ageism on Grindr? It seems like it's mainly younger people who use it. I don't do any chats with people in Ottawa, because it's too far and the city is too boring.
I'm happy to chat with people in Montreal, but to chat with people across the border, not so much, because there's so much scrutiny of people crossing the US border these days, I wouldn't want to end up on any watch lists. For me it's really important to have a sense of how distant people are, and Grindr does that. There are various codes you have to pay attention to, and ways that people communicate things. Very slowly I looked at it, and it took me a while to get acclimatized. So I started Squirting! About five years ago I was visiting with a friend from Concordia, a hustler, who introduced me to Grindr. I think I got some spam, which interested me, and I went to a site called "Horny Matches." Everyone seemed to be really fake and never around. VICE: When did you first get into sex sites?Ĭhris Wilson: About seven years ago.
Wilson sat down with VICE to chat about what it's like to meet up online when you're an octogenarian.
At the age of 82, he remains active on the sex and singles' scene in La Belle Province, cruising sites like Grindr, Adam4Adam, and Squirt. Thus Montrealer Chris Wilson-out and proud since the early 70s-is definitely a trailblazer.