Morgen Bromell

In creating digital platforms for the 21st century, Morgen Bromell recognizes how technology is inseparable from activism and power. While Bromell is perhaps best known as the founder of Thurst, a dating app for LGBTQIA persons, the entrepreneurial New Yorker is also interested in the ways queer communities have used online media and digital platforms as modes of community-building and organization. Unlike other dating apps, Thurst is specifically designed as a safe space for queer, cis, and trans people of color, and is part of Bromell’s overall aim to make technological platforms more accessible to people of color. “I truly believe,” Bromell says, “that in order to preserve our hard-fought rights as queer people, we must first honor and acknowledge the marginalized folks, mostly black and brown poor trans people, who resisted state violence and prioritized trans safety and freedom above all else during times when queer pride was inconceivable.” Bringing those who are marginalized access to technology that they don’t currently have is a large part of Bromell’s vision as both a technologist and an activist. And, like many technologists, Bromell sees the potential for radical change in the digital platforms harnessed for social progress. “The first Pride was a riot, and in the next generation, I believe LGBTQIA+ pride is going to be a revolution.” —RK