Community Guidelines

Beau exists because you saw someone and didn’t get to say hello. Every post is about a real person who didn’t sign up to be written about. These rules exist to protect them first, and everyone else second. They are short. Please read all of them. They are part of the Terms of Service.

The rules in one breath. Never out anyone. Describe the moment, not a way to find them. Photos of other people: only in public, never sexual, and we remove them on request. Don’t claim to be someone you’re not. Don’t post about someone who’s told you to stop. Never about a minor, never in a place where being seen is the harm. Keep public surfaces clean; ask before you send anything explicit. No selling sex, no selling anything. Honest posts only. Guest lists stay in the room. Be decent. We act on reports within 24 hours.

1. Never out anyone

This is Beau’s most serious rule, above harassment, above everything. Writing that a recognizable person was at a gay bar, a sauna, a cruising spot, a Pride event or a queer space can out them: to a colleague, a family member, a landlord, or a government. Post and profile photos on Beau are reachable by anyone with the link, so “only members can see it” is not a protection. In some countries this costs a person their liberty.

A post outs someone when it combines a description that identifies them with a place that reveals their orientation. You can write about the moment you shared; you cannot write it in a way that would let a person who knows them recognize them and learn where they were. If in doubt, leave out the detail that would make them recognizable to someone who wasn’t there.

Consequence: immediate removal and a permanent ban, on the first violation. Reports of outing are reviewed ahead of everything else.

2. Describe the moment, not a way to find them again

A missed connection is a moment. A locator is a set of instructions. The line between them is the rule you will most often break by accident, so here are examples.

Say this

• “Tall guy in a green jacket at the bar on Saturday around eleven, you laughed at the bartender’s joke before I did.”
• “We were both waiting for the late train, you had a paperback and a bike helmet.”
• “Silver hair, black coat, you held the door at the gallery opening and I froze.”
• What they looked like that day; what happened; where it happened, once; when.

Not this

• Full names, or enough of a name to search.
• “He works the counter at the coffee place on 5th” — an employer or a shift.
• “Runs past my building every morning” — a routine, a commute, a gym schedule.
• Home neighborhoods, buildings, street names of where they live.
• Vehicles, plates, bike descriptions specific enough to spot.
• Instagram handles, usernames, or “I found his profile on…”.

The test: could someone use your post to stand where this person will be tomorrow? If yes, cut it.

Consequence: the post is removed and you are asked to rewrite it. Repeated locators after a warning are treated as stalking (Rule 4).

3. Photos of other people

Beau lets you attach a photo of the person you’re describing. Use that carefully. A photo of someone else is allowed only if all of these are true:

• It was taken in a public setting where they could reasonably expect to be seen, and not covertly.
• It is not sexual, and shows nothing they would not have shown a stranger.
• It does not identify them beyond the moment: no name tags, no workplace uniforms with names, no vehicle plates, no house numbers.
• They appear to be an adult.

Every photo is automatically moderated for explicit content before anyone sees it, and photos that fail are rejected. Rejected photos are kept for about 30 days so you can appeal, then deleted.

If you are in a photo or a post and you don’t use Beau

You don’t need an account. Email safety@heybeau.app and tell us roughly where and when, and anything that identifies the post. You don’t have to prove it’s you. We remove photos of a person immediately on request, and we respond to every removal request within 24 business hours. We won’t tell the poster who asked.

4. Don’t post about someone who has told you to stop

Beau is built to help you reach someone you have no other way to contact. That is exactly what a person who is avoiding you has arranged. So: you may not post about anyone who has blocked you, asked you to stop, ended contact with you, or declined your claim. You may not post about the same person repeatedly to keep them surfaced, and you may not use a new post to get around a decline or a block. Persistence here is not romantic; it is stalking, and we treat it as such.

Consequence: permanent ban, and referral to law enforcement where there is a credible threat.

5. Never about a minor, and never in a place where being seen is the harm

Two absolute bars, with zero tolerance.

Minors. No post may describe anyone who appears to be under 18. No photo may include a minor, in the background or otherwise. No user may be under 18. Any sexual content involving a minor is reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and to law enforcement, and the account is permanently removed.

Sensitive places. Some places make presence itself the sensitive fact, regardless of anything else: a sexual-health clinic, an HIV or STI testing site, a support group, a recovery meeting, a shelter, a courthouse, a place of worship. Do not post about seeing someone at one, even kindly, even without a description. We remove these posts on sight.

6. Public surfaces are clean; private chat is between two adults

Beau treats what everyone can see and what two people say to each other differently, on purpose.

Profiles, posts and event hubs are seen by every member and, for post and profile photos, by anyone with a link. They stay clean: no nudity, no sexual content, no pornography, no bodily fluids, no weapons, gore or drugs, no commercial content. Underwear and shirtless photos of yourself are fine. Every photo on these surfaces is classified automatically and explicit ones are rejected.

Private chat between two adults who both passed the consent gate is not policed the same way. Chat photos are not classified automatically, and moderators cannot read your conversation unless someone in it reports a message. Two rules carry the weight there: ask before you send anything explicit (consent to talk is not consent to receive a nude), and no content that would be illegal anywhere. And know this: when you or the other person reports a message, that message and any photo attached to it become visible to a Beau moderator. That is the only way a private photo reaches us.

7. No solicitation, and no selling anything

You may not use Beau to offer, advertise, request or arrange sexual services for money or anything of value. That includes escorting, “generous” and “pay-to-play” language, financial domination, sugar arrangements, and cam or content sales. It applies to posts, profiles, event hubs and private chat alike. We remove it, we ban for it, and we keep a record of each takedown.

More generally, Beau is not a marketplace. No selling goods or services, no asking for money, gifts or payment-app details, no promoting a business, event or account, no drug sales. Inviting people to a party you’re throwing is fine; charging them at the door through Beau is not.

8. Honest posts only

Beau runs on one signal: real descriptions of real moments. Two things poison it. Inventing an encounter that didn’t happen to see who answers. And flooding a venue or event hub with posts to harvest hand-raises. Both look identical to real content, so the rule is the only defense. Post about what happened, once.

Your profile follows the same rule: your photos are of you, your name is one you go by, and you’re the person on the other end.

9. Guest lists stay in the room

An event’s guest list shows who’s coming, with their photos, to members viewing the event. That is a list of queer people in one place at one time, and it is the most concentrated outing risk in the app. You may not screenshot, export, copy or republish a guest list, or any part of it, anywhere. Doing so is an outing violation under Rule 1, not a spam violation, and is treated accordingly.

10. Be decent

Beau is for gay, bi, queer and trans men and the people who love them, and everyone here is welcome as they are. Harassment, threats, bullying, hate, slurs, dehumanizing language, deadnaming and misgendering, and discrimination on any basis, including race, ethnicity, body, age, disability, HIV status, gender identity and religion, are not allowed anywhere on Beau. Violent threats go to law enforcement. Be civil to our staff, too, and don’t misuse reporting to harass someone.

11. How enforcement works

We use automated screening and human review together. Every post is screened before it can match; every public photo is classified before it is shown; and three reports on a post hide it automatically until a person has looked. Beyond that, a human decides.

The ladder

1. Warning with the rule explained, for a first, minor violation.
2. Content removal, with the option to rewrite.
3. Suspension for a set period, for repeat or moderate violations.
4. Permanent ban for severe violations, or repeated ones after suspension.

Outing (Rule 1), stalking (Rule 5), anything involving a minor (Rule 6) and commercial sexual services (Rule 8) skip the ladder and go straight to permanent removal.

Timing

We act on every report within 24 hours of receiving it. Outing reports and reports involving minors are handled first.

Reporting

Every post, profile and message has a report option one tap away, and every profile has a block option. Reports are confidential; the person you report is not told who reported them. Reporting a message shows that message, and any photo attached, to a moderator. False or malicious reports are themselves a violation.

Appeals

If your photo was rejected, your post was hidden or suppressed, or your account was suspended or banned, you can appeal from the content itself or by emailing safety@heybeau.app. A person who was not involved in the original decision reviews it, and we tell you the outcome. Appeals of decisions made automatically (the safety screen, the photo classifier, the three-report hide) always get a human review. Reinstatement after a ban for outing, stalking or a minor is not guaranteed and is rare.

Something happened to you? If someone on Beau hurt or threatened you, see Meeting Safely for support resources, and report the account so we can act on it. If you are in immediate danger, call local emergency services first.