The president of Grindr wrote on Facebook that he believes “marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman”, sparking backlash inside the gay dating app company.

Scott Chen, who became the president of Grindr after it was bought by a Chinese gaming corporation, wrote and later deleted a lengthy post on his personal page that criticized Christian groups fighting marriage equality, but also suggested that his personal beliefs clashed with gay marriage.

“Some people think the marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman. And I think so too. But that’s your own business,” he wrote in the post, which appeared to be his commentary on a recent gay marriage debate in Taiwan. “Some people think the purpose of the marriage is to have a child carries your DNA. But again, that’s your own business.”

His remarks, which he originally wrote in Chinese, but later translated into English, were publicized Thursday by Into, a digital magazine that is owned by Grindr.

Chen acknowledged his post in a comment responding to the Into article, but said he was a supporter of gay marriage: “The reason I said marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman is based on my own personal experience. I am a straight man married to a woman I love and I have two beautiful daughters I love from the marriage. This is how I feel about my marriage. Different people have their different feelings about their marriages. You can’t deny my feelings about my marriage.”

He added: “I am a huge advocate for LGBTQ+ rights since I was young. I support gay marriage and I am proud that I can work for Grindr.”

The original post and his subsequent defense have led to criticisms within the Los Angeles-based corporation, with Grindr’s own publication taking the unusual step of reporting on its parent company and revealing Chen’s remarks.

Zach Stafford, editor of Into and Grindr’s chief content officer, told the Guardian that Chen’s comments were out of step with the app’s values: “Grindr’s goal as a company is to help seek the full equity of all LGBT people’s rights around the world, especially when it comes to dating and love. And marriage for many is an end goal to our app.”

Joel Simkhai, Grindr’s founder, announced his departure as CEO earlier this year after Kunlun Group, a Chinese technology firm, completed a full acquisition of the app, which boasts 3.8 million daily users across the globe. Chen first served as chief technology officer and recently became president.

Chen, who is based in Los Angeles, criticized Into’s reporting in his response, calling the article “unbalanced and misleading”, adding, “It hurts my feelings and it also hurts Into’s and Grindr’s reputation”.

Stafford, a former Guardian writer, said Into’s editorial decisions were independent from Grindr, adding: “We stand by the reporting … We are very interested in telling the stories that impact queer people most … The Into staff sees this as doing their job.”

Chen posted the original Facebook comment earlier this week, days after voters in Taiwan rejected same-sex marriage in a referendum. LGBT campaigners have been fighting to make the island the first country in Asia to allow gay couples to share child custody and insurance benefits.

The referendum, aimed at stopping the historic legalization effort, was organized by Christian groups. In his original post, Chen said: “I won’t donate to any Christian organization based in Taiwan.”

Chen later said he had taken down the post because it had led to “heated discussions” involving a relative.

Chen and a Grindr spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kunlun’s acquisition of Grindr raised privacy concerns earlier this year, and Grindr faced intense scrutiny in the spring after it was revealed that the app was providing users’ HIV status data to outside companies.