The app which claimed to “help homosexual strugglers” was deleted from Apple App Store and iTunes after protests.
Despite Apple’s somewhat draconian monitoring of its App Store, there have been a lot of questionable Apps that have somehow filtered through and made available to the public. The latest of these is Gay Cure, which was uploaded by Exodus International, a Christian group from Orlando, FL. It debuted on February 15th, and immediately received attention for its inflammatory title and premise that homosexuality was a disease to be cured. A petition organized by Change.org garnered 140k signatures asking Apple to remove the app, who had somehow given Gay Cure a 4+ rating meaning that it contained “no offensive material.” Last night, the leader of Exodus International Alan Chambers said on Twitter that it had officially been removed.
“It’s official, the @ExodusInl App is no longer in the @AppStore. Incredibly disappointing. Watch out, it could happen to you. #freedom,” Chambers’ Tweet read.
Later, in a statement released today, Chambers further complained about his app being removed. “We are extremely disappointed to learn of Apple’s decision to deny equal representation in the public square,” he said. “Discrimination of thought and belief obstructs essential dialogue and authentic diversity.” Chambers goes on to point out that the App Store contains all kinds of Apps dedicated to celebrating LGBT culture.
“Ultimately, this issue comes down to what we, as a culture, believe about equality and the freedom to express our beliefs,” said Chambers. “It is our hope that Apple will reconsider its decision and allow our organization to be part of the ongoing conversation about the challenging issues many face today.”
I think what Chambers and Exodus International are missing is that none of the Apps about the homosexual community claim to “cure straightness” or somehow imply that being straight is not God’s will.
Apple hasn’t commented on the removal of Gay Cure. The app just disappeared without an announcement, statement or any fanfare at all. I hope that the person responsible for approving the application was at least reprimanded or instructed to avoid such inflammatory apps in the future. The last time an anti-homosexual app was removed, the Manhattan Declaration in Nov. 2010, Apple said at the time, “We removed the Manhattan Declaration app from the App Store because it violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people.”
For the record, I don’t think that it’s wrong for a church or Christian group to proselytize however it wants, but the title of the App in question made too many assumptions for it to be admissible. Whether you think homosexuality is wrong or not is up to you, but asserting that it is something which can or should be “cured” is just bollocks.
Source: EdibleApple
