Apple under fire for 'gay conversion' app
Apple has come under fire for approving an "app" that offers guidance on how homosexual people can be "cured" and convert to heterosexuality.
The "gay cure" application, designed to be used on Apple's hand-held devices, was created by and named after Exodus International, a religious organisation which believes in teaching "freedom from homosexuality through prayer and practicing conversion therapy".
The app is offered free on Apple's iTunes online shop and was given a "4+" rating by the company, meaning it is not considered to contain objectionable content.
A description of the app on the online shop said: "With over 35 years of ministry experience, Exodus is committed to encouraging, educating and equipping the Body of Christ to address the issue of homosexuality with grace and truth."
Gay activists quickly gathered more than 37,000 signatures for an online petition persuading Apple to drop the software.
The petition on the website change.org said the Christian group was using "scare tactics, misinformation, stereotypes and distortions" of gay life, and promoting "the use of so-called 'reparative therapy' to 'change' the sexual orientation of their clients, despite the fact that this form of 'therapy' has been rejected by every major professional medical organisation".
Exodus recommends techniques such as abstinence, lessening of homosexual temptations, and strengthening homosexuals' sense of masculine or feminine identity.
Its most prominent founders were gay men who claimed to have changed their "lifestyle". It has however been beset by high profile scandals and defections. In April last year, Michael Bussee apologised for his role in starting Exodus and said he had never seen a leader or member permanently become heterosexual.
In the late 1990s John Paulk, then chairman, appeared on Oprah Winfrey's television show and made other high profile appearances to publicise the campaign, but was soon photographed in a gay bar in Washington and was forced to resign.
Last year Apple initially approved but then removed software from the Manhattan Declaration which encouraged users to take a stand against gay marriage.
It has removed thousands of apps, which are a major source of income, deemed offensive. The company has taken a hard line against mockery of political leaders. It banned an app that allowed users to simulate hurling cartoon shoes at caricatures of former president George W Bush, in reference to a real incident involving an Iraqi journalist.
It also banned the "Me So Holy" app which allowed users to paste photographs of themselves over the heads of various religious figures.
