DEVELOPING: Has Apple Pulled the "Gay Cure" App from iTunes?

by Michael Jones · 2011-03-22 18:47:00 UTC
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UPDATE: The President of Exodus International, Alan Chambers, tweets that their "gay cure" app has been removed from the App Store.

Apple has been under fire for more than a week now for carrying a "gay cure" app on its platform from Exodus International. But if you try to access the controversial app this evening, this is the message you'll get: "The item you've requested is not currently available in the U.S. store." (See picture at left.)

Does that mean Apple has pulled the app, like more than 140,000 customers have asked? It's hard to tell; Apple hasn't issued an official statement yet. Until they do, it's important that we keep up the pressure, so that Apple hears loud and clear that "ex-gay" therapy deserve no place in the App Store.

Truth Wins Out, the group that started the petition here on Change.org, noted in a press release this afternoon that if Apple adheres to its own editorial standards, there's no way this "gay cure" app should be welcome on iTunes.

“This app is a slap in the face to Apple’s customer base and serves as a platform to spread misinformation and blatant anti-gay bigotry,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “We call on Apple to remove this scientifically bankrupt product that causes significant psychological harm to LGBT people worldwide. It is particularly troublesome because the app focuses on exploiting the fears of desperate and vulnerable gay and lesbian youth.”

That jarring message is why this campaign has also been picked up by Fox News, ABC, the Wall Street Journal and the Guardian, to name a few. But again, Apple has yet to release an official statement. Let's keep up the pressure to make sure Apple comes through, and confirms that this "gay cure" app has been removed from iTunes. Add your name to the petition here.

Continue to check back here, as well as over at Truth Wins Out, for updates.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.

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