Apple, BITE this: shame on Apple Apps, a Public Service Announcement & Petition

(photo from techimo.com)

Unless Apple is eager to feature 'apps' for things like do-it-yourself in-home appendectomies, they have no business promoting heavily repudiated do-it-yourself psychology that could do a very different but equivalent harm to users. 

Don't take my word for it; take the word of the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Counseling Association - along with every legitimate, serious, science-based (not fundamentalist un-scientific religion based) equivalent organization.

I hope our Penigma readers will seriously consider following the link to this petition, and signing it.  Stand up and push back against ignorance and intolerance on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.  This App is hateful, it is wrong, it is bad, and it should go away.

Exodus International is a heinous group that has been rocked by scandals  like this one which should reasonably discredit them in the eyes of Apple, if they bothered to do even the most minimal research.  They are not a credible organization deserving of a business relationship with Apple.

No one can genuinely 'pray away the gay'; the claims made by this and other groups are specious.  Sexual orientation is a personal matter deserving of respect.  Sadly, groups which seek to stigmatize orientation promote dishonesty, including false accusations of pedophilia, promoting made up statistics which have no basis in reality but which are embraced by those who operate solely on ideology.

Tell Apple to remove a dangerous "ex-gay" app from iTunes

"Curing" gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people? Yep, there’s an app for that -- unless we can convince Apple to get rid of it.


A controversy is erupting around a new application for the iPhone that claims gay people can be "cured," and that gay kids should be put through therapy to "fix" their sexual orientation.


Believe it or not, Apple is providing Exodus International -- an organization that promotes "conversion therapy" to try to brainwash gay people into turning straight -- a platform on iTunes for their homophobic iPhone app. This, despite the fact that Exodus believes that LGBT people should be confronted with "spiritual warfare," and that "freedom from homosexuality" should be a societal goal.


Worse, Apple has given the Exodus app a 4+ rating on iTunes, labeling the app "non-offensive," even though the group tells gay kids that their sexual orientation is "immoral," "satanic," and in need of a cure -- factors that contribute to teen suicide.


The grassroots group Truth Wins Out has started a petition on Change.org, asking Apple to follow their own editorial standards -- and remove this dangerous "ex-gay" app from iTunes now. The more signatures they deliver, the more likely Apple executives -- like Steve Jobs -- will do the right thing. Click here to add your name.


Apple has been a strong ally to the LGBT community for years, even donating $100,000 to defeat California’s Proposition 8, the state’s ban on marriage equality. Just a few months ago, Apple actually removed another app from iTunes that labeled same-sex couples "immoral sexual partnerships" following pressure from Change.org members and others.


Exodus International’s "ex-gay" app deserves to be pulled from iTunes as well. "Conversion therapy" has been universally condemned by every major medical and scientific organization around the world. The American Psychological Association, American Medical Association, and American Counseling Association have all rejected "ex-gay" therapy, saying that it results in catastrophic damage to the mental health of its victims. (my emphasis added - DG)


Please click here to sign the petition to Apple executives, asking them to stand up for equality and remove this dangerous iPhone app from iTunes now:


http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-that-apple-remove-ex-gay-iphone-app?alert_id=QJGtBBlHFV_WCTBZLfUSg&me=aa


Thanks for joining us -- and sharing this petition with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. With your support, we know Apple will do the right thing.


- Eden and the Change.org team


P.S. We’ve got some wonderful news. Last week, more than 50,000 Change.org members signed an urgent petition in support of Nikki Peet -- the high school senior who courageously fought for a Gay-Straight Alliance group at her Corpus Christi, Texas, school -- and won! Under national and community pressure, Nikki’s school board voted to allow her group to establish a safe space for LGBT kids and their allies. On behalf of Nikki, thank you for taking a stand for kids and equality.

Sign the petition; push back against ignorance and intolerance.