Exodus launches Cure Gay App & causes controversy
By ALEX VAUGHN
Exodus International, the notorious “ex-gay” organization, has just released an iPhone app that, according to its website, is “designed to be a useful resource for men, women, parents, students, and ministry leaders.” The Exodus website further boasts that its app received a 4+ rating from Apple, meaning that it contains “no objectionable content.”
Exodus claims to offer “freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ” and use scare tactics, misinformation, stereotypes and distortions of LGBT life to recruit clients. They endorse 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 organization including the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Counseling Association. But reparative therapy isn’t just bad medicine — it’s also very damaging to the self-esteem and mental health of its victims.
This new iPhone app is the latest move in Exodus’ dangerous new strategy of targeting youth. In light of the recent wave of LGBT youth suicides, this tactic is particularly galling as it creates, legitimizes, and fuels the ostracism of LGBT youth by their families. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, LGBT teens that experienced negative feedback from their family were 8 times more likely to have attempted suicide, 6 times as vulnerable to severe depression, and 3 times more likely to use drugs (Caitlin Ryan, San Francisco State University, June 2009).
Apple doesn’t allow racist or anti-Semitic apps in its app store, yet it gives the green light to an app targeting vulnerable LGBT youth with the message that their sexual orientation is a “sin that will make your heart sick” and a “counterfeit.” This is a double standard that has the potential for devastating consequences.
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.
Apple needs to be told, loud and clear, that this is unacceptable. Truth Wins Out calls upon you to stand with them and demand that the iTunes store stop supporting homophobia and remove the Exodus app.
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.”
To join the fight, share this petition with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. With your support, we know Apple will do the right thing. The campaign currently has over 22,000 signatures