Apple Confirms It Has Removed Anti-Gay Exodus International App; Exodus President Warns That “It Could Happen To You”

CNET reports that after an online petition and an outpouring of complaints, Apple has removed its "gay cure" app from its App Store. Launched last month by Exodus International, a ministry that encourages gays and lesbian to seek "cures" for their homosexuality, the app triggered a huge outcry from Truth Wins Out, a non-profit group that battled anti-gay religious extremism. Pointing out that any therapy or cures to change one's sexual orientation have been soundly rejected by all the major medical associations, Truth Wins Out launched an online petition at Change.org calling on Apple to remove the app. The petition received signatures from more than 150,000 people within days, while the app itself was strongly condemned by most reviews in the App Store. Confirming the app's removal today, Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told CNET that Apple pulled the app from the App Store because "it violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people."Truth Wins Out and Change.org both commended Apple today for its decision to remove the app. In a statement, Wayne Bensen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, said "Apple made a wise and responsible decision to dump an offensive app that demonized gay and lesbian people. The real winners today are LGBT youth who are safer and less at risk for receiving Exodus' malice and misinformation." Apple made the same decision late last year over an app from the Manhattan Declaration that gay rights groups dubbed anti-gay. Following a petition on Change.org condemning the app, Apple removed it from the App Store, citing the same reason of violating guidelines by offending large groups of people. CNET contacted Exodus International several times seeking comment on Apple's decision but was unable to contact anyone. The company's president, Alan Chambers, registered his disapproval over the decision earlier on Twitter by calling it "incredibly disappointing" and warning people to watch out because it "could happen to you."