Apple pulls 'anti-gay' application from App Store

by Steven Mostyn - Dec 1 2010, 11:30

With noses still out of joint due to the recent Android Magasinet furore, Apple’s App Store is back in the news after a supposedly anti-gay religious application was yanked from its virtual shelves over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Available through the App Store since October, the inflammatory ‘Manhattan Declaration’ application has led to seven thousand people signing up to an online petition for its removal on the grounds that it denounces gay marriage.

According to the app’s official website, it represents “a call of Christian Conscience” that advocates religious liberty alongside “the dignity of marriage as the union of one man and one woman…”

The petition in question was launched by Change.org, which moved to pool opposition against the Manhattan Declaration by posting “Want to join the hate fest? There’s an app for that!” to its website.

“Apple needs to hear from concerned people now!” it added. “Let’s send a strong message to Apple that supporting homophobia and efforts to restrict choice is bad business.”

In reacting to Apple’s decision, a message posted to the Manhattan Declaration website confirmed that Apple pulled the app in light of “a small but very vocal protest by those who favor gay marriage and abortion,” adding that said protesters claim the app promotes “homophobia” and is “anti-gay”.

“We emphasize with great sincerity that “disagreement” is not “gay bashing,” the post explained. “The Manhattan Declaration clearly calls its signers to reject “disdainful condemnation” of those who disagree and declares that all people are worthy of respect, because all are loved by God.”

In an initial explanation as to why the app’s availability has been closed, Apple said its content “violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people.”

The core drafters of the Manhattan Declaration have emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs in an attempt to unearth a more definitive answer as to why the iPhone app was pulled from the App Store despite being approved with a 4+ rating.

Around the Web