Apple under fire as petition to remove controversial Christian 'gay cure' app from App Store gets 124,302 signatures (and counting)

Over the last couple of days the blogosphere has been aflame with stories and comments about Christian group Exodus International's iPhone app, which was released on February 14th and openly seeks to confront homosexuality.

Its App Store description reads: “Exodus International is the world's largest ministry to individuals and families impacted by homosexuality.

“With over 35 years of ministry experience, Exodus is committed to encouraging, educating and equipping the Body of Christ to address the issue of homosexuality with grace and truth.”

The free app has inevitably attracted much ire, as well as 196 one-star ratings on iTunes (along with 28 five-star ratings, some of which appear to be ironic). The many fulminating comments include: “How did this get approved?!”, “A disgusting homophobic app that Apple should not have allowed. Shame on you Apple!” and, “I still can't believe this app is still on the store.”

An online petition entitled 'Demand that Apple remove "ex-gay" iPhone app', created by Change.org, has so far accumulated 124,302 signatures. This doesn't appear to have had the desired effect, however, as the app is still available with a 4+ rating, meaning in the corporation's view it, “contains no objectionable material.”

Apple's approval process has come under fire several times before. Last week it twice rejected Wellcome Trust's educational game Filth Fair because it featured a painting of a nude. A censored version of the game finally made it onto the App Store with a 17+ rating.