Apple axes 'gay cure' iPhone app

After weeks of protest – most of it conducted online – Apple has pulled from the iTunes store a controversial piece of software known as the "gay cure" app.

The free application was created by the Christian ministry Exodus International, which describes itself as "helping those struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction to live a life congruent with biblical teaching." Apple had originally given the application – also called Exodus International – a 4+ rating, denoting that the app contained no "objectionable content."

But the Exodus International app was widely condemned, and a petition seeking to have the app removed quickly drew upward of 150,000 signatures. "Apple needs to be told, loud and clear, that this is unacceptable," the petition read. "Stand with Truth Wins Out -- demand that the iTunes store stop supporting homophobia and remove the Exodus app."

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In a statement released to the Huffington Post, an Apple spokeswoman said the Exodus International app violated "our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people." Of course, this isn't the first time Apple has come under fire for approving a controversial application. Among the more infamous examples is the case of Baby Shaker, a game which encouraged users to quiet down an on-screen baby by shaking their iPhone.

Baby Shaker was eventually removed from the App Store by Apple.

For its part, Exodus International is standing firm. "I would hope in a perfect world that Apple would allow this diversity, that they would respect the diversity of their customers," Exodus International president Alan Chambers told the Huffington Post. "It's alarming to see that people who are opposed to free thought and diversity are attacking and causing this type of trouble for organizations like ours."

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