‘Gay Cure’ iPhone App Dropped

People have some crazy ideas for iPhone apps these days. Some folks create apps covering doomsday prophecies and some want to “cure homosexuality” with their apps. In reality, it was only a matter of time before the anti-gay application, Exodus app, would be dropped from iTunes. Thousands of people signed petitions to show their support for such a move. Apple has finally listened and dropped the application.

The group behind “gay cure” application apparently believe this is a choice that can be fixed:

a multicausal, developmental issue and that any individual can experience freedom through the support of caring individuals and the healing power of Jesus Christ

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that we have seen these types of application make their way to iTunes. Manhattan Declaration was another notorious application that was deemed anti-gay and offensive by Apple:

We removed the Manhattan Declaration app from the App Store because it violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people.

While Apple had every reason to remove these applications, this practice does open a can of worms and sets a precedent for the future. Now the Senators are asking Apple and other companies to remove DUI checkpoint apps from their app stores.

One application contains a database of DUI checkpoints updated in real-time. Another application, with more than 10 million users, also allows users to alert each other to DUI checkpoints in real time… Giving drunk drivers a free tool to evade checkpoints, putting innocent families and children at risk, is a matter of public concern.

Apps such as Buzzed provide iPhone owners with a database of DUI checkpoints. There is a good chance Apple will comply and remove these types of applications. But we are already on a slippery slope here. Are political and controversial iPhone apps next?