QWEERIST editor
Google loves to tout its diversity and inclusion, but its inaction on a destructive conversion therapy app has led many to question their claims.
A Change.org petition demanding that the tech giant remove the Living Hope Ministries app from the Google Play store has gathered nearly 120,000 signatures to date.
Notable supporters of the petition include actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Pod Save The People host DeRay Mckesson and New York State Senator Brad Hoylman.
“Google has failed to return any of our emails, phone calls or tweets and seems to think they can just pray away the gays”
“It is outrageously hypocritical for Google to run a Super Bowl ad proclaiming that ‘I love you’ is among the most translated words while pushing a conversion therapy app. We’ve reached out to Google on multiple occasions and through multiple avenues to discuss the harm this app and conversion therapy has on LGBT youth. Google has failed to return any of our emails, phone calls or tweets and seems to think they can just pray away the gays,” said Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out who started the petition.
The Living Hope Ministries app is noted for its negative tone towards the LGBTQ+ community, often comparing homosexuality to addiction and saying that transgender people are suffering from “gender confusion”. The app has already been removed from the respective app stores of Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, but Google seems hesitant so far to remove it via their Google Play store.
“Google is allowing a homophobic app to ruin lives at the click of a button”
“Conversion therapy is so harmful that it is banned in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Every respectable medical and mental health organization in the world condemns the practice, yet Google is allowing a homophobic app to ruin lives at the click of a button,” Besen adds.
“We’ve seen petitions calling out discriminatory and hateful apps get almost immediate results in the past. What started as a simple plea to Google has now become one of the largest campaigns we’ve seen on Change.org and it’s growing by the day,” said Matt Allison, a senior campaigner with Change.org.
