Google Pulls Conversion Therapy App After Pressure From LGBTQ Rights Activists
FINALLY
Google is pulling a gay conversion therapy app that was banned by Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft months ago. Despite pressure from LGBTQ rights groups, Google had refused to ban the app from Living Hope Ministries, saying it didn’t clearly violate its Play Store terms of service. A Google spokesperson said: “After consulting with outside advocacy groups, reviewing our policies, and making sure we had a thorough understanding of the app and its relation to conversion therapy, we’ve decided to remove it from the Play Store, consistent with other app stores.” More than 140,000 people had signed an online petition calling on Google to ban the app. A separate petition, calling on Apple to reinstate the app, currently has 47 signatures. The ban came less than a day after the Human Rights Campaign suspended Google from this year’s Corporate Equality Index after it failed to pull the controversial app.