“Despite what you may have heard elsewhere, you do not have a ’homosexual gene,’ nor were you born this way with no hope of freedom.” Gay Community where is the ourtage – This app being available is not new news, but Google REFUSING to take it down even after Apple has ought to be big news.
By Cathy Kristofferson, June 2, 2013
Sometime on Friday, in response to protests Apple finally pulled ‘Setting Captives Free’ from their App Store. Sadly, co-provider Google has neither lead nor followed with any action so the app is still available to Android users.
Apparently Google is still looking into complaints about the app! Now is the time and we hope that our readers are sufficiently outraged:-
Here is the description of ‘Setting Captives Free’ at Google Play:
“Welcome to Setting Captives Free. Every day we help people just like you find freedom from habitual sins and learn to grow in grace. Our Christ-centered courses are free of charge and help people just like you escape impurity, over-eating, substance abuse, gambling, smoking and more. Join the more than 500,000 people who have benefited from Setting Captives Free. We’re glad you’re here, and we’re here to help!”
Perhaps that is as far as Google looked…
The product is still Free for download at Google Play (6.2.2013):
Clicking the Door of Hope module of Setting Captives Free Mobile is described as:
“You have arrived at the Door of Hope, the 60-Day interactive course that will teach you to enjoy a newfound relationship with the Lord and how to find freedom from homosexuality. It is possible, and you can learn how.”
In the preview of Day 1 of the Door of Hope course you will learn:
“First, let me just say that despite what you may have heard elsewhere, you do not have a “homosexual gene,” nor were you born this way with no hope of freedom. You can be set free from the bondage of homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ and the cross! If you will apply the biblical principles found here, you can walk through the Door of Hope into a new life with Christ, free from sexual impurity and self-gratification.”
Here are a couple of the testimonials included in that Door of Hope module:
Keith Bell
At the age of 11 or 12 I was molested by an older boy. That was the beginning of years of self-gratification and later led me into the darkness of homosexuality.
Dick Davis
My name is Dick Davis. I began my journey into the dungeons of homosexual behavior at the age of six years old. I stayed in slavery to my fleshly desires for most of my adult life, going deeper and deeper …
…you get the idea.
Perhaps the Google executives need to enter the Door of Hope themselves – to see not hope but that they are expounding the very lies and myth that have rendered organizations touting this nonsense ‘hate groups”!
The app is currently ranked 1.6 out of 5 “stars” with 378 of the 447 voters giving it the lowest score possible. Perhaps because, as this comment notes, ZERO is not an option:
And so we hear from some such as this comment – May 30, 2013 – Version 1.5:
“This is sick. I wish I could give this app no stars, because this is a horrible app, made by sick people, being gay is not a illness, you can’t cure it! This app should not be allowed on the app store it should be taken down and I hope soon it is, this is the kind of thing that drives gay teens to cut or commit suicide you shouldn’t be promoting hate you should promote love, isn’t that what god wants?”
This is definitely one of the winning comments (my emphasis):
“Grace-Ann Curby – June 1, 2013 – Toshiba AT100 with version 1.5
Remove this app from Google market, Apple has already removed it from theirs. Pray …
Remove this app from Google market, Apple has already removed it from theirs. Pray away the gay is such a load of hogwash, and very offensive! Plus, its practice is illegal in some states. Check out the Doors of Hope section… so much offensive BS! It seems the programmers didn’t include a section on how to stop being bigoted idiots… just sayin’ I gave it one star just so I could comment…”
This app being available is not new news, but Google refusing to take it down even after Apple has seems to imply that more pressure is needed. They have removed ‘ex-gay’ apps before for violating Google’s hate speech user agreement.
Door of Hope seems to be a clear violation:
- Hate Speech: We don’t allow the promotion of hatred toward groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity.
So Google, why not this one? Why not remove Setting Captive Free for Door of Hope’s clear violation?
I suggest we all go to ‘How to report a policy violation‘ at Google Play’s Android Developer page here, and submit a report and suggest that they close this door and quickly.
Ex-gay reparative therapy has beenouted as harmful and so already banned for minors in California, the State where Google is based. There are multiple bills now pending in other State legislatures. We should not be giving these quacks a voice, least of all easy access to our vulnerable community via the Internet. They have already caused enough harm.
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This is excellent reporting/blogging. I got an email from AllOut about this & blogged about it. You should have seen some of the responses I got. I’m re-blogging this out. Thanks for reporting on it. :-)
Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
I blogged something related to this app before. Now it comes from another source. This is true and just not right!!!
EFF-ING unbelievable!!!!
The holders & purveyors of information & the dissemination of said information, Google, are actually promoting HATE SPEECH!
Yes, this is hate speech…I’m going to swap search engines if they don’t end this one. How is this not being dealt with as the hate speech it is??
If you don’t like the contents, then “tune it out”, DON’T shut it down. I am offended by many things available to others, but I recognize that others benefit, and should be allowed to decide for themselves. This is censorship, plain and simple.
So if there was an APP teaching someone the incorrect medical advice – like for example incorrect CPR – that the CPR lesson was plain wrong and could cause a death- you would be okay with Google having that WRONG APP that could hurt. this is NOT about free speech hate speech etc. This is about offering an APP that purports to help someone change their sexual orientation which is pure quackery and hence tantamount to giving WRONG medical advice. I guess you are okay with that just because its gay teens who may commit suicide when deceived into thinking they can CHANGE – when it is bullshit because they cannot change. This is not about the SPEECH its about the quackery…..
Exactly. And usually the teens are FORCED to participate by already unaccepting parents who are the ones deceived by the quackery and further ‘disappointed’ in their children when they aren’t ‘cured’. It is just as devastating to gay adults when they aren’t able to successfully pray-away-the-gay misled by the lies the ex-gay reparative therapy industry promotes often leading to their suicide as well.
Agree, Kathy. Excellent reporting job. This “cure the gay” thing is damaging so many …. all promoted by fundamentalist, religious groups/entities that are lining their pockets with the $$ of those in need of support and acceptance.
Excellent response, Melanie. Analogy to a “T”!! :-)
Well said !