Brody's Notes... Exodus Claims Removal Petition Campaign Misrepresents Intent Of Its iPhone App

Jeff Buchanan

By Mark Singer (Washington DC) MAR 22 | In an interview with the Christian Post newspaper late yesterday, Jeff Buchanan, Exodus International's Senior Director of Church Equipping & Student Ministries, discussed the Change.org petition campaign to remove the newly released Exodus app. He told the Post:

"This is a label (gay cure app) that has been put forth by opponents to the application to serve as propaganda in order to stigmatize and really label the application in a false way and provoking a response such as you are seeing with the application."  

The petition, launched by the Burlington, Vermont, based Truth Wins Out, an LGBT equality rights group that fights against homophobia and so called 'ex-gay reparative therapy' has called Exodus' message "hateful" and "bigoted." Less than a week after its initial launch, more than 107,477 people have signed the petition asking Apple to remove the Exodus app from its iTunes store.

On Monday, Truth Wins Out increased its efforts to have people to sign its petition. The organization also released a letter from University of Minnesota researcher Dr. Gary Remafedi who claimed that Exodus International distorted his work in an effort to misrepresent homosexuality and confuse the app’s users.
In a press release, Wayne Besen, the Executive Director of Truth Wins Out said:

"When one clicks the Exodus app, it directs the viewer to a webpage that answers questions about homosexuality. One of the question sequences is, “If people are same-sex attracted but don’t ever act on it, does that make them homosexual? What if they do engage in same-sex physical intimacy? Are they homosexual then?”
In answering these questions, Exodus twists the findings of Dr. Remafedi to make it appear as if homosexuality is just a transitory phase in youth.
Exodus depends on distorting the work of legitimate researchers and using junk science to trick its vulnerable clients into believing they can go from gay to straight,” he said. “Apple should not aid and abet the spread of deliberate scientific misinformation, nor should they create a pernicious platform for anti-gay lies.”

Besen's group also pledged to continue pressuring Apple until the app is removed, even promising to hold a press conference featuring victims of "ex-gay" programs in front of the company's offices if their demands are not met.

Buchanan attempted to debunk what he maintains are common misconceptions about the organization, saying it is not here to "pray away the gay" or force anyone to do anything.

"We are helping those who have unwanted same-sex attractions. Those who are gay or identify themselves that way, in no way, shape or form are we trying to speak to their position or trying to impose anything upon them," he said. We are disheartened at the fact that there are activists who are rising up to silence our voice on the Exodus iTunes platform."
"We want to ask that there would be fair and equal representation of religious belief on this platform as is already existing. We would like the spirit of diversity and tolerance that is so valued within the LGBT community," he said.

Apple has given the Exodus app a 4+ rating, meaning the app contains no objectionable content and is open to users of all ages.

Buchanan also told the Post:

"Our message is to promote the love of Jesus Christ to all those who have been impacted by unwanted same-sex attractions," he continued. "Really, the point of the application is to provide the material that is also on our website in a smartphone format. Nothing more and nothing less."
"Exodus believes the opposite of homosexuality is not heterosexuality. It is holiness. We promote the belief that one can live a life that is congruent with their faith. That is our mission - period. "

The controversy is being followed closely by both LGBTQ equality rights activists as well as proactive anti-gay Christian organizations to see if Apple will again fold under pressure from the Change.org petition.

In a similar campaign last November of 2010, Apple removed the Manhattan Declaration app - a Christian app that stated that marriage was only between one man and one woman- after LGBTQ equality rights activists complained to Apple via a Change.org petition.

Buchanan told the Post:

"We hope this will be an opportunity for Apple to promote a policy of diversity and tolerance within iTunes and within their platform. What we do not want to do is presuppose what Apple is going to do. We definitely want to hope that they will allow us to be fairly represented and anything beyond that we will take on a day by day basis."