Apple has rejected a Christian
conservative group's modified app the company originally called
“offensive.”
The Manhattan Declaration app is a
mobile version of the
manifesto unveiled last year in New York by religious leaders opposed
to gay marriage.
Apple originally removed the app from
its iTunes store in November because “it violates our developer
guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people.”
The group behind the app said it had
resubmitted the app after removing a four-question survey. One
question asked, “Do you support same-sex relationships?” Users
who answered “yes” were told that they had replied incorrectly.
“As a sign of goodwill, we have
removed the poll and have resubmitted the app without it,” the
group's Chuck Colson said in a statement.
According to the Gay & Lesbian
Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Apple
has also rejected the modified version of the app.
“Apple rejected the second submission
on the same grounds as the first, noting that the app is likely 'to
expose a group to harm' and 'to be objectionable and potentially
harmful to others,'” GLAAD wrote in post at its website.
The app was deleted from the digital
store after more than 7,000 people signed a Change.org petition
urging Apple to remove it.
But the Christian group behind the app
responded with its own online petition. More than 43,000 people
signed onto the petition asking Apple to restore the Manhattan
Declaration app, the group said.
“Despite the claims of some, the
Declaration does not promote hate or homophobia. It is not anti-gay.
Rather, it proclaims that all human beings are loved by God and are
worthy of respect,” the petition reads.
In a video released by the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM), Apple
CEO Steve Jobs is labeled “big brother” for removing the anti-gay
marriage app.
Backers of the app said in a statement
that they would take the issue to Apple's App Review Board.