Update
The controvertial app from Android phones, ‘Is My Son Gay?’ has been pulled from Google’s distribution site after complaints from GLBTI groups.
September 29th, 2011
A few months ago, Apple pulled an app from their app store that claimed to ‘cure’ being gay raising awareness worldwide that there are such applications that slip through Apple and Google’s guidelines for apps on the app store and Android Market.
Is My Son Gay is the latest addition to the world of mobile applications that promotes stereotypes which imply that being gay is weird and socially unacceptable. It also connotes that your child’s sexual orientation may have been his parent’s fault with questions such as ‘before he was born, did you wish for a girl’.
Available for purchase on Android Market for $2.75, Is My Son Gay claims that by doing this test, ‘you’ll have the proven answer to a question you might have had since maybe a long time ago’.
Athima Chansanchai from Gadgetbox took the test on behalf of her brother and apparently he came out as a ‘yes’ even though Chansanchai’s brother is married to his wife.
It may not be considered as offensive if the app really could teach parents how to support your child. According to a statement released by All Out, this Android app developed by Emmene-moi, which means ‘Take Me’, clearly promotes homophobia with stereotypical questions like ‘Is he a fan of divas (Madonna and Britney Spears)’ and ‘does he read the sports page in the newspaper’.
Freedom Centre coordinator Dani Wright says that anything that perpetuates stereotypes can be problematic, especially for people who are questioning or unsure of their sexuality.
‘Of course, these stereotypes may apply to some people but definitely not everyone,’ Wright said.
‘It (stereotypes) can often cause discrimination and other ignorance and lead to issues that are faced by LGBT people,’ she explained.
Condemnation of the app is quickly growing; Boy George called for the app to be banned in a post from his twitter account this afternoon.
Here are the 20 questions the app asks parents who are apparently questioning their son’s sexuality:
• Before he was born, did you wish for a girl?
• Has he ever been in a fight?
• Does he read the sports page in the newspaper?
• Is his best friend a girl?
• Does he like team sports?
• Is he modest?
• Is he a fan of divas (Madonna, Britney Spears)?
• Does he spend a long time in the bathroom?
• Does he piercings in his tongue, nose or ears?
• Do you wonder about your son’s sexual orientation?
• Are you divorced?
• Does he like musical comedies?
• Has he ever introduced you to a girlfriend?
• Is his father a very authoritarian person?
• Within your family, is the father absent at all?
• During his childhood, was he timid or discreet?
• Does he have a complicated relationship with his father?
• Does he take a long time to do his hair?
• Does he like to dress well: is he very careful when choosing his outfits and selecting brands?
• Does he like football?
All Out has a petition asking for it to be removed. For more details, go to www.allout.org.
Vanessa Manivannen
