

Apple rejects gay humour app - mcantelon
http://www.xtra.ca/public/Vancouver/Apple_rejects_gay_humour_app-13191.aspx

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intopieces
Gay guy weighing in here: Apple is not homophobic in keeping this nonsense app
from their store. By throwing the accusation around, we risk devaluing it.
Apple, Inc scored 100% on the Human Rights Council's Corporate Equality Index.
Calling them homophobic is like calling Edward R. Murrow a communist -- it
shows your desperation immediately.

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jiggy2011
The "Human Rights Council's Corporate Equality Index" is something that seems
to mostly relate to employment practises.

I doubt it has provisions that cover app stores.

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intopieces
You are correct, it does not cover app stores. It does, however, display a
certain corporate culture that is indicative of how such mechanisms within the
company are likely to operate. My hypothesis regarding this rejection is that
the reviewers found the app itself to be homophobic because it relies on tired
stereotypes about gay men and is, in fact, not funny at all.

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jiggy2011
I have no idea why they rejected in this instance.

Not sure if such accreditation really prove anything other than that a company
is willing to jump through some hoops to get a sticker though. It's like PCI
accreditation and other stuff like that.

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intopieces
Apple pays the tax on health benefits for same-sex couples, a tax that
opposite-sex, married couples don't have to pay because the government
recognizes their union. Meijer, the grocery store chain, has a history of
firing employees for being gay. For this reason, I see the HRC Equality Index
as more than 'some hoops to get a sticker': companies go out of their way to
improve the lives of gay people who work for them are awarded such
distinction.

~~~
jiggy2011
or companies who want a sticker that says they "go out of their way to improve
the lives of gay people who work for them".

That's really the point of these things, to provide capitalist incentives for
such behaviours.

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general_failure
Why do people act surprised again and again? It's Apple's playground, you play
by their rules. Rules can change over time. It's been this way since app store
launched. Just live with it. Or develop for android or something.

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bluthru
>Anything and everything can be offensive — it’s purely subjective.

Right, and Apple is exercising their right to find the app offensive. Why is
this a story?

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jiggy2011
That's really the problem with walled garden systems. One group of people
decides for everyone what is/isn't offensive.

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fredoliveira
In reality, they're deciding for themselves - which is fair. It just _happens_
to affect you because you use the outcome of that decision.

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jiggy2011
Technically true, but under such a model it always has the potential to affect
you.

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speeder
This is a major no-win for Apple.

Take out app made by a gay guy? Homophobic.

Not take out the "flaming" app, thus offending lots of homosexual men (that
are men first, homosexual second)? Homophobic.

I hate those sort of situations, specially when it result in some people
always losing.

Here in Brazil we have a conservative politician (he would fit right into Tea
Party if he was at US), that once went to protest against a "gay kit" that the
ministry of education wanted to give to schools... Several gay people were
against the kit, because if was badly made, it was of bad taste, and attracted
flak from society, beside being a waste of taxpayer money.

Returning to our politician, he stood behind a TV interview of another
politician, holding his anti-gaykit (not anti-gay mind you) pamphlets. A pro-
gay poltician started to shout that he was homophobic, attacked him
physically, and then the assaulted guy got sued later... (at least the lawsuit
was thrown out). Later some gays supported the guy, not that they agree with
him, but they think that the female pro-gay politician that attacked him was
against free speech. Of course, those got called "homophobic" too (even being
gays).

I can conclude that some words, are more about insulting your opposition that
disagree with you, than real labels.

This apply to homophobic, MRA, racist (not that real racists don't exist...
mind you), misogynistic, and so on...

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rmc
To be fair though, there _is_ a lot of homophobic laws in the world.

~~~
animal
are

