Google removes conversion therapy app amid backlash

Google has removed an app promoting conversion therapy from its Play Store, following significant backlash from human rights groups and coming months after Apple and Amazon took the app away.

The app was from the group Living Hope Ministries, which promotes "committed, monogamous, heterosexual" relationships, per The Hill. It reportedly offered gay people help in "leaving" their sexuality.

The decision comes after the Human Rights Campaign dropped Google from its annual Corporate Equality Index, reports CNBC, which evaluates companies' support of LGBTQ employees. In a footnote, the report stated "Pending remedial steps by the company to address this app that can cause harm to the LGBTQ community, the CEI rating is suspended."

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Google's decision follows the example set by tech giants Apple and Amazon, which removed the app in December. At the time of Apple's decision, a Change.org petition demanding removal of the app had gained 356 signatures, reports The Verge. A recent similar petition demanding Google take down the app gained over 140,000 signatures.