The procedures demean and torture transgenders.

Google finally caved in to pressure to remove a conversion therapy app from its Google Play store. The app in question from Living Hope Ministries advised individuals on “recovery from same-sex attraction.” Matters began to move when Human Rights Campaign (HRC), one of the top charities in the United States working on LGBT+ rights, suspended the search giant from a ranking linked to transgender rights and gay rights. The index deleted the Google name from its yearly Corporate Equality Index. This index ranks American companies on the number of benefits they provide to their LGBT+ employees.

Since 2002 the HRC has ranked U.S. companies on the treatment of straight, gay and transgender employees equally when it comes to factors such as benefits and medical insurance. Google has consistently enjoyed a perfect score since its inclusion in 2006.

According to HRC, the Living Hope Ministries app was found to threaten the life of LGBTQ youth and the code supported "conversion therapy." The latter works on the belief that being lesbian, transgender, gay, or bisexual could be a treatable mental illness. A spokesperson for Google confirmed the app's removal on March 29, saying after due consultation with external advocacy groups and reviewing the applicable company policies, and after realizing how the app functions and its direct relation with conversion therapy, the world’s biggest tech company decided to make it unavailable in the Play Store. Google is not the only one to remove the app. Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have previously taken the same route.

Well damn. HRC isn't exactly a great org, but its Corporate Equality Index is still a useful (if imprecise) barometer. How many times now have I pointed out that Google just KEEPS making me glad I resigned??https://t.co/kAuLkuw4ym — Ashleigh R (@Technicalleigh) March 28, 2019

The app hosted several objectionable articles with names like “Keys to Recovery from Same-Sex Attractions.” The code featured recommendations like one must make sacrifices to be healthy. There was no response from Living Hope Ministries when reporters tried to contact them related to this matter. The ministry website continues to claim it helps individuals who struggle with the realization they are attracted to the same gender. The process of conversion therapy includes painful and demeaning procedures like electric shocks and hypnosis. More than 12 U.S. states as well as countries like Malta and Ecuador have outlawed the procedure. Other countries like the UK and New Zealand are considering bans to end such processes on their soil.

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