Apple highlights LGBT content with special curated App Store section

Posted:
in iPhone edited July 2015
In celebration of efforts made toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights equality, Apple on Thursday added a special section to the iOS App Store pointing to movies, music, TV shows, apps and other online media it says reflects LGBT pride.




The featured content ranges from movies like "Milk" and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" to popular TV shows such as Netflix's "Orange is the New Black." App selections include LGBT-themed magazines, news aggregators and local event calendars. Books, podcasts and music are also highlighted in the featured App Store category.
Every June, we commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots -- a history-making moment in which gay men and women fought back after decades of relentless discrimination. It heralded the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, launching the struggle for public visibility, cultural acceptance, and legal equality that the LGBT community has continued battling for ever since.
As a supporter of various U.S. civil rights initiatives, Apple has long been involved in the promotion of LGBT rights. Last July, for example, the company took part in San Francisco's LGBT Pride Parade as an officially sanctioned a group, with marchers handing out free iTunes song cards to bystanders along the route.

At Apple, support for civil rights initiatives comes from the top. When CEO Tim Cook was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor, he spoke out on a number of issues facing minority groups in America, one of which being slow progress in achieving equal rights for the LGBT community. Days later, he came out publicly in an essay published by Bloomberg.

Along with institutional initiatives, Apple's top executives spur change out of the office through philanthropic gifts. In December, Cook donated a "substantial sum" to the Human Rights Campaign's Project One America, an organization committed to bring LGBT equality in Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 183
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    Apple is really testing my loyalty right now.

    Getting tired of this crap.

    Stay the F out of politics.
  • Reply 2 of 183
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by msantti View Post



    Apple is really testing my loyalty right now.



    Getting tired of this crap.



    Stay the F out of politics.



    Here's what frustrates me; there's nowhere else to go. Google is worse, Microsoft has no apps (and would be doing the same if they did). There's no one else. They've all been wiped out.

  • Reply 3 of 183
    jd mbajd mba Posts: 38member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by msantti View Post



    Apple is really testing my loyalty right now.



    Getting tired of this crap.



    Stay the F out of politics.

    Exactly.

  • Reply 4 of 183
    cgjcgj Posts: 276member

    On a note on featured content...I strongly recommend watching 'Pride'. It's great.

     

    It's also great to see Apple doing this :)

  • Reply 5 of 183
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    msantti wrote: »
    Apple is really testing my loyalty right now.


    Getting tired of this crap.


    Stay the F out of politics.


    Here's what frustrates me; there's nowhere else to go. Google is worse, Microsoft has no apps (and would be doing the same if they did). There's no one else. They've all been wiped out.

    And were you not cheering as they were being wiped out?
  • Reply 6 of 183
    k2directork2director Posts: 194member
    I'm sure Tim Cook's heavy-handed censorship and banning of any content that might be deemed "mean-spirited" or "offensive" to these "minority" groups will engender a lot of warm fuzzy feelings towards them...

    Instead, it will probably make them targets of more extremism, especially if they remain silent as the Tim Cooks of the world carry out the same kind of extremism in their names.
  • Reply 7 of 183
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    I'm gonna enjoy the childish venom and tears of all the haters in this thread, as if Apples's support of LGBT is anything new.

    You don't like it? Go ahead and boycott Apple, trust me, No one will give a shit or notice. Just stop threatening to do it over and over again like petulant children. Not like they're gonna change their social positions anytime soon, so stop fantasizing about that too.
  • Reply 8 of 183
    genovellegenovelle Posts: 1,480member
    Here is a question? Why when you do a search on the AppStore and put in LGBT related searches are teen girl games, high school games, teen dating etc.? Sound like agenda targeting
  • Reply 9 of 183
    msantti wrote: »
    Apple is really testing my loyalty right now.

    Getting tired of this crap.

    Stay the F out of politics.

    Calm down. It's not running for office.
    One of the most sadly amusing things is to watch folks get upset because they think private corporations shouldn't have a voice on social issues. SCOTUS said corporations are "people" (and money is "speech"), so Apple gets to say whatever it wants.

    The question you have to ask yourself is: do you only want to surround yourself with people and corporations that agree with whatever your political bias is? Are you that intolerant of speech you disagree with?
  • Reply 10 of 183
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    k2director wrote: »
    I'm sure Tim Cook's heavy-handed censorship and banning of any content that might be deemed "mean-spirited" or "offensive" to these "minority" groups will engender a lot of warm fuzzy feelings towards them...

    Instead, it will probably make them targets of more extremism, especially if they remain silent as the Tim Cooks of the world carry out the same kind of extremism in their names.
    .

    Doubt it, although that definitely sounds like a fantasy of yours. Oh, and what extremism, having a temporary featured AppStore section that is aligned with pride week? Oh wow, how insane and extreme. I'll get out my pitch forks. You and the people like you, so enraged about something so benign, are clearly the extremists.
  • Reply 11 of 183
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    msantti wrote: »
    Apple is really testing my loyalty right now.

    Getting tired of this crap.

    Stay the F out of politics.

    Only thing is there's nowhere else to go. Google and every other tech company are just as bad with this political BS.
  • Reply 12 of 183
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    genovelle wrote: »
    Here is a question? Why when you do a search on the AppStore and put in LGBT related searches are teen girl games, high school games, teen dating etc.? Sound like agenda targeting

    Because app search sucks?
  • Reply 13 of 183
    I await the "Apps of Faith" section next month.

    But I won't hold my breath.
  • Reply 14 of 183
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    I await the "Apps of Faith" section next month.

    But I won't hold my breath.

    Good luck with that.
  • Reply 15 of 183
    lightknightlightknight Posts: 2,312member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by k2director View Post



    I'm sure Tim Cook's heavy-handed censorship and banning of any content that might be deemed "mean-spirited" or "offensive" to these "minority" groups will engender a lot of warm fuzzy feelings towards them...



    Instead, it will probably make them targets of more extremism, especially if they remain silent as the Tim Cooks of the world carry out the same kind of extremism in their names.



    I seem to fail to detect extremism in featuring a minority that, whether you like it or not, is still being targeted precisely because it is a minority.

     

    Not even looking at rich, modern and powerful USA, do you know how many countries among the ones Apple serves have multiple homophobic violent acts every year, sometimes legally sanctioned? Do you realize that not only ISIS deems homophobia a crime, but also US-friend Egypt, US-friends Saudi Arabia... (Interestingly, Turkey has legalized homosexuality back in 1850. Sometimes the advanced civilizations aren't the ones you expect). If nothing else, exposing these markets to American liberal thinking is a patriotic act. Just saying.

  • Reply 16 of 183
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    rogifan wrote: »
    Only thing is there's nowhere else to go. Google and every other tech company are just as bad with this political BS.

    Maybe you should just swear off technology and go live Ina a cave? Sounds like you'd be better off, considering what kind of ridiculous criteria you seem to choose for choosing your technology products. There's literally nothing else of value Apple products offer you, that you'd be willing to drop them for something like this? Their OS, hardware, software, and services are irrelevant? How childish and petulant. But not inconsistent with your constant Apple bashing, so please spare us and swear off Apple for good. You like to pretend you're being forced to use their products. You're not, so maybe take action instead of your never ending whining
  • Reply 17 of 183
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    rogifan wrote: »
    msantti wrote: »
    Apple is really testing my loyalty right now.

    Getting tired of this crap.

    Stay the F out of politics.

    Only thing is there's nowhere else to go. Google and every other tech company are just as bad with this political BS.

  • Reply 18 of 183
    lightknightlightknight Posts: 2,312member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post



    I await the "Apps of Faith" section next month.



    But I won't hold my breath.



    Nice idea. I hope to see Ba'aism, Islam and Russian Orthodoxy well featured indeed. /s

     

    Sarcasm aside, I don't see how featuring powerful majorities like religious followers would do anything to help minorities. It's not like, in the USA, religion doesn't have a disproportionate effect on politics. Isn't it the country of Britney "no sex before marriage" Spears, again? Or Sarah Palin's? The country that mainly supports Israel out of the political power of Christian religious groups, to the utmost amusement or irritation of the rest of the world (depending on their interests)?

    "Apps of Faith" wouldn't make much sense. "Apps of Religious Groups Suffering Heavy Discrimination" might, but I doubt you care much about Ba'ai, Coptic Syrian/Egyptian martyrs, Thibet Buddhists or Islamic Xinjiang followers, and anyway that's not a very good name, now, is it? ;)

  • Reply 19 of 183
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,069member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by msantti View Post
    Apple is really testing my loyalty right now.
    Getting tired of this crap.
    Stay the F out of politics.

    the only thing apple is testing is your limited point of view. if you're going to hold on to your out dated ideas, you'll soon be left behind.

    i think it's awesome. it's a human thing and this is only going to move this country forward. quite frankly, i've waited a lifetime for issues like this and racism to come to the forefront of america.
  • Reply 20 of 183
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,069member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by k2director View PostI'm sure Tim Cook's heavy-handed censorship and banning of any content that might be deemed "mean-spirited" or "offensive" to these "minority" groups will engender a lot of warm fuzzy feelings towards them...
    Instead, it will probably make them targets of more extremism, especially if they remain silent as the Tim Cooks of the world carry out the same kind of extremism in their names.

    right. because the confederate flag stands for all that is good about america. /s

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