Google under fire for 'Is Your Son Gay?' app

Updated on: 29 September,2011 08:50 AM IST |
Agencies |

A new Google smartphone app that helps parents work out if their son is homosexual has been met with hostility

A new Google smartphone app that helps parents work out if their son is homosexual has been met with hostility.

The Android program, called 'Is Your Son Gay?', aims to provide an answer to what it calls 'the question you have been asking for perhaps too long'.

However, one gay-rights groups reacted with fury, brandishing the app 'ridiculous and horrifying'. To receive a verdict, parents are asked 20 questions, including 'does he like to dress well?', 'does he like football?', 'does he like musical comedies?' and 'does he like Madonna?' Once the quiz is completed parents receive one of two answers, 'You have nothing to worry about, your son is not gay. You have a very good chance of being a grandmother with all the joys that brings.' Or it informs parents: 'Your son is gay. Accept it and know it's not his choice.'

The French developer of the app, according to reports, insists that the concept is a humorous one.

However, Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Educational Network in the US denounced the app.

She said, "The questions in this app are horrendous stereotypes that would be completely laughable if they weren't so dangerous. The implication, one, is that there is one way to be if you're gay and, two, that there's sort of blame to attach to parents."

Meanwhile, psychologist Alan Hilfer told the network that the app is no substitute for having a heart-to-heart talk about sexuality.