2011-Sep-29 - Is My Gay Son Into BDSM App

Technology has allowed the human race to enjoy a lot of things today.  Gadgets and devices not only entertain they can also be convenient. Today's technology allows us to download applications for our phones. While some are interestingly fun to use, there are those that are just really pointless and ridiculous. One such pointless and ridiculous application is the "Is My Son Gay?" application, a new app offered in the Android market.

The "Is My Son Gay?" app boasts that it is capable of determining whether or not your son is gay. It is like playing the classic game "20 Questions". Available for $2.68, the app prompts users to answer 20 questions about their son. Yes, dear. You read that right. 20 questions. 20 questions, the app claims, could determine whether your son is gay or not.



Questions include:

"Does he read the sports page in the newspaper?"

"Does he like musical comedies?"

"Is he a fan of divas (Madonna, Britney Spears)?"

"Does he spend a long time in the bathroom?"

"Was he shy as a child?"

If those are not ridiculous enough, the app even asks users if before their son was born, they actually hoped for a baby girl!

So after answering 20 absurd questions, and the app "successfully" determined that the users' son is gay, it says:

"No need to look the other way! He is gay! ACCEPT IT!"

The other possible answers are:

"Your son is a normal young man: modern and concerned about taking care of himself assuming some feminine habits while maintaining his attraction to girls. However, he may have already had some homosexual experiences with his best friend. These things happen. It is more and more usual in these times to maximize pleasures without taboo."

"You do not have to worry, your son is not gay. So there are chances for you to be grandmother with all the joys it brings."

The developers claim that the app was conceived with a playful approach. That it is not based on any scientific research. They claim that the app's sole objective of "toning down/improving the situation and helping mothers to accept their sons' homosexuality."

But many don't see it that way. Google has been called by several organizations to drop the app. How can you help mothers accept their sons' homosexuality by making a joke about it? Homosexuality is no laughing matter. What mothers need to do is to have an honest conversation with their sons and not rely on a clearly-not-well-thought-of app.

Mike Thompson, Acting President of GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) gave a statement: "Socially responsible companies should have standards that prevent such offensive and derogatory content. The 'Is My Son Gay?' app promotes inaccurate stereotypes about gay people and should be removed immediately."

As much as the LGBT community do not want to be called buzzkills, they have to stand up to something that could possibly contribute to the miseducation of the rest of the world on the subject of homosexuality. The LGBT community have long fought to destroy the stereotypes, and this latest app is not helping at all to that cause. The list of questions used in this app is just plain horrible. Can you not be straight if you like Madonna?

This app is promoting black and white thinking, when the truth is, there is a grey area. And the grey area matters as much as the black and the white.

This controversial Android app was created by French developers "Emmene Moi". Their only other work was "Mon Fils Est-Il Gay", the French version of the "Is My Son Gay?" application. If they don't stop coming up with these pointless and ridiculous applications, I would not be surprised if what they will launch next is the "Is My Gay Son Into BDSM?" app.