Apple slams the door on gay iPhone app

Gay New Yorkers who may have wanted a useful resource to finding the best spots in the city have just been shut down by Apple with its latest app rejection.

Anthony Grant, a contributor to Forbes and the New York Times, submitted the app “Gay New York: 101 Can’t-Miss Places” but received the e-mail that all developers hate: an Apple rejection letter.

The censor-happy company said it denied Grant his hopes of being published on the App Store because of “explicit” images contained in the app, like a guy in a Speedo and an artistic nude male painting.

Grant told gossip blog Valleywag, “This is all part of gay culture, which happens to bring tons of money into this city.”

The fact that it was targeted at gay users was not mentioned in the rejection notice, and Apple in fact encouraged Grant to resubmit the app after removing the images in question.

However, Grant still questions Apple’s motives, arguing that “far racier photographic material is routinely available on other apps,” and claiming that the content is nothing worse than what would be seen in a PG-13 movie.

Apple has accepted a number of gay-themed apps, ranging from feeds of gay current events to a location-based social network aimed at connecting nearby homosexuals together.