Apple Rejects “Racy” Gay Sightseeing App 

The creator of an iPhone travel application on can't-miss gay sights in New York says he finds Apple's rejection of his app for a second time "homophobic and discriminatory to the point of hostile."

"Gay New York: 101 Can't-Miss Places" was created by Forbes and New York Times contributing writer Anthony Grant in conjunction with San Francisco-based Sutro Media. Apple wrote Grant to reject the application, taking issue with images that show too much skin and a caricature of former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

But Grant says "far racier photographic material is routinely available on other apps" and his images of a go-go boy wearing a Speedo and the reproduction of a male nude painting are PG-13 by comparison.

"This is all part of gay culture," Grant told Valley Wag, "which happens to bring tons of money into this city."

Apple provided Grant with screenshots of the images the company objected to, and encouraged him to resubmit the app for review if he could make the necessary changes. The company has previously come under fire for rejecting mildly racy images from smaller app publishers while accepting apps from the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition and Playboy.