The founder of an app about sexually transmitted disease said he will not change the name “Hula,” but he now understands why the term “getting lei’d” is culturally insensitive.
Via Apple Store
The CEO and founder of an app called "Hula" Ramin Bastani told the Associated Press on Wednesday that he will not change the name of his app, despite protests from Hawaiians.
A petition was started on Change.org that has more than 1,000 signatures to change the name of the app Hula. The app is described as a "simple way to obtain and share your verified STD results."
The petition was started by three college students — Kaio Tubera, Alexandra Guerrero, and Kelly Luis — originally from Maui who graduated from Kamehameha Schools, which is designed to serve students with Native Hawaiian ancestry, and noted that the app is completely unrelated to Hawaiian culture.
In the Apple app store, the STD info app called "Hula" comes up first in the search results, before the many apps about hula.
The app is particularly insensitive the petition said since "the arrival of Europeans exposed Native Hawaiians to foreign diseases such as gonorrhea and syphilis, which consequently caused death and infertility." The exposure to STDs and other foreign diseases dramatically reduced the population of Native Hawaiians in the late 19th century.
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