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Apple CEO Tim Cook comes out
In the concise piece, 53-year-old Cook writes about the importance of understanding the hardships that minorities face everyday
Tim Cook, CEO of the tech giant Apple, has come out as gay in an essay for Bloomberg Businessweek.
The news comes as no surprise to Silicon Valley, where rumours of Cook's sexual orientation have long circulated. However his action carries a powerful message - the importance of visible LGBT people within the corporate world.
For years, I’ve been open with many people about my sexual orientation. Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I’m gay, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference in the way they treat me. Of course, I’ve had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people’s differences. Not everyone is so lucky," he writes
In the concise piece, 53-year-old Cook writes about the importance of understanding the hardships that minorities face everyday, as well as the balance he continues to seek between being a visible advocate and holding on to his privacy.
"I don’t consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I’ve benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it’s worth the trade-off with my own privacy."
Cook took up the CEO position at Apple in August 2011. Apple has lent its support to equality and human rights causes across the United States over the years.
The company I am so fortunate to lead has long advocated for human rights and equality for all. We’ve taken a strong stand in support of a workplace equality bill before Congress, just as we stood for marriage equality in our home state of California. And we spoke up in Arizona when that state’s legislature passed a discriminatory bill targeting the gay community.
"We’ll continue to fight for our values, and I believe that any CEO of this incredible company, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, would do the same. And I will personally continue to advocate for equality for all people until my toes point up," Cook writes.
