Apple CEO Cook comes out: 'I'm proud to be gay'

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

Apple CEO Tim Cook came out Thursday, announcing that he is gay in a column in Bloomberg Businessweek.

"Let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me," he wrote.

Cook has not publicly discussed his sexual preferences before now, despite some rumors and speculation that he is gay.

A year ago he announced support for a federal law which would have protected workers from facing discrimination based on their sexual orientation.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/30/technology/tim-cook-gay/index.html

[trusty elf]

1. "among the greatest gifts God has given me,"

and fundy heads explode!

[longship]

2. Hopefully they all will explode. nt

[get the red out]

3. Worth the mess

I think we would all volunteer to help mop up.

[brer cat]

4. That jumped out at me too.

We have a 15 year old neighbor who is just coming out. It is heart breaking how many family members and friends talk about what a bad "choice" he is making. Some people are just so ignorant!

[progressoid]

7. While talking on their iPhones

[denem]

5. Exactly: "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 inspires people to insist on their equality,
then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy".

Comfort to those who feel alone?
Yes.

[Wait Wut]

6. Yeah, yeah...

...I still miss Steve Jobs.

Seriously, though, I'm glad he finally made this step. I would imagine that this would give so many others, especially young people, the courage they need to finally be themselves and not feel the need to hide.

Thank you, Mr. Cook. Some of those people could be friends of mine.

[HenryWallace]

8. Great news; now if Apple would just pay their taxes!

[link:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-tax-strategy-aims-at-low-tax-states-and-nations.html?pagewanted=all|

[Liberalagogo]

9. One problem to the OP

Please don't use the term "Sexual Preference". It is outdated and implies that one's orientation is a choice.

[Rob H.]

10. I think that was in the original article

They've since updated it to read, "Cook, who grew up in Alabama, said he has long been open about his sexual orientation, but had just not previously discussed it publicly."

FWIW, reading "sexual preference" makes me cringe. Glad they changed it.

[valerief]

13. It's unPC to say orientation.

You should say asiantation now.

[Liberalagogo]

22. Thanks.

Can't stand that term at all. "Sexuality" would also be a good term, since it implies nothing.

[Rozlee]

12. So what if it was?

Many scientist today believe that sexual orientation has many causes from brain chemistry to differences in chromosomes, the adrenal system, birth hormones and other factors. They don't even believe there's such a thing as a 100% heterosexual or homosexual individual. It's a scale where people gravitate more toward one end than the other. I don't don't think we should give evangelical fanatics the power to take our sexual choices from us.

[Liberalagogo]

21. "Preference" is still

an incorrect term. It is a term that the RW using against gay people. It's NOT a choice. I did not choose my sexualiity and more that you did. A sexual "preference" would be whether you like to use whipped cream, or leather, or stain sheets, or role-playing.

[Rozlee]

24. We're sexual beings and I agree that our orientation is most likely not a choice.

But, from there, it gets murkier because we are sexual beings. We receive sexual stimulation from others, ourselves and even objects. Religious demagogues try to dictate what and how we should conform to their narrow-minded vision of sexuality, which is always suspect, because they seem to be the most repressed about it and the Bible Belt has the largest numbers with internet porn, divorce, teen pregnancies and STDs. People's orientations don't change, but they do adjust in certain cases. Studies have been made of women in prison who turn to lesbianism to find closeness, of men who turn to homosexuality to in prison to find companionship or wield sex as a weapon. Sex is necessary to us, we're sexual beings and in the absence of our orientation, excuse me for saying it, 'preference,' many people have turned to their own sex in many situations. In ships at sea, for instance. Do you realize that the US Navy did a study once to find out how long men could be without a woman before considering taking a male partner? And from this study, adjusted the time sailors should be on long missions? In some primitive civilizations where men outnumber women due to warfare, older widows became partners to each other in every way. This was seen in the aftermath of the Civil War as well and among spinsters in the Victorian era. We're not hetero or homosexual. We're merely sexual beings. I never made a choice to be heterosexual. I did make a choice a few times to experiment with homosexuality to decide if I'd like it. I did. But, my basic chemistry wasn't wired to really enjoy it as much. Maybe as I grow older. There are new studies coming out that say women become more bisexual as they age.

[KinMd]

11. It may show how far we've come..

that most people's reaction to this story will be "Who cares?"

[Throd]

14. That was my reaction.

[Dopers_Greed]

15. "...but I realize how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others"

Yeah, you sure have.

You've benefitted from sacrifice of American taxpayers having to cover billions of $$$ in taxes that Apple has dodged.

[Mutiny In Heaven]

16. I don't really blame a CEO for exploiting tax loopholes

The issue as far as I see it is that the loopholes exist. Massive dereliction of duty on the part of generations of politicians.

[valerief]

17. The pols who need the CEO's money to get elected. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. nt

[LittleGirl]

18. +1, I don't think this is illegal yet n/t

[jmowreader]

19. I can just hear the backlash on my paper's "comments" page

"Oh Noes! I'll never buy an iPhone again because none of my money will be going to support Sin Condemned By Our Lord!"

To which I have two comments: Apple, being a company controlled by hippie liberals for a very long time, has been supporting Sin Condemned By Our Lord! for decades; and being that you still have a phone without a dial screwed to a fencepost out by the road because God commanded you to have the operator connect all your calls and to not bring worldly things into your house, you need to buy an iPhone "for the first time ever" before you can buy one "again."

[Cha]

20. Good on Tim Cook!

[samsingh]

23. and i will proudly buy more apple products