The Biggest Thing To Come Out Of Apple…

The Biggest Thing To Come Out Of Apple…

tim-cook1…And it’s not IOS8 or Yosemite.

It’s Tim Cook.

Apple’s Tim Cook has publicly come out as gay, saying he is proud and considers it “among the greatest gifts God has given me.”

Writing in Businessweek, the chief executive said that while he has never denied his sexuality, he hadn’t publicly acknowledged it either.

“So 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.

“Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day. It’s made me more empathetic, which has led to a richer life,” he added.

“It’s been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It’s also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you’re the CEO of Apple.”

Cook has long been an advocate for LGBT rights, and gave a speech at his former university Auburn University last year in which he touched upon his own experience of discrimination. He wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal voicing his support for workplace equality, stating “At Apple, we try to make sure people understand that they don’t have to check their identity at the door.”

Earlier in the week he criticised his home state Alabama’s lack of action over gay rights in a speech, saying that while we “can’t change the past, but we can learn from it, and we can create a different future.”

Within his essay, Cook admitted that to announce his coming out was not an easy choice.

“I don’t consider myself an activist, but I realise 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,” he continued.

“I’ll admit that this wasn’t an easy choice. Privacy remains important to me, and I’d like to hold on to a small amount of it.

“When I arrive in my office each morning, I’m greeted by framed photos of Dr. King and Robert F. Kennedy. I don’t pretend that writing this puts me in their league. All it does is allow me to look at those pictures and know that I’m doing my part, however small, to help others. We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick.”

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23 Comments

  1. Peak
    October 31, 04:35 Reply

    Is itt just me, or is being gay the new cool?
    Movers and shakers, power players, big wigs of the society seems to be gay. Maybe that’s why the society is fighting it cos they are seeing it as a global domination.
    I’m inspired. Inspired to work harded and make a name for my self. The world is welcome to bash the gayness in me! But they is nothing like a gay man wielding a BOSS whip.
    #Inspired

  2. Constant
    October 31, 05:26 Reply

    Truly Inspiring. Just the perfect Nitro needed in this race. *goes off to type his Coming Out Speech*

  3. JustJames
    October 31, 05:34 Reply

    I’ll be inspired when a Nigerian artist comes out or Aliko Dangote’s son comes out or nollywood brings out a movie that doesn’t show gay people as paedos or lesbians as cultists..

    *goes back to sleep*

    • Brian Collins
      October 31, 05:50 Reply

      Two things come to my mind ‘Men in Love’ & ‘White Angels’. We could never dream to have Brokeback Mountain.

      • daniel
        October 31, 06:02 Reply

        As if film and censor Board will let those movies be.. Twill be long before a movie that portrays gay as right will be allowed in Nigeria..

        I think our artistes r not gonna ruin their careers or risk their lives to come out bcos there r no laws protecting gay people. I don’t want my beloved Alex Ekubo stoned to death on the road by homophobic Nigerians.

        Well done Tim, is it just me that notices how people turn so cute when they come out? Lmao!!!!

  4. Micky
    October 31, 06:09 Reply

    Such a huge inspiration! I had a filled day of laughter yesterday watching Nigerians go all ballistic on this man. Lol. I was like smash your Apple devises already! Hypocrites oshi!

    • pinkpanthertb
      October 31, 16:20 Reply

      Lmao. Abi o? If its vexing anyone that he’s gay, smash your device to make a statement nah. Nonsense and ingredients.

  5. xpressivejboy
    October 31, 06:30 Reply

    *Tears* I’ve had times I regreted being who I am; before today, I had have to lift myself from the miry clay of self-hate, every now and again, with so much struggles…today, I’m so in love with who I am.

    #RemainLiftedTimCook

  6. Bobby
    October 31, 06:41 Reply

    Wow! Good to hear this…but truly gays r wonderful and skilled. If only d society like ours (Nigeria) will get tins right. Its really d biggest ting to come out of apple…*winks*

  7. Bobby
    October 31, 06:45 Reply

    Nigerians r hypocites…yea they should indeed smash their devices cos d ceo is gay…gush. We rule d world…..looooooool.

  8. anonymous
    October 31, 06:59 Reply

    Beautiful title and an inspiring read at that.
    *heading back to nairaland for a reality check*

  9. king
    October 31, 07:30 Reply

    This just validates for me that being gay isn’t all that should be for those that take it too much into their heads…there’s more to life which is doing the best you can, unveiling the wonderful God given Talents one has and making your own sphere of this big round world BETTER than you met it! Which just simply means we need more of us (yes am still rooting for US….for those who may still be confused!!) to go to school, learn more and be more than what pipo could believe you could ever be….go Tim go CEO….and thanx for achieving so much for Apple that you could sit on that SIT!

    • Peak
      October 31, 08:13 Reply

      Ok king u just score urself some cool points,
      Well said! Go to school develop urself make a name for urself. No want to. Look or listen to a nobody! Ppl are paying attention to tim cook cos he is SOMEBODY

    • Khaleesi
      October 31, 09:14 Reply

      Tim cook said it all, being gay while a core component of who I am, is not all I am. Whether you like it or not, sexuality especially when its brutally suppressed as gays are in Nigeria forms a strong core of who you are …

  10. Khaleesi
    October 31, 09:11 Reply

    I v known for a long time that Tim Cook was gay, but when the news that he boldly came out on live TV to the world broke, I was shocked to my roots and then I felt euphoric. I havent heard such good news in a long long time – bravo America, bravo Apple, Bravo Tim Cook!!!!! I cant lie, am so so so proud of you Tim. My darling CNN has been flashing it and scrolling it across their banners since yesterday. Am sure every single Nigerian homophobe has seen it by now. This news is like a sharp dagger to the heart of homophobic hypocrites!!! Dear bigots.!!!! You can start by smashing your beloved iPhones and iPads – but knowing what hypocrites you are, you’ll clutch them tightly and even order for newer apple products. Whether you can like to drink acid or jump off a bridge, apple products will still be a dominant device in the lives of all you disgusting homophobes.
    Tim’s coming out says so so much about the level of refined thinking thats abounds in American society. Imagine a prominent Nigerian coming out as gay …
    Btw: I once spotted the deeply homophobic Catholic archbishop of Abuja carrying a ipad … I wonder how he’ll feel next time he flips it open and peers into its screen knowing that the company which manufactured it is led by a gay man ***dissolves in uncontrollable peals of laughter with long silky hair flying all over the place***

    • Dennis Macauley
      October 31, 10:06 Reply

      Onayekan has an Ipad
      Oyakhilome has an Ipad
      Oyedepo has an Ipad
      Oritsejafor has an Ipad

      Who wants to come over for tea?

  11. Dennis Macauley
    October 31, 10:02 Reply

    How come I haven’t heard this before? Has he disclosed it previously?

    • Lothario
      November 02, 06:37 Reply

      No! Khaleesi does private sessions in her boudoir with him…..that’s how she knows

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