Apple CEO Tim Cook: I'm Proud to Be Gay

Apple CEO Tim Cook has, for the first time, written publicly about his sexual orientation in an essay published in Businessweek on Thursday.

"I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me," Cook writes. Chaii :( This world has come to an end :'(

In the essay, Cook says he has been open with many people about his sexual orientation for years, including Apple employees. "Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I’m gay, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference in the way they treat me."

He adds that while he never denied his sexuality, he had not publicly acknowledged it either. Writing about his motivation to do so, the Apple boss cites Dr. Martin Luther King:

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ I often challenge myself with that question, and I’ve come to realize that my desire for personal privacy has been holding me back from doing something more important."

Earlier this week, Cook challenged his home state of Alabama, saying it was too slow to guarantee the rights of minorities during the civil rights era, and it is currently too slow to ensure the rights of people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Cook has encouraged LGBT rights on a national stage as well.



In June, during a CNBC "Squawk on the Street" segment, co-anchor Simon Hobbs accidentally "outed" the CEO as being openly gay while asking columnist Jim Stewart: "I think Tim Cook is fairly open about the fact that he’s gay at the head of Apple isn’t he?"