Apple CEO Tim Cook: "Being Gay Is God's Greatest Gift To Me"

In an interview with CNN's Christine Amanpour, Apple CEO Tim Cook says being gay is "God's greatest gift to me."

Via CNN Money:

Four years ago, Tim Cook became the first CEO of a major company to come out as gay. He says he’s happy about that distinction — and his decision. “I’m very proud of it,” the Apple CEO told Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday in an exclusive interview for her program on CNN International and PBS.

Being gay is “God’s greatest gift to me,” he said. Cook came out on October 30, 2014. His sexual orientation had been widely rumored beforehand though he had not confirmed it publicly.

“I went public because I started to receive stories from kids who read online that I was gay,” he told Amanpour. “I needed to do something for them,” Cook said. He wanted to demonstrate to gay children that they “can be gay and still go on and do some big jobs in life.”

News Round-Up: August 3, 2018

Dan Welden

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunk Dan Welden (above) is giving you some #FlexFriday

• Launched in response to the recent ruling on the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case, Yelp has added a new 'Open to All' category/filter which aims to help protect consumers from discrimination.

• Apple, led by openly-gay CEO Tim Cook, has become the first private-sector company to be valued at over $1 trillion. Don't tell me the gays can't compete...

• After rescuing the adorable Beemo in South Korea, hottie Gus Kenworthy adopted another rescue from SK:

The day Matt and I visited the horrifying dog meat farm in South Korea we witnessed a mother dog giving birth to a litter of pups. The people at @hsiglobal told us that had they not been there filming my visit nobody would've seen the pups immediately and they likely would've died in the brutal cold. Luckily though I saw them and they were rushed inside and saved. A few weeks later when all 90 of the dogs on that farm (including Beemo) were flown to North America that mother and her newborn litter were the only ones that stayed behind because the pups were too young to travel. After Beemo passed away I was feeling completely empty and I reached back out to the Humane Society International to find out what happened to that litter. I found out that they were still in Korea and I began getting photo and video updates on them as I waited for another farm closure and an opportunity for them to be brought to the States. That finally happened and four days ago I picked this little girl up in DC. She's a 5-month-old Jindo/ Lab mix and we named her Birdie (because birds were one of Beemo's favorite things in the world). Nothing in the world could ever replace Beemo or the love that we felt and still feel for her but Birdie has already stolen a new place in our hearts and we're excited to be dog dads again. A HUGE thank you goes out to @hsiglobal for bringing our new baby home and for all they do for animals in need around the world (follow them and support their cause). Also an immense amount of gratitude goes to @awlaarlington for taking care of Birdie in DC until I could fly there to pick her up! I am going to continue Beemo's Instagram with pupdates on Birdie. I was nervous that would seem disrespectful to Beemo's memory but I actually LOVE the idea that both of my beautiful little girls will share the page. Also, a huge part of the reason I started Beemo's page in the first place was to continue promoting animal rescue and raise awareness for the dog meat trade and since the page already has a following I thought it'd be more impactful to keep it going rather than start all over again. Follow along! @b_pups #DogsAreFriendsNotFood #AdoptDontShop 👨‍👨‍👧🐥🐶🐾❤️ 🇺🇸

A post shared by gus kenworthy (@guskenworthy) on Aug 2, 2018 at 7:33pm PDT

• Despite assurances from the intelligence community that Russia is continuing to meddle in our elections, U.S. Senators on Wednesday rejected a Democratic proposal by a vote of 50-47 to provide funds to states with more election security funding ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. Sixty votes were needed to include the proposal in the appropriations legislation under Senate rules.

• Former Marine and Army National Guardsmen Brandon Ketchum, 33, committed suicide after being denied admittance to a VA facility in Iowa City, despite telling doctors that he was having “serious mental issues.” Ketchum had been struggling with PTSD and substance abuse after returning home from his three tours overseas.

• And let's close out this round-up with shining a light on this hideous woman who attempted to call ICE and have a mother deported for breast feeding. I love the woman recording telling the bigot to "Go back to Europe. That's where you're from." #TrumpNation

White woman threatens to call ICE on a breastfeeding woman she assumes is an immigrant. Local hero starts recording and confronts the harasser: "This isn’t YOUR country. Go back to Europe. That’s where YOU'RE from.”
pic.twitter.com/tnyeCJ1rVq

— Q. Allan Brocka (@allanbrocka) August 3, 2018

Apple CEO Tim Cook On Coming Out: "I Needed To Do Something"

Last night on The Late Show, Stephen Colbert interviewed Apple CEO about a number of subjects including the newly introduced version of iPhone.

But along the way, Colbert asked Cook about growing up in Alabama as a young gay man, and his reasons for coming out.

Kids were getting basically discriminated against, kids were even being disclaimed by their own parents. And that I needed to do something. And where I valued my privacy significantly, I felt that I was valuing it too far above what I could do for other people. And so I wanted to tell everyone my truth.

Stephen Colbert Wags His Finger At Apple CEO Tim Cook's "Gayness"

Stephen Colbert took time in his Tip of the Hat/Wag the Finger segment to address Apple CEO Tim Cook's recent coming out:

"Yes, Apple CEO Tim Cook has come out as gay, which means two years from now, Microsoft's CEO will also come out as gay."

"As a corporate titan this man should follow tradition - and hide his sexuality in the Caymans."

Watch below:

The Colbert Report
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Sen. Ted Cruz: I Love My iPhone Even If CEO Tim Cook "Chooses" To Be Gay

Sen. Ted Cruz didn't miss his chance to say that he "loves his iPhone" even though Apple CEO Tim Cook has "chosen" to live a gay lifestyle.

Via Advocate:

During an interview with CNBC, Cruz was asked about the Bloomberg Businessweek story in which Cook addressed his sexual orientation publicly for the first time.

"Those are his personal choices. I’ll tell you, I love my iPhone," Cruz said according to The Hill. He added, "Listen, Tim Cook makes his personal decisions, and that is his life. My focus is on the constitutional question of who has the authority to make decisions."

It's worth noting that Sen. Cruz is the coauthor of the State Marriage Defense Act, which would stop the federal government from invalidating state laws on marriage.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, Comes Out In Essay For Business Week

Apple CEO Tim Cook has publicly come out in an essay he penned for Business Week:

"While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.

"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.

"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."

"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."

In coming out, Tim Cook becomes the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Alabama: Apple CEO Tim Cook Calls Out His Home State On LGBT Rights

Speaking at the Alabama Academy of Honor induction, in front of Governor Robert Bentley, Apple CEO Tim Cook (who has never publicly come out) addressed LGBT rights in his home state:

“I could never understand why some within our state and nation resisted basic principles of human dignity that were so opposite to the values I had learned growing up in Robertsdale, Alabama in a family that was rich in love and respect.”

“We were too slow on equality on African-Americans. We were too slow on interracial marriage. And we are still too slow on equality for the LBGT community.”