Apple's CEO is now openly gay. Is that progrs?

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that he is gay last week, but activist and wrer Darnell Moore qutns how that news looks like progrs to all LGBT people. * apples gay *

"Societal views have changed nsirably, but that has only really been the past 10 years, " says Si Sandhu, founr of profsnal work ptn, Former BP chief executive Lord Browne says Mr Cook is "an important role mol"Gay people now their 50s and 60s uld have been keepg their sexualy a secret om lleagu for years, perhaps s.

APPLE CEO TIM COOK OUT: 'I'M PROUD TO BE GAY'

Apple CEO Tim Cook wr a lumn which he announc that he's gay: "I nsir beg gay among the greatt gifts God has given me." * apples gay *

"Some of our bt lears are known for their honty and thenticy, to kd of then turn around and go, 'Actually, there's a big thg that I haven't que mentned', is que difficult, " says Ruth Hunt, chief executive of Stonewall, the lbian, gay and bisexual equaly anisatn.

APPLE CEO TIM COOK OUT AS GAY: I'M PROUD

In a tragic moment for Steve Jobs, there is a bright spot: Tim Cook, who will succeed Jobs as Apple's CEO, is an credibly thorough and tail oriented boss who has revolutnized the way puters are assembled and steadily held the nfince of Apple's employe and partners. He is also, as we reported January, sted to bee an in for gay advancement. * apples gay *

"Once you e out, you are expected to sudnly be an expert on all thgs gay, but of urse you are an expert on your job - not all thgs gay, " says Ms source, Getty ImagCommercial ncernsChief executiv uld have another ncern.

The Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn lists 78 untri wh crimal laws agast sexual activy by the groups of those untri are Ai, Asia and the Middle regns are growg fast and are where amb pani would be eager to Sandhu of Outstandg thks havg a gay chief executive "uld impact sal" those untri. But that remas to be seen, as there is no data to support the Tim Cook's announcement, we might fd out over the next few years whether ctomers might nsir the sexualy of a chief executive when choosg a mobile prospectsSo what about gay people tryg to work their way through the ranks the current era?

Over three-quarters of Ameri's 500 biggt pani have non-discrimatn polici that bar firg someone bee they are gay or lbian, says Jt Nelson, -founr and print of the US Natnal Gay and Lbian Chamber of he says those polici n only go so far.

TIM COOK: APPLE'S NEW CEO AND THE MOST POWERFUL GAY MAN AMERI

<strong>Profile: </strong>When Apple’s CEO me out as gay last week marked a transformatn om efficient technocrat Steve Jobs’s shadow to would-be champn of a new era of rporate rponsibily * apples gay *

"There are still tim that, even when you have a policy, the guy the cubicle next to you might have a personal belief that is not fully clive, " he source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Christopher Bailey is the only openly gay chief executive of a FTSE 100 firmSome dtri are workg harr than others to overe such UK fashn dtry n boast the only openly gay chief executive among FTSE 100 pani, after Christopher Bailey beme chief executive of Burberry earlier this Sandhu says diversy is " the DNA" of the fashn dtry is not necsarily leadg the way enuragg gay staff. The buildg tra is also makg a big effort, she says, wh nstctn giant Balfour Beatty workg closely wh Stonewall to help gay staff.

"It's que shockg to learn that even now graduat who are openly gay at universy are gog back to the closet bee the bs world is a ltle behd, " says Mr on this story. Apple CEO Tim Cook ma history last week, beg the first Fortune 500 CEO to break through the steel ceilg of heterosexual privilege the bs world when he disclosed Bsweek that he is "proud to be gay. Are prosperg, recent rearch dit that lbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) Amerins actually remaed more likely to be poor than heterosexual people.

He even wrote, "Beg gay has given me a eper unrstandg of what means to be the mory and provid a wdow to the challeng that people other mory groups al wh every day.

MAN SU APPLE CLAIMG IPHONE TURNED HIM GAY

"Yet, the plex and ternnected stggl of queer women, people of lor, and transgenr dividuals are often obscured when we celebrate seemg moments of sgular gay uplift.

In fact, twenty-four percent of lbians and bisexual women are poor, pared wh only 19% of heterosexual women, as reported by the Williams, Cook exists among a ntgent wh the LGBT muny ma up of whe cisgenr men who are more likely to be enomilly stable, employed, and ’s announcement was important given that up until now there was not one openly gay Fortune 500 CEO, but we should be ls quick our sh to name this moment progrs. " And now one is openly long as gayns is an inty celebrated or talked about when certa LGBT people, like the wealthy and famo, e out or when LGBT people are vlently killed the US, we will ntue to wns the var ways some wh the LGBT spectm are placed squarely the center of power as some others are phed to the edg of the is no activist. "Let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I nsir beg gay among the greatt gifts God has given me, " he wrote a lumn Bloomberg Bsweek.

« FIER D'êTRE GAY », LE PATRON D'APPLE RéVèLE SON HOMOSEXUALé

"So if hearg that the CEO of Apple is gay n help someone stgglg to e to terms wh who he or she is, or brg fort to anyone who feels alone, or spire people to sist on their equaly, then 's worth the tra-off wh my own privacy.

" Related: Tim Cook isn't the only openly gay CEO Cook, who grew up Alabama, said he has long been open about his sexual orientatn, but had jt not prevly discsed publicly. John Browne served as CEO of BP (BP) om 1995 to 2007, and acknowledged he was gay after he was forced to leave office. One more years of stayg relatively silent, Apple CEO Tim Cook me out as gay on Thursday for the first time publicly, sayg that "while I have never nied my sexualy, I haven't publicly acknowledged eher, until now.

APPL, ORANG & GAY MARRIAGE

"'"So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I nsir beg gay among the greatt gifts God has given me, " Cook said Bsweek, beg the first Fortune 500 chief executive to e out, who took over the role 2011 shortly before the ath of Apple founr Steve Jobs, wr that he's been open about his sexualy wh many people his life, cludg "plenty" of his Apple lleagu, and that hasn't changed the way he's been treated. He ntu the post:"Beg gay has given me a eper unrstandg of what means to be the mory and provid a wdow to the challeng that people other mory groups al wh every day.

"RELATED: Apple CEO tells climate change niers to sell their Apple sharThe Natnal Gay & Lbian Chamber of Commerce praised Cook for g out, wrg a statement that "The bs voice of the LGBT muny, mends Tim Cook for his movg and heartfelt g out say... Wyomg on Tuday beme the 32nd state to legalize gay marriage, jog several other nservative areas allowg same-sex lossal shift go for public opn, too. A recent poll shows half of the Amerin public believ gay marriage is a nstutnal right, wh 50% sayg that same-sex marriage is protected by the U.

The numbers support of marriage equaly this year far surpass those om a siar survey 2004, when jt 32% of Amerins said they favored gay as a pany has been a strong supporter of marriage equaly. "In December 2013, a speech Cook gave on gay rights and racism -- cludg personal discrimatn -- led some media outlets, cludg Gawker's tech se Valleywag, to ponr if that was the first time the Apple CEO acknowledged his sexual orientatn publicly. This summer, a CNBC segment of "Squawk on the Street" turned heads when one host accintally "outed" Cook, sayg “I thk Tim Cook is fairly open about the fact that he’s gay at the head of Apple isn’t he?

THE RNER CLOSET: WHY THERE ARE SO FEW GAY AND TRANSGENR EXECUTIV RPORATE AMERI

Cook, who has not publicly discsed his sexualy, was named to the top of Out's list of powerful gays, y, but he's also received greater regnn the prs for the credible divinds Apple is reapg om s supply cha strategy, led by Cook, of g Apple's sh hoard to lock up ccial ponents for months or years, protectg products like the iPad om shortag, ensurg strong growth and margs for Apple and lockg out would be, Cook has graduated om a high profile tech executive servg as retaker of the world's biggt tech pany to the head of what, on some days, is now the biggt pany the world, perd. He's also gone om beg the most powerful gay man Silin Valley to the most powerful gay man the world, bar, we revis our January profile of Cook. "Romantic terts: After Cook was profiled as a "lifelong bachelor" and "tensely private" elsewhere, we wonred if he might be gay.

One tech executive who has spoken to multiple Apple management veterans about Cook was told executiv there would support Cook if he publicly acknowledged his orientatn, and even would enurage him to do so as he steps up his learship role, but that they also had ncerns about whether his g out would impact the perceptn of the Apple would be, by far, the most powerful openly gay executive tech, trailed by Microsoft's openly lbian HR chief Lisa Bmmel and by Megan Smh, the former PlaOut CEO now workg as Google's vice print of new bs velopment. He says this after an cint volvg GayCo he suffered moral harm, he is askg for one ln bl (£12, 000), acrdg to a py of the plat seen by the news agency, AFP. Homosexualy was crimalised Rsia 1993, but anti-gay prejudice is still 2013, Rsia passed legislatn banng the spreadg of what scribed as gay officially bans the "promotn of non-tradnal liftyl to mors" but effect outlaws LGBT activism.

Apple's CEO is now openly gay. Is that progrs?

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APPLE CEO TIM COOK SAID HE CID TO E OUT AS GAY AFTER READG LETTERS OM KIDS STGGLG WH THEIR INTY

WHY IS APPLE'S TIM COOK THE ONLY OPENLY GAY CEO OF A MAJOR US FIRM?