Tim Cook: Beg gay 'is God's greatt gift to me' | CNN Bs

Contents:

• WATCH TIM COOK EXPLA WHY HE CAME OUT AS GAY
• APPLE CEO TIM COOK OUT AS GAY: I'M PROUD
• THE RNER CLOSET: WHY THERE ARE SO FEW GAY AND TRANSGENR EXECUTIV RPORATE AMERI
• APPLE CEO TIM COOK: ‘I’M PROUD TO BE GAY’
• TIM COOK: BEG GAY IS GOD’S GREATT GIFT TO ME
• APPLE CEO TIM COOK OUT: 'I'M PROUD TO BE GAY'
• BS, MEDIA AND ACTIVIST BIGWIGS RPOND TO TIM COOK’S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT HE’S GAY
• APPLE CEO TIM COOK SAID HE CID TO E OUT AS GAY AFTER READG LETTERS OM KIDS STGGLG WH THEIR INTY
• TIM COOK SAYS HE’S ‘EPLY NCERNED’ ABOUT GAY RIGHTS LAWS ENACTED US ‘AS A PROUD MEMBER’ OF THE MUNY
• COOK: BEG GAY ‘IS GOD’S GREATT GIFT TO ME’
• "DEEPLY CONCERNED": APPLE CEO TIM COOK RED FLAGS NEW US LAWS ON GAY RIGHTS

WATCH TIM COOK EXPLA WHY HE CAME OUT AS GAY

O) Chief Executive Office Tim Cook raised ncern on Thursday over LGBTQ laws the Uned Stat, maly those foced on young people that opponents refer to as "don't say gay" legislatn. Apple CEO Tim Cook says he felt a “tremendo rponsibily” to publicly e out as gay.

Though many of the people he works wh already knew he was gay, Cook says, his cisn to speak up was spired by a Dr. 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. ""So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I nsir beg gay among the greatt gifts God has given me.

"'"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.

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

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

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. " And Cook himself has been a vol supporter of gay rights over the years. "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?

Dpe great steps towards LGBT equaly, Cook emphasized the discrimatn, harassment, and bullyg that threaten the livelihoods of transgenr and gay youth.

APPLE CEO TIM COOK: ‘I’M PROUD TO BE GAY’

Read more: The 23 most powerful LGBTQ+ people techThe tech head poted to the discrimatn, harassment, and bullyg that threatens the liv and profsnal opportuni of transgenr and gay youth, highlightg that "roughly 40% of homels youth are LGBTQ. "For several years, Cook did not publicly disclose his sexualy before g out as gay 2014 a personal say published Bloomberg Bsweek.

He said that while he wanted to ntue to keep his private life to himself, he felt an "creasg sense of duty" to e out as his way to help the gay muny. "[Beg gay] has been tough and unfortable at tim, but has given me the nfince to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversy and bigotry, " he wrote his say.

Introducg himself as “an uncle, a sports nut, a CEO, a lover of the betiful Utah outdoors and a proud gay Amerin, ” Cook took the stage Saturday at the Universy of Utah’s Rice-Eccl Stadium to troduce one of the eveng’s headlg acts, Image Dragons.

TIM COOK: BEG GAY IS GOD’S GREATT GIFT TO ME

”Cook publicly me out as gay a 2014 Bloomberg Bsweek say, jokg that his sexualy had given him “the sk of a rhoceros, which handy when you’re the CEO of Apple.

”“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, ” he wrote at the time.

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

He says public disapproval of homosexualy ma many the gay muny wary of intifyg themselv at work, pecially durg the AIDS/HIV crisis. “Not seeg other gay people who were above me rank, I knew uld potentially hold back my reer. Gente says the rner closet nudged open 2014 when Apple’s Tim Cook, lear of one of the world’s most inic brands, clared “I’m proud to be gay.

“A lear of his stature and the thenticy of his msage were so movg to so many gay Amerins and alli. ”But progrs has remaed slow sce Cook beme the first publicly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 pany, particularly dtri outsi fashn, media and entertament. Jt two others today publicly intify as gay asi om Gente and Cook: Dow’s Jim Fterlg and Land O’ Lak’ Beth Ford.

3% of Amerins siar age to the CEOs say they are lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr. They didn't keep rights movement transforms workplaceThe gay rights movement has led to substantial chang the workplace a relatively short perd of time, says Lee Badgett, an enomics profsor at the Universy of Massachetts more LGBTQ employe opened up about their inti and formed employee rource groups and as lawsus raised the prsure, rporatns extend benefs to same-sex upl and created anti-discrimatn polici the 1990s. 7% of people Generatn Z – those born om 1997 to 2004 – intified as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr pared wh jt 3.

BS, MEDIA AND ACTIVIST BIGWIGS RPOND TO TIM COOK’S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT HE’S GAY

A history on how the flag me to beGay and transgenr employe bump up agast 'lavenr ceilg'But wh too few mentors, sponsors and alli, there’s still prsure to hi sexual orientatn or genr inty at work, she said. They live and work areas of the untry where beg their whole selv at work uld put them at risk, pecially as nservativ ph legislatn targetg the gay and transgenr there’s the risk of bumpg up agast the “lavenr ceilg, ” which keeps gay and transgenr employe om jobs for which they qualify and om dog their jobs at the level they are pable of, said Badgett, thor of “The Enomic Case for LGBT Equaly: Why Fair and Equal Treatment Benefs Us All. ”People who belong to multiple unrreprented groups, such as Black gay people or transgenr women, face even bigger hurdl.

“You put yourself at risk the event that beg an out lear creat an addnal Irv worked on Wall Street, she was often the only gay woman the room.

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

Tim Cook was already one of the most high-profile bs lears the world, and now he is s most proment openly gay ’s chief executive addrsed his sexual orientatn publicly for the first time Thursday, g out a first-person say tled “Tim Cook Speaks Up.

”“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 the say, which was published Bloomberg rporate lears have e out of the closet, even though dog so has bee more mon among celebri, profsnal athlet and policians. Gay rights supporters note that 29 stat do not have laws that explicly prohib workplace discrimatn based on sexual orientatn, and they hope Cook’s g out will brg attentn to the issue. The 53-year-old had been wily mored to be gay for years, but the tech world largely paid ltle attentn to such changed Thursday, wh several tech lears quickly turng to social media to appld Cook’s cisn to e out.

TIM COOK SAYS HE’S ‘EPLY NCERNED’ ABOUT GAY RIGHTS LAWS ENACTED US ‘AS A PROUD MEMBER’ OF THE MUNY

Durg a roundtable discsn, -anchor Simon Hobbs said: “I thk Tim Cook is fairly open about the fact he’s gay at the head of Apple, isn’t he? ”Cook didn’t addrs the CNBC gaffe at the time, but he has long been vol about his stnch support of gay rights.

COOK: BEG GAY ‘IS GOD’S GREATT GIFT TO ME’

#applepri”In July, he followed that up by tweetg a lk to a vio showg employe celebratg gay pri by donng whe T-shirts wh the Apple in outled by a jt this week, Cook slammed Alabama’s long-standg issu wh racial equaly and discrimatn agast gays a speech he ma durg a ceremony ductg him to the Alabama Amy of Honor.

"DEEPLY CONCERNED": APPLE CEO TIM COOK RED FLAGS NEW US LAWS ON GAY RIGHTS

“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, ” he said, “then ’s worth the tra-off wh my own privacy. Tim Cook: Beg gay gave me perspective as a mory. In 2014, Tim Cook beme the first CEO of a major pany to e out as gay.

Beg gay is “God’s greatt gift to me, ” he said. “I was public bee I started to receive stori om kids who read onle that I was gay, ” he told Amanpour. He wanted to monstrate to gay children that they “n be gay and still go on and do some big jobs life.