Apple's Tim Cook In Rare Company As Publicly Gay Chief Executive : NPR

Contents:

• 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?
• APPLE'S TIM COOK IN RARE COMPANY AS PUBLICLY GAY CHIEF EXECUTIVE
• APPLE CEO TIM COOK OUT: 'I'M PROUD TO BE GAY'
• TIM COOK: APPLE'S NEW CEO AND THE MOST POWERFUL GAY MAN AMERI
• APPLE LAWYER WILL BEE NEW DIRECTOR OF GAY GROUP
• APPLE'S COOK: 'I'M PROUD TO BE GAY'
• APPLE’S TIM COOK SAYS THAT HE IS ‘PROUD TO BE GAY’
• APPLE'S CEO IS NOW OPENLY GAY. IS THAT PROGRS?
• APPLE CEO TIM COOK IS 'PROUD TO BE GAY'

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

Apple CEO Tim Cook says he was motivated to publicly e out as gay after receivg letters om children stgglg wh their sexual an terview wh People en Español, Cook discsed his public g out and his msage to children uncerta about revealg their sexual, now 58, me out 2014, beg the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 's ments e amid a tough spell for the Apple CEO, who has faced cricism for his cisn earlier this month to remove om the App Store an app that allowed Hong Kong protters to track police Bs Insir's homepage for more stori. Tim Cook says he was motivated to e out as gay after receivg letters om children stgglg wh their sexual ually private Apple CEO publicly me out 2014, revealg his sexual orientatn an open letter published Bloomberg Bsweek. This ma him the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 an terview wh People en Español published Thursday, the 58-year-old spoke about a range of topics related to sexual orientatn and young people.

"Though Cook said he "didn't worry" about how Apple staff would react to his g out, he did acknowledge worryg about the reactn "outsi of Apple, " and noted that "the world is still not iendly to gay or trans people many untri but also wh our untry.

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

" He ntued: "Gay is not a limatn. "Cook add that beg gay gave him a lens to how other people thk and feel. Image source, Getty ImagIt's pretty startlg that among the chief executiv of the 500 biggt US pani only one, Tim Cook of Apple, is openly claratn this week that he is "proud to be gay" was hailed as an important moment for the gay muny.

APPLE'S TIM COOK IN RARE COMPANY AS PUBLICLY GAY CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Campaigners say they know of boss of other big firms who are gay, but are reluctant to be open about hope Mr Cook's public acknowledgement will spur them to e what is holdg them back? Changg tim"When I was at universy, people who did gay thgs, homosexual acts, ually went to prison and stayed there a long time, " Lord Browne said an terview wh the BBC earlier this rigned as chief executive of BP 2007 after emerged that statements he had ma legal documents about a four-year relatnship he'd had wh a man had been "untthful" Lord Browne, many chief executiv would have grown up tim that were much ls tolerant of gay people. "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'

"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. Executiv who do e out n expect to be a role mol for younger gay staff, which n be an add prsure.

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

"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.

APPLE LAWYER WILL BEE NEW DIRECTOR OF GAY GROUP

"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. Dpe the efforts of mpaigng groups, many young gay people still feel unr prsure to hi their sexualy.

"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's Tim Cook In Rare Company As Publicly Gay Chief Executive.

APPLE'S COOK: 'I'M PROUD TO BE GAY'

In an say for Bloomberg Bsweek, Cook out by sayg he's proud to be gay and his silence was a matter of personal privacy. Pani have publicly gay CEOs. DAVID GREENE, HOST: Apple CEO Tim Cook is the most powerful gay executive the world now that he's publicly acknowledgg his sexualy.

So he me out by sayg he's proud to be gay and that he nsirs beg gay one of the, quote, "greatt gifts God has given him. He even wr that if hearg the CEO of Apple is gay n help anyone who feels alone or sist on their equaly, he feels 's worth a tra-off wh his own OK, well, how rare is this day age for, you know, for there to be an out CEO or executive of a publicly trad pany? The New York Tim, fact, jt reported that as far 's known, there's only other two publicly gay chief executiv of publicly trad Amerin pani.

So his admissn mak him the most powerful gay executive rporate Ameri by a e. And now outsi the CEO level, there are other big name gay execs. She is a lbian and has been a gay activist for So, I mean, Cook acknowledged that a lot of people already knew this, for one thg, but - and, you know, even though a lot of might thk this is not a big al, sounds like is a big al for the world of That's right.

APPLE’S TIM COOK SAYS THAT HE IS ‘PROUD TO BE GAY’

Jt this June CNBC was hostg a segment on gay CEOs. And the host actually seemed to out Tim Cook by sayg, quote, - somethg like Tim Cook's fairly open about beg gay, right?

And we had a siar suatn here on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, our afternoon program, where we read letters om listeners who said Tim Cook was gay. I wonr if there a time when, you know, stops beg news for a public figure to be out, to be known as gay or That's a great cultural qutn, and we've been talkg about that the newsroom this morng. And seems like while same-sex marriage, as you mentned, is creasgly accepted - and the workplace, 's no big al if our -workers are gay - there are still this - very few openly gay people at the tops of some fluential segments of Amerin society - sports, for stance, which we've talked about, and bs.

APPLE'S CEO IS NOW OPENLY GAY. IS THAT PROGRS?

Apple CEO Tim Cook me out Thursday, acknowledgg publicly for the first time that he is gay. "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. "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. "Plenty of lleagu at Apple know I'm gay, and don't seem to make a difference the way they treat me, " he wrote. " There have been some mors and speculatn that Cook is gay.

Out magaze had prevly named him as the most powerful gay person on s Power 50 list. But there are no other publicly gay CEO's at the 700 largt rporatns.

APPLE CEO TIM COOK IS 'PROUD TO BE GAY'

John Browne served as CEO of BP (BP) om 1995 to 2007, and acknowledged he was gay after he was forced to leave office. He is also, as we reported January, sted to bee an in for gay advancement.

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. As one of only a handful of gay stunts at his high school ral Utah, Mih was stgglg wh prsn, anxiety, and social isolatn.