Slashdot Mirror
Tim Cook: "I'm Proud To Be Gay"
An anonymous reader writes Apple CEO Tim Cook has publicly come out as gay. While he never hid his sexuality from friends, family, and close co-workers, Cook decided it was time to make it publicly known in the hopes that the information will help others who don't feel comfortable to do so. He said, "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."
Cook added that while the U.S. has made progress in recent years toward marriage equality, there is still work to be done. "[T]here are laws on the books in a majority of states that allow employers to fire people based solely on their sexual orientation. There are many places where landlords can evict tenants for being gay, or where we can be barred from visiting sick partners and sharing in their legacies. Countless people, particularly kids, face fear and abuse every day because of their sexual orientation."
Cook added that while the U.S. has made progress in recent years toward marriage equality, there is still work to be done. "[T]here are laws on the books in a majority of states that allow employers to fire people based solely on their sexual orientation. There are many places where landlords can evict tenants for being gay, or where we can be barred from visiting sick partners and sharing in their legacies. Countless people, particularly kids, face fear and abuse every day because of their sexual orientation."
So he isn't sad?
Neither would I be with that income stream and position of power.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
He should be more concerned with what he does with his Apple than what he does with his banana.
who cares?
Gays are equal to straights and should have the same rights. I find it sad that announcements like this still make headlines. It shouldn't matter nor should anyone really care (unless they are looking to hook up).
Sort of like, "I'm proud to be 5'10"", or, "I'm proud to be male" or something. We have exactly nothing to do with creating these conditions so why would we be proud of them? Things to be proud of would be, "I wrote some amazing code." Or perhaps, "I ran five miles and made my personal best time." You aren't supposed to be proud of things you had no control of...
Who _didn't_ already know he was gay? Show of hands...
Hell, I'm proud to have been born with 10 fingers, 10 toes, and have balls the size of churchbells.
How can you be proud of something you're born as, or did he actually make a hard choice to be gay, and is thus proud of his choice?
The only orientation I care about at Apple is the one my screen gets stuck in. You're gay? Fantastic. Now fix the code.
Congratulations Cook, good for you, have a cookie. Now, how soon until we stop giving a shit about people's sexualities when there are more important things in the world.
Where I (or others) put my (or their) genitalia has nothing to do with making ends meet at the end of the day.
I don't care what other ppl do, nor should the federal government.
I thought belief in God and being gay were mutually exclusive, given the Bible's take on things. Maybe he thinks God had no input on the Bible?
He is. Did you even read his statement? He quite clearly didn't personally want to make his private life so public, but felt that it's in the public's best interest to know as it might help fight bigotry and intolerance.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
It's 2014, nobody cares. Don't be an attention-whore.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Doesn't qualify.
"Countless people, particularly kids, face fear and abuse every day because of their sexual orientation."
There, I fixed it for you:
Countless people, particularly kids, face fear and abuse every day because of: $SKIN_COLOR/$ASPECT/$DISABILITY/$WEALTH/$RELIGION/$EDUCATION/$UNCOOL/$RANDOM_REASOIN_TO_BULLY and yes, some also because of $SEXUAL_ORIENTATION.
Does anyone other than Tim Cook give two sh*ts about what his sexual orientation is ? Do you see hetero-sexual folks stand up and proudly proclaim their preferences to the world ?
Why does anyone's sexual preferences even make the news at all ?
Tim: We don't care. It's lovely you're gay, waves some pom-poms around, but really, we don't care. If you want to impress the world, focus on creating Apple products that outperform the ones they are replacing or are so amazing that we buy Apple over the other options out there.
Read that: Less rainbows, more functional products.
Apologies for the bluntness, but folks coming out doth not the news make.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du9zcjjvVyo
no one cares that you are gay. just make some cool technology for me to lust after.
It is what it is.
For pretty much all people in tech I've worked with, yes it doesn't matter really. No one gives a fuck if you're gay, poly or whatever.
However, outside of the tech world, I've had to deal with plenty of people who are still disgusted by gays or get angry about the whole gay marriage thing. Let's not even get into what happen to that gay kid in high school when you live in a small rural towns. I've seen it when I was in high school, I still hear about it from younger teen, I've recently seen a father disavow his kid because he was gay. I could go on and on and I'm not gay, so I can't imagine the horror stories a gay person would've to tell, of growing up in a small rural town.
More important implication of this announcement is "Will owning Apple products make me look gay?", or "Will openly using Apple products signify my endorsement of gay culture?".
Personally, I think it would.
This is 2014. "Being gay" being headline-worthy even for the CEO of a company the size of Apple is soooooo last century.
Now if he were dating George P. Bush, that would be fodder for the gossip columns. But not for Slashdot. We are beyond that, I hope.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Not knowledge but suspicion, he is WAY too sexy for a CEO!
anyone?
Still to this day I can't fathom why anyone pays so much for a name
And some stylish (if overpriced) hardware, and the most user-friendly OS out there.
Circumcision is child abuse.
Let the fruit jokes commence! (omg please don't give this +5 offensive, just can't resist)
Did you get beat up in high school for being 5'10"? Have you ever been told that you're only legally allowed to marry people within a particular height range?
I thought not.
It's not so much as being proud of being gay - but standing up to bigotry an intolerance is something to be proud of.
is there absolutely ANY reason this should be posted on slashdot? MSNBC, sure, but for a technical and nerdy news, why do I even care what his preference is? Shame on you slashdot--stay away from sensationalist media before we lose hope for having a news outlet of substance.
So... the reason why the top infection rates for HIV seem like they're reserved for Africa is because Africa is a paradise for gays.
Yeah. You're making a lot of sense.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Does this mean they are bringing back the rainbow colored apple logo?
Does this mean the new iPhone could also be gay?
Dark Reflection
It's not proud as in "I am proud that I have successfully accomplished gayness." It's proud as in the opposite of "I'm ashamed that I am gay and/or feel that I have to hide it."
I kind of have a problem with "proud to be gay". I mean "proud to do a coming out" is fine, but since (I assume) he didn't choose to be gay I don't see what to be proud of. Just like I wouldn't say that I'm proud to be straight or proud to be a man. It's just how I am. Rather, I'm proud of what I *do*.
"[T]here are laws on the books in a majority of states that allow employers to fire people based solely on their sexual orientation.
Translation: The employment laws in most states allow for "at-will" employment, meaning the employer can fire you for any reason EXCEPT for a relatively short list of legally-protected reasons which (in those states) do not include sexual orientation.
There are many places where landlords can evict tenants for being gay,
If he had said "not lease/not renew leases to gay tenants" he'd be spot-on - most states give landlords wide latitude in choosing their tenants as long as they don't discriminate against certain protected classes of people which in many states don't include homosexuals. I don't know of any state that allows a legally binding housing contract to include a "no gay" clause unless it's a shared-housing arrangement (e.g. boarders in a family home, in states where such boarders have extremely wide latitude in choosing tenants) or religiously-sponsored housing (such as in a religious university's dormitories where no public funds are used). That said, some landlords do prohibit unrelated adults from cohabitation, but it applies just as much to non-gay (and gay) roommates sharing costs as it does to gay roommates sharing much more.
or where we can be barred from visiting sick partners and sharing in their legacies.
The same statement can be said about any boyfriend/fiancee. This statement is practically equivalent to saying "or where we can't the rights typically afforded to married people."
Basically, he's just saying "being gay should be a protected class for employment and housing" and "either gay marriage should be legal or those in a committed relationship similar to marriage should have next-of-kin rights for medical visitation and inheritance".
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Who gives a shit.
Honestly, I'm glad to hear the guy is proud to be gay. He should be. We should ALL be proud of who we are, instead of regretting it or wasting time wishing we were different.
The world would be a really boring place if all of us were "wired" exactly the same, with the exact same interests, habits and tendencies.
But his sexual orientation was published years ago, and came up again some time earlier this year in news articles. So I'm not sure exactly how THIS time around is supposed to mean anything special?
I hate to say it, but I do think all of this is at least partially motivated by a marketing angle for Apple. The company has long been known to be relatively "gay friendly" in hiring practices and in loyal user-base. (Perhaps some of that simply stems from a tendency for the gay community to care more than others about product attributes like style, design or elegance .... all areas not so often associated with computer technology but embraced by Apple since early on?) Perhaps it's just that Tim Cook feels it's a good "climate" to promote Apple as a very equal-opportunity company to work for? I don't know ... but it doesn't seem relevant to bother mentioning it (especially if he's serious about valuing his privacy like he claims), otherwise?
To all those saying "who cares?" it matters precisely for the reasons Cooks give. Not everyone enjoys the same benefits as straight people in our society due to bigotry and ignorance enshrined in various State laws. If Cook can help bring attention to this, more power to him.
Proud? Why? No-one* cares any more. And that's awesome.
"We're here! We're queer! Get used to it!"
"We are used to it! You do this every year!"
"Oh, be nice."
*well, no-one worth listening to, probably
Hmm. If someone proclaimed they were proud to be straight, wouldn't that sound a bit homophobic?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
"I'm proud to be (insert ethnicity/color/sexual preference)".
You don't often hear of people that aren't "proud" of those things.
Last I checked pride comes from something one achieves rather than something someone is born with/as.
How about wage equality for all those people you've been screwing over, especially those who come in via work visa.
If you read his article, he specifies that he is proud of it because it gives him 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".
In this context, it makes sense that he is proud of being something that he had no control over.
It's because you're privileged and hopelessly unaware of it, or you're homophobic, or both.
Mod this down all you want, but it's still true.
In fairness I really didn't know who he was until now primarily because I tend not to bother with apple products and only begrudgingly use iTunes when all other alternatives have failed me. I'm glad he is proud to be gay and I look forward to occasionally and begrudgingly using iTunes in the future :D
"I hate to say it, but I do think all of this is at least partially motivated by a marketing angle for Apple."
That is SO incredibly stupid ... but then, this is SlashDot.
Now I have a really good reason to keep myself outta the ominous Apple "ecosystem". Fuckers...
However, outside of the tech world, I've had to deal with plenty of people who are still disgusted by gays or get angry about the whole gay marriage thing
I work in tech in a very liberal Canadian city and have a bunch of gay friends, and sometimes get lulled into thinking the world is a big happy accepting place.
Then I step outside the downtown bubble, just by a few miles, and I'm stunned by what I sometimes encounter. I do a little writing for a group that makes short films, and we had a shoot where one of the actors didn't show up. He was part of a couple, and I suggested we recast the part using a woman who didn't have a part yet, so the couple would be gay but everything else would be the same. The film was about relationships and this couple was fighting about stuff. There might be a hug at the end, but nothing more overtly affectionate than that.
The young, professional woman I suggested this too looked at me with her eyes literally wide with horror and said, "I'm sorry, I can't do that. I'm really straight."
In that situation it wasn't my place to berate her for her bigotry, particularly as I didn't think until much later of the correct come-back: "You're really earthbound, too, but I bet you'd play an astronaut if I asked you to."
So yeah, while to so many of us this is a done deal, our gay friends and family still have to walk around every day wondering when they are going to encounter that kind of horrified rejection, and while at least they don't get beat up as often as they used to it still has to be pretty awful for them.
If anyone wants people like Tim Cook to stop making a big deal about being gay (and really, don't we all want that?) they should make sure to be accepting and matter-of-fact about the gay people all around us, whose much-talked-about "agenda" involves living happy, fulfilling lives.
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
So you'd be okay with forbidding sterile "straight" people from marrying too? I mean, since the only point of marriage is "stable child creation, and raising."
How about straight people who are fertile, but just choose not to have kids? Should they be prevented from marriage, too?
That's true. However, what gays want is truely a civil union so that they can partake in the same legal benifits and protections that a heterosexual married couple does.
Life is not for the lazy.
...why is this news? I couldn't care less about Tim Cook'sÃ"or anyone else'sÃ"sexual practices.
However, I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly come out as heterosexual.
While I never hid my sexuality from friends, family, and close co-workers, I decided it was time to make it publicly known in the hopes that the information will help others who don't feel comfortable to do so. "I don't consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that a Slashdotter is straight 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."
While the U.S. has made progress in recent years toward marriage equality, including polygamy, there is still work to be done. "[T]here are laws on the books in a majority of states that allow employers to fire people based solely on their sexual orientation. There are many places where landlords can evict tenants for being straight, or where we can be barred from visiting sick spouses and sharing in their legacies. Countless people, particularly kids, face fear and abuse every day because of their sexual orientation."
I don't get the need to openly express ones sexual orientation everywhere. I'm an 'out' CEO and I'm out as out gets, but still. I'm not going to pronounce my sexual orientation to every person I bump into. At the same time don't act surprised if I give my partner a peck or two on the lips in a public place just because neither of us has professed our sexual orientation to you.
If your a free software activist you can probably guess who I am and who my partner is pretty easily. However you won't find it on any wikipedia page or in any executive profile. There is a lot more to me and my partner than our sexual orientations (while I'm gay, he's not, he's not bi either, he's 'gender neutral').
Why the hell is this ridiculously bigoted and homophobic drivel modded up?
Saying you're proud to be Gay is a means of combatting the oppression, victimisation, and descrimination that gay people are exposed to.
Awesome. Now get back to make my Apple stock worth more!
Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
trollpocalypse now
He sounds more heterophobic every day!
on CNBC?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2014/06/27/cnbc-host-accidentally-outs-apple-ceo-tim-cook-as-gay-video/
I don't care what his personal preferences are. The iPhone 6 is still too damn big to fit in a pocket. Steve Jobs is spinning in his grave and it isn't because Mr. Cook likes men.
Bill Gates is a communist -- he's just more equal than the rest of us.
He is. Did you even read his statement? He quite clearly didn't personally want to make his private life so public, but felt that it's in the public's best interest to know as it might help fight bigotry and intolerance.
Really? I find it quite clear that he DID want to make his private life so public, if he didn't, then why else did he make this public announcement that he prefers penis to vagina. Nothing against people's sexual preferences, but, why feel the need to mention it AT ALL? I don't go around telling people that I prefer vagina! Note to people who feel the need to "come out", no one really cares!
what if said benefits and protections also aren't a right, but are an incentive to procreate?
Like giving oil companies a break on income tax so they'll hire people.
i have to give Tim Cook a lot of credit for the courage it took for him to publicly admit to being gay in a culture still not completely willing to accept gays. Especially since he is at the helm of a very high profile company and it provides an interesting counterpoint to Chick-Fil-A's CEO's anti-gay sentiments.
Well, not really.
Steve Jobs should never have allowed himself to be blackmailed by the government into hiring an SJW like Tim Cook. But I guess it's either that, or be sued and/or prosecuted (persecuted) into oblivion.
I'm proud to be a booger-eater. What? Do you find that disgusting? But I have a right to eat boogers. I'm proud of it, and you should applaud me!
Wearing my fundie hat, marriage is considered a religious sacrament.
Doffing that hat, and being realistic with the gay couples I know with kids, I'd far rather see kids raised with two dads or moms than a single parent who is barely trying to make ends meet while trying to take care of the kids.
Interesting thing, the kids I know from gay couples tend to be a step above when it comes to education and even IQ. However, I don't have that vast a subject pool, so chalk this up as anecdotal.
I wish I could find such an easy reason to immediately shut down disagreement and demonstrate why no contrary opinions have any validity.
I think most people in the tech sector, or anyone who's paid attention on Slashdot at least probably already knew this. So fucking what? I wonder if there is an Apple competitor out there or a small upstart who has a big new release that might just 'make them' today. A marketing ploy to keep their eyes focused on Tim's Apple, so to speak, and away from potential competition. Cynical? Yes. Anything to do with Apple I'm cynical about.
That's enough for me to want to dump apple because apple is gay now. I'm going to build a killer linux desktop and replace my ipod with a Pono.
It doesn't seem all that courageous to me to declare you're gay *after* you've completed the climb up the corporate ladder to the CEO position. It would be more impressive if he did it before the perceived risk to his career had long-since passed. Doesn't set a good example for other gays - hiding the fact you're gay until it's safe career-wise to come out.
Just in time for some overpriced piece of tech-jewelery called the iGay I bet.
Wait, so you suggested to someone who was straight to play a gay part? Tolerance does not mean forced acceptance. I am pro-gay rights, but I find gay porn disgusting. That does not make me a homophobe.
Nerd and proud, Feminist and proud, Slack and Proud, Deadbeat American and proud.
While I respect my forebearers pride in their work, I feel like something has been lost in people's pride in all these things they weren't 'out about' until it became popular to be. The Cook being gay thing must be one of the worst kept secrets in Silicon Valley, and the 'proud' crap is just pandering to a demographic. If he was proud then this 'outing' would be totally irrelevant because he would've been out marching in the pride parade for the past 20+ years and this wouldn't be news because everybody would know he was out there 'marching with his people'. Saying you're proud and out when the movement is well past it's tipping point to acceptance is just being passe, which about sums up Apple and it's employees in general.
Apple: This decade's Microsoft.
See next decade when it's Google's turn!
Because lots of people don't share your ludicrously stupid idea of what marriage is.
Not that far from licking clit above vagina?
Straighten out the gays, send them to suck chinese cli...^H^H^H^H^Hock.
Okay who the fuck set the captcha?
'boners'
Seriously?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
You got it backwards, in Africa being gay is punishable by death because they no longer can tolerate that PC bullshit, having the top infection rates for HIV. You know something is fucked up with gay lifestyle when even the WHO suggested this year that every gay should be taking retrovirals as the infection rate of STDs in the polled population was 100%. The good news is that it's a problem that solves itself as they are literally killing themselves.
Arguments condoning intolerance or which look like "why should we care that a group of marginalized people is making progress towards equality" do not have any validity.
It actually is that simple.
You're comparing Apples to bananas here.
MP3 players, Smartphones, etc. Apple did not invent them but succeeded into making that technology widespread, convincing people that it was harmless and that they could interact with them, until it became part of their regular lives. Let's hope this announcement helps do the same with relationships of the same gender.
I was under the impression that 'marriage' was involved in stable child creation, and raising
Your impression was wrong, or at the very least badly incomplete. Try on, "a marriage is a formalized partnership" as a starting point, and see where that gets you.
Let us have Freddie Mercury back!
It's rare to find a CEO these days that's willing to take one for the team.
Then why are infertile couples allowed to get married?
To echo some here, we're not there yet. I didn't care until I heard Santorum talk in the last election cycle and then became pro-gay marriage.
There's a LOT of people who still can't accept this and still denounce it publicly.
People claiming to be "conservatives" take this as a big issue. It's funny to watch heads explode as the discussion of Gay Marriage and Inheritance makes them decide between "morals" and double taxation.
Maybe, since Corporations are People Too (tm), now they'll see the light. Some really really rich dude is gay, must be okay. Just saying.
The 'gay==hiv' thing was true, once - the disease was first detected in the gay population and spread quickly through that group. Twenty years ago. All the best myths have a grain of truth in them, and in this one the truth is that the claim was once right - it is simply outdated. It persists because it reenforces something that many people desperately wish were true - the idea that there could be a concrete, scientific way to show that homosexuality harms society and should be prohibited.
Well, first off, this has nothing to do with Tim's sexual orientation in my mind. But rather that he just leveraged his position as Apple CEO to further a personal social issue.
Second, if this was the Apple Computer of the 1990's or 1980's I might view the action as more appropriate. In those days coming out as a gay man had a real impact on people and was an impetus for social change. But today? It's more likely that coming out as gay is unremarkable.
Then for me, as someone who worked for Apple in the 1990's, there's this nagging feeling of unease with a move like this. It's hard for me to remember any time when any of the CEOs, or notable Apple alumni, ever leveraged their position at Apple for a personal political issue. This was something I've always had great respect for. The company was focused on changing it's part of the universe, not involved in political issues outside of it's market.
So perhaps my feelings, given the current political landscape, are that this move was somewhat impotent. There's plenty of gay CEOs at this point. There's very little risk in coming out as gay these days.
Maybe it's better expressed in a metaphor....
It's like hiding to avoid the cops during the Stonewall Riots- and then stating with pride that you were there decades later when it's safe to do so.
Now... if I could see Tim getting involved with marriage rights in his free time, without leveraging Apple, to forward the marriage rights agenda- I'd have some respect. In today's climate- coming out means nothing.
But this whole "If people can see a gay Apple CEO.... and I'm doing my small part" thing is somewhat lame from my standpoint. He shoudl just be publicly working towards marriage reform outside of Apple, publicly, and keep the leveraging to a minimum.
End Note: I'm not an important former Apple employee. In fact no one would remember me. I'm also proud to be a straight, Italian American, Hairy-Backed, semi-retired guy- and I never have leveraged any job I had while advocating for the de-stigmafication of plush back hair.
*shrug*
Another consultant who stuck it out.
"We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx..."
who cares?
Actually it helps a little in the mainstream press. Now that he has very publicly come out many will be a little less reluctant to criticize him. Some because they are reluctant to portray gays is a negative light, some because they fear they will be accused of being overly critical because he is gay (i.e. the critic is homophobic).
Seriously, this sort of non-sense happens. We do not live in a "who cares" world. We live in a world that swings from one extreme to the other. From disparaging and discriminating against gays to celebrating and protecting gays.
A few years ago a college classmate came out to a dozen or so friends. Most everyone put on a big smile and congratulated him and many hugged him. I looked at him with my normal expression and literally said "I don't care", no congratulations, no hugs. He's still a friend and part of a small group of us that occasionally go camping, skiing, scuba diving, etc. A couple of years after the coming out event it came up in conversation, he said that he originally thought my "don't care" reaction was a little strange but now he thinks it was his favorite reaction. That happiness and congratulations were politically correct responses to some degree, even among those friends who perfectly fine with it. We agreed it was part of the typical American reaction to overdue things, to swing past the center when correcting an error or mistake and go too far in the other; replacing discrimination with celebration rather than just going to the "don't care" middle.
Like his corporate rivals within Apple? Like his business rivals outside of Apple? Anyone in a position to use it against him?
I guess I don't see the point of the announcement unless it was something unknown except to his closest friends.
It would also seem less like grandstanding if it came along with a $100 million endowment to some charity meant to overcome sexual orientation bullying or something.
Are you implying that this, and only this, law should be the shining example of something a government does that simply CANNOT be abused to provide assistance to a group it wasn't expressly intended to provide assistance to?
Also, there are plenty of gay people with children. Some people take a bit longer to figure out they are gay, and there's plenty of time to become a father or mother before you figure it out. Surely a parent with a child shouldn't only be allowed, but even encouraged, to get married.
So tolerant...
The fact of the matter is that gay children(teens, whatever) have some of the most horrifying stories you'll ever hear. I grew up in a town of ~30,000 people, and knew a kid who was one year older than me. When he was in 8th grade he decided to kill himself because he was constantly harassed and beaten up. And this wasn't that long ago, it was around 2001-2002.
Then there was the case of Matthew Shepard. That was a little further back in 1998. He wasn't flamboyant or in-your-face with being gay. But one night he was out drinking having a good time, and the next morning his bruised and mangled body was strung up on a barbed wire fence.
It's chilling to see all the comments in this thread saying 'this doesn't make a difference'. It's one thing if you don't care. Fine, that's your opinion. Perhaps is doesn't belong on /. But it's sad to see people say this doesn't matter at all, to anyone.
Is Cook's statement about marketing? Possibly. It certainly helps that a slew of states recently started accepting gay marriages, so a cynical view would be that Cook is merely pandering to the majority(the majority used to be anti-gay, so he wasn't public about it. now the majority is pro-gay, and he's now he's out...). Whether his statement is for marketing or not, it certainly helps the gay movement in America. It's one thing that gay marriage is allowed in the majority of states, it's another thing that gay marriage *will be* legal in all 50 states, and it's still leaps and bounds further away for cultural and societal acceptance. Macklemore said in his song Same Love something along the lines of: a piece of paper(marriage license) isn't going to solve it all, but it's a good place to start. Cook coming out publicly, at this point, is *more* important that legalizing gay marriage. Because it's people like him who are going to put the spotlight on the social issues rather than the legal issues, which are slowly but surely moving in favor of gays.
Your impression is flawed, because marriage ISNT about making babies.
Marriage also confers certain legal rights, priviledges, and protections.
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Else we wouldn't have dozens of posts claiming they couldn't, yet still post to let us know.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
Next week, Samsung's CEO will also claim to be gay.
Then Microsoft will say that they've been working on gay for years, and they have their own implementation that, while being incompatible with other gays, is superior and should be a world wide standard. It will be the only standard that Windows supports.
-- I have monkeys in my pants.
But his sexual orientation was published years ago, and came up again some time earlier this year in news articles.
There's a big difference between rumours and open secrets and something that's put on the public record.
I stole this Sig
It should, perhaps, be noted that back when the Feds were setting up all those tax privileges for married couples, infertility was grounds for annulment....
That's no longer true, of course. Mostly because divorce has become so easy that the concept of "annulment" has pretty much disappeared....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
If a group of people wanted to exclude homosexuals from their territory, paying the relocation costs of anyone who wanted to emigrate, how big must that group be before you would permit them to have their own way of life?
Seastead this.
That is what adoption is for (though I know several gay people who have children from hetero relationships as well).
Google Apple and China and Iphone and see how apple workers are treated in china by his subcontractors. It is sleazy the way Apple tolerates this. There are a vast number of reports. Many of them have been linked on slashdot.
I am treating him like everyone else. Being Gay does not make you any more or less sleazy. Your actions do. He isn't more sleazy today because I know he is gay. However, he isn't any less sleazy. I don't think it would even cost apply that much to treat these workers like human beings. Just because you can do something and its technically legal doesn't mean others can't call you out on it.
Has nothing to do with his sexual preference.
They clearly aren't an incentive to procreate because we allow menopausal women to marry...
Steve didn't give a shit. I don't give a shit. Looks like others here don't give a shit. So I will keep on not giving a shit whether he likes to play with other men's Penii or not.
Arguments condoning intolerance or which look like "why should we care that a group of marginalized people is making progress towards equality" do not have any validity. It actually is that simple.
Arguments that are not phrased in approved newspeak are the work of Emmanuel Goldstein, and should not be heard (except during '2 minutes hate').
My thoughts actually are this simple.
..yes, and there is one area (which you mention) in which he feels he can help so he is.
He can't be a positive role model to black kids because he's not black*. He can't be a role model to disabled kids because he's not disabled*. He's doing what he can to help in one specific usecase. His efforts should be appreciated by everybody.
*I acknowledge you shouldn't be excluded from being a role model if you don't share the same skin colour or able-bodiness. But if you share those attributes I presume it creates a closer connection.
I'm not a nerd. Nerds are smart.
Most liberals are only tolerant if you agree with them on absolutely everything. If you don't you most often will just get shouted down, doxxed, threatened and harassed. Christopher Hitchens and Salman Rushdie are good examples of people who strayed from various liberal talking points and were ultimately dragged through the mud for it.
I'm homophobic and I'm proud of it. Now, before you have that knee jerk reaction, think about what I just said. It makes no sense, does it? Hear me out, I'm making a parallel here.
Gay - can't do anything about how he feels, he is just born that way. Just his natural sexuality.
Homophobic - Just born that way too. It feels disgusting to me imagining someone sticking that into another mans butt. Just like it's disgusting to see someone eat shit. Can't do anything about that. Don't feel like there is a need to fight nature. Make clear distinction here - not homohater, but homophobic. I don't hate them.
Proud of it - I'm different then most people (at least on Slashdot), so I should be proud that I have the guts to say that, right? Gays use same explanation for their pride.
So, can I logically say "Homophobic and proud" using exactly same logic as "Gay and proud"? I believe so. Tell me why not.
Does that mean if he has contributed any money to a pro-gay lobby Apple should fire him like Mozilla did with Brendan Eich? If we're going to condemn political views we should do it equally, right?
I doubt that this is being done at the insistence of Apple's marketing department, but I also doubt it was done without careful consideration of the potential impact on Apple Inc. and would not be happening if the anticipated results were negative. As the officer of a public corporation, there might even be legal obligations not to damage the company with public announcements like this (IANAL, hell I am not even mildly interested in law, so that's just a guess but it seems sort of right).
Most likely, any positive effects are happy coincidences. Surely Apple is very aware and willing to take advantage of them, but hard to believe they are the motivation behind the whole thing. Apple isn't exactly desperate for some marketing.
-Lod
Don't forget the capability to become a parent while in a homosexual relationship.
Just because you're attracted to members of one sex doesn't preclude procreation with the other. You don't have to actually enjoy it.
Good catch, LOL.
Steve Jobs also like to take dick up his Asspipe. And his cock of choice was Tim Cook's.
Not news for nerds, and it doesn't matter. It may be news for non-techies, and it may matter to them, but not here. Why is /. posting this as a story?
By that logic it should be okay for you to ask her play a role in a porn movie, right?
What? That makes no sense. Maybe she just didn't think she could act like a gay person. It doesn't mean that she doesn't accept gays. Maybe she just accepts that she is a bad actor.
I really think you need to stop calling other people bigots.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Savage#Lily_Savage_and_Manila_.281978.E2.80.9380.29
It sort of comes down to whether or not there really is a divine being who takes offense to it. I have yet to see any proof either way on that.
I was under the impression that 'marriage' was involved in stable child creation, and raising.
Less than half of all marriages result in kids. Far less than end up in divorce. Marriage is all about making divorce attorneys rich, not about kids.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
hate him for being apple. he should be ashamed because of that.
The bite out of their logo takes on a brand new visual that I was not really ready for.
"No one gives a fuck if you're gay, poly or whatever."
Sarah Palin is no one now? Finally!
Definition of abnormal: deviating from the normal or average.
;-)
So approximately 10% of the population is homosexual, therefore, "abnormal" is a proper term to use to describe people that are homosexuals.
Note that mensa members are abnormal, so are people that make more than $100,000 year. It's not a necessarily a derogatory term, it actually a proper factual description.
Yeah, posting to slashdot is definitely "abnormal" too since most people don't even know what slashdot is.
not important at all, you're just a hot-button focused kind of person. Instead, "why was Yosemite released with such bad bugs and looks like ass", that is the important question. Now if sitting on or sucking cocks is any part of the answer to that question, then I would care. But it probably isn't, so I don't
The nerve of that shitlord! It must have taken incredible strength to contain yourself in the face of such disgusting bigotry. In that situation I surely would have erupted in a Tumblr inspired rage. The world is a better place with brave strong warriors like you around. I tip my fedora to you sir.
All my love,
Narwhal Bacon the 3rd Esquire, PhD, MBA
Supreme Admiral of Reddit's My Little Pony Fanclub
Why is this relevant?
For me this news is about as interesting as if Tim Cook made a statement about being proud to be gray. As a fellow gray haired person, I wish someone would stand up publicly for the gray - we are just like everyone else, but too many people feel they have to hide their true colors from the public.
Being gay ought to be about as controversial as being gray.
I really don't care. When it he going to openly admit that he's running Apple into the ground and he's a know-nothing idiot who shouldn't be in charge of a company that size. THAT is what we're all waiting for.
The shocking thing for me was that Tim Cook appears to be religious.
I did not suspect that at all.
For two reasons. First, years ago, proclaiming in public that you were gay might have meant something, given the widespread social intolerance to nonstandard sexual orientations. These days, it means nothing. Second, Mr. Cook may be legitimately proud of his professional achievements. Proud of his sexual orientation?
Why? If one can be proud of one's sexual orientation when the latter is nonstandard that amounts to kind of looking down on those of us who are not gay; if we can all be proud of our sexual orientation, whatever it is, this pride is meaningless. You might just as well be proud of the fact that the sky is blue.
You're entirely missing the point. There are many people who feel that gay == shameful, the direct implication being that they want gay folk to feel ashamed. Proud is an in-their-face declaration that they are not ashamed.
That's all it is.
It's the same for any aspect of life for which there are detractors; some people think geekery is a bad thing; hence "geek and proud." Some people think prostitution is a bad thing; hence "sex worker and proud", and so on for a long list of "your prejudices do not define me" issues.
It's a very natural -- and correct -- reaction to a society where people are encouraged to coerce others into specific behavioral channels without regard for the consent or interest of those others.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
... and again I wonder why on Earth this article is here on /. to begin with.
This isn't the 1950s. He isn't Alan Turing. Homosexuality is legal. This isn't fucking important!
Writing an article about this shit is what makes it a big deal. THIS is how you divide people, damn it!
Only Apple fanboys care about this 'news'. I don't care, and neither should you.
Back in the 50s? You'd get chemically castrated because you came out of the closet. This isn't the case anymore.
You have the entire social-justice-warrior space behind you if you've been struck by special-snowflake-ism.
If you're not a special snowflake? You should check your privilege, cis-scum!
Hell, there's no way in hell you can be 'wrong' if you're gay, or trans, or what have-you. (Conversely, there's no way to be 'right' anymore if you aren't a snowflake!)
If you're a 'snowflake' you get 'accepted' by all these holier-than-thou moral-warriors that only accept you because you label yourself something.
Why can't anyone accept people anymore because they're HUMAN?
And if you're not a snowflake and still write about it? Oh god, what a supporter you are!!
This whole fake-acceptance bullshit is what grinds my gears. It's bled over in all these artsy-fields, and is now bleeding into our tech-world, where you get accepted if you're good at something.
Us tech peeps? We VALUE your - OUR craft. Not who you are.
No, man. This article reeks of that whole 'web 2.0' 'agile' fake-acceptance crap.
tl;dr:
I'm gay.
I'm a programmer.
And I don't give a fuck who you are, as long as you do your craft well.
If not? I might still like you because we share common interest, regardless of who you physically are, see Hotwheels[1] for a good role model, I'm not one.
[1] http://knowyourmeme.com/blog/interviews/qa-with-fredrick-brennan-of-8chan
(cross posted from SoylentNews... http://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=4630&cid=111688 )
I dont think you understand what bigotry means. I am free to turn down any offer or suggestion like that based on my own morals or beliefs, fears or paranoias. If im afraid of high places, i have all the freedom to turn down playing a skydiver when you ask me, it does not make me a bigot.
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashdot.org Errors found while checking this document as HTML5!
Bigotry and ignorance enshrined in state laws? I guess we need to give those poor pedophiles the same rights as those mean ol' heteros, right? I mean, it would be bigoted and ignorant if we didn't, right?
So we all need to be comfortable with the whole gay thing? If this woman were an atheist actress, she may have had the same response if you had asked her to play a Bible-thumping southern preacher. Would you have called her a bigot in that case?
Seriously, this whole gay oppression thing is getting old.
Good for you and good for us... less competition. Full Disclosure: Yes, I am a programmer.
Wait, so you suggested to someone who was straight to play a gay part? Tolerance does not mean forced acceptance. I am pro-gay rights, but I find gay porn disgusting. That does not make me a homophobe.
It's an actress. Nobody asked her to be gay. They asked her to act being a gay person. Wearing clothes.
The young, professional woman I suggested this too looked at me with her eyes literally wide with horror and said, "I'm sorry, I can't do that. I'm really straight."
In that situation it wasn't my place to berate her for her bigotry, particularly as I didn't think until much later of the correct come-back: "You're really earthbound, too, but I bet you'd play an astronaut if I asked you to."
Dude. Dude. Dude. A caveat: I have a gay younger brother, but even I click away when youporn accidently steers me onto a gay video while I'm um... researching human sexuality.
That is *not* bigotry. I'm sorry, but it isn't -- that was being a poor actor. By attaching the term bigot to her for that, you not only water it down the term for those who really deserve it but show your own intolerances where the only crime I can see is someone may have been limited as an actor.
radtea, I have to ask, where is your threshold for calling someone a bigot? I accept and cherish my brother, but still find myself averting my eyes during male+male kissing scenes in movies. I am a bigot for that? I've turned down advances from gay men, am I a bigot because I wasn't interested in having oral performed on me by a man, while if it was a woman in the same looks/personality bracket I'd probably been all for it? Am I a bigot if I sign up to play a part in a crappy community play where I have to make out with a girl, then balk when the other role is recast to a male? Am I a bigot for not enjoying jerking off to male porn?
I don't think you're a bad person, but I think you are intolerant and the flip side of a coin you hate.
haha, you are a bigot asking a straight girl to play a lesbian and getting upset when they dont. A lesbian could just have easily said "I'm sorry, I can't do that. I'm really gay." because she wasn't comfortable with acting outside of her default sexuality and it'd be no big deal. This is an actor problem not a gay/straight problem.
To my unending regret, bigotry isn't lethal.
This aside, I'd like to see that study you claim to exist.
And the homophobia of African countries is hardly an effect of HIV. When you take a look at how it is transmitted and what social issues play a key factor in the whole mess it becomes understandable, while at the same time not having anything to do with homosexuality at all.
But don't let facts get in the way of your self-righteousness. I will never understand why people get bothered by crap that is none of their damn business. What's it to you if someone is gay?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The young, professional woman I suggested this too looked at me with her eyes literally wide with horror and said (...)
Funny that you're a writer and would make this mistake. :-)
I suppose it's just a typo, probably from writing too fast, but it's funny nonetheless
In that situation it wasn't my place to berate her for her bigotry,
Wow.
Oh no! He asked an actor to pretend she's something she's not! The horror!
You realize he said the part didn't include anything more affectionate than a hug, right?
Or are you so afraid of your own sexuality that you wouldn't hug another person of your gender in fear of finding something out about yourself?
Sorry but it seems a bit of a stretch to claim "bigotry" when an amateur actor is uncomfortable swapping their sexual identity to inhabit a role.
Why facing the world and give them the finger that gayness is a gift?
Because of social visibility and power, that guy is offering himself the cool treat of telling the world: I'm gay and apple CEO.
Am i supposed to look up to him? if I become gay, will I get that super gift too? I want to be gay but I'm not much into the other guy's dick
I'm looking forward to the day where heteros will be the minority, really... Only then will the new majority understa.... actually no, it'll be too late already.
He was on the cover of Out Magazine as the number one most influential gay or lesbian in the United States.
Gizmodo link: http://gizmodo.com/5791310/apple-boss-tim-cook-tops-outs-power-list
He was number one again in 2013.
http://www.out.com/out-exclusives/power-50/2013/04/10/power-list-2013?page=0,4
Is the international magazine Out, just a gay newsletter?
... to jump on the bandwagon as it makes a victory lap through town?
He's come out every two years or so for the last decade. It's less of an announcement and more of a reminder. Has anybody told him about grindr?
(1) Why is anything that Tim Cook does in his bedroom with other people, male or female, making world headlines?
(2) Why does every gay person I ever meet feel like what they do behind closed doors is the most important thing people should know about them? A person is so much more than their sexual orientation. Gays do themselves a massive disservice by defining themselves first and foremost by their orientation. (Tim at least took a while to come out about this; most gays want you to know this, up front, as the very first thing you learn about their lives.) Disclaimer: my best friend is flaming gay. I am not a gay-basher, it is just hard for me to see people devalue themselves in this way.
(3) How is this News for Nerds? This has nothing whatsoever to do with technology, or Apple products, or science, or really anything beyond Tim's private life, which he happened to post about publicly, as screwed up as that is. What type of media outlet publishes juicy details of people's private lives? Tabloids. Bring on the Slashdot Kardashian stories too.
And should we deny marriage to a woman who is postmenopausal, or has had a hysterectomy?
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
sex lives of other executives... Ok, give me a break. Is this some pathetic attempt to make apple bashing seem like gay bashing? No one asked the question and no one thought more or less of Steve Jobs because of his rather tumultuous sex life. So I'd say stick your announcements to the product line unless, of course, you are trying to divert attention from your failing product line.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
What kind of role model for is a 50-something single workaholic with helmet hair? Appearing with your same sex partner at public events is a nice way of coming out. Announcing it publicly on a stage in order to make some political or social point is not.
Who really cares? Why is this news? I never cease to be amazed that people think it's important to announce what they do with what's in their undies. Yawn...
figures, no wonder why the new ios 7.0 - 8.1 and mac ox 10.10 look like something a nine year old girl would like.
You really don't get it. If i am Asian, and i reject an equally priced offer of a house in a predominantly black neighborhood and move closer to an Asian supermarket instead, i am not a racist.
We all have our freedoms, beliefs and choices, i don't step on yours, try not to step on mine.
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashdot.org Errors found while checking this document as HTML5!
As others have noted, Cook has been known to be gay for many years. It has been covered by the press previously. This is just a marketing exercise to endear a community to a stagnating brand. I don't care if he is straight, gay, bi, or a 5 headed alien from the planet zippy.
I find it reprehensible that he uses a community for his business agenda.
I hope it backfires, and the conservative bigots in power start an anti-Apple campaign.
Nice. Very well said. I just made a similar comment on the post where I found this link - but not as eloquently. :-P
Maybe I'll have to copy and paste..
Not something to be proud of. Doesn't mean I think they should be persecuted. But accepting it to the point they get tax write offs is simply wrong in the opposite direction of what we usually condemn.
I don't believe they should be abused for their behavior, but it's also a mistake to encourage it. It's like my porn addiction, people accept me, but it's still a sin.
I wouldn't say he should be proud of it. That said, he shouldn't be ashamed of it either. You are what you are. Nobody should be ashamed of what they are.
Just tell the kids to not decide to be gay at a young age. The problem is that people are telling them that they are born gay when that is not true.
Big woop de do to you for being proud to be gay, I'm proud to be a gamer. I think instead of fighting for equal government benefits for a guy couple, we need to edit the laws to change the automatic tax benefits for being married. Couple no longer automatically will have kids and need tax reduction. Saying "Marriage equality" is a misleading. 1. You don't need the government to tell people you are married, and the government can't stop you for saying your married. 2. Public recognized marriage is to claim to a mate so no other will bare offspring from them. For obvious reasons that dose not apply to gays since it is impossible to bare children short of a science baby.
Boil it all down, this is a fight over money. The hospital visit, and inheritance could have been solved with just having the government calling it a union, but gays were after money so they declined that.
Some people are proud to be smokers, proud to be killers, proud to be anything they like to do. At the end of the day, people like this is just looking for attention, since anyone can come out and say they are gay, guess it would be embarrassing if they change their mind later on though.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised by all the non-sequitur hate this comment is getting from anonymous cowards. I don't generally reply to comments, but the ones here are so hateful and stupid it seems worth putting a word in.
No one asked anyone to do gay porn, for the illiterate amongst you. No one was asked to make out with anyone. You're going to have to address what I wrote rather than your fevered imaginations to get any traction, I'm afraid.
We frequently do films that cast actors as psychopaths, murderers, clowns, and worse, and no one ever objects, so any suggestion that playing a gay person is exceptionally offensive against the morals of the actor requires that it be more morally repugnant for them to play a gay person than a murderer. That is... odd.
Seriously, in one film there were half a dozen murders on screen. No one objected. Yet someone objected when given the option to play a gay person. If you don't see a problem with that, you're kind of screwed up.
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
No, I'm implying that you're a goddamned bigot. Suricou was implying that your argument is fucking stupid, pointed a 10,000W laser right at the gaping hole, drew a fucking circle around it, cover it with neon tubes, glitter, and spotlights, and you STILL think you're right. I hate humanity.
Your reaction shows your shame. You're a transsexual and can't accept yourself as you are in the first place proving it also. Don't even try more psycho babble on how "normal" you are. You aren't. Anyone that does what you have to yourself is obviously mentally unhinged.
Just like you "Barb" should be deniable. You're no woman! No normal sane man would marry to a confused fruitcake like you are unless he was seeking headlines or was screwy like you.
Isn't he that little gray man running Apple or some such? The only one that could make being gay sound even more boring than being straight? Not that our country shouldn't be moving in the direction where it really is just as boring, but good God... C'mon, Tim, just admit it - you're so fucking boring, no one cares!
That is all.
Despite the fact this is actually true, I wonder whether it may serve as a marketing trick. I guess gay people (with high purchasing power) already felt much attracted by Apple's design, so could this be - partly - another blink to this market?
The man was making a joke (and a funny one at that). But then the humorless left's adamant demand that all things be gay or female and taken with GRAVE seriouseness OR ELSE is something most of us will never want or need to understand.
He's gay. Who cares? It takes more courage to be a conservative white male in Silcon Valley (or most paces for that matter) than gay any day of the week.
...and put their penis in your butt. Why does the world need to know?
Did I claim to be tolerant? That seems rather unlikely.
He said he is gay, not ape.
Also, better headline would have been "Tim is a homo!"
I always knew people at Apple were a little fruity.
Last time I checked, marriage is not required to produce offspring... so, why would that be the purpose of marriage?
You mean how my cousin and her wife did? (One donated the egg, the other was the host mother, so it wasn't a case of one partner having a kid and the other tagging along.) Then why did they have problems getting married? Why did they have to make sure they had the baby in a certain state to establish both as the parents?
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
So the CEO of Firefox got fired for voting a certain way (I honestly don't remember the specifics, only that it had to deal with his vote on an sexuality issue), but the CEO of Apple is applauded for taking a stand on the other side of the issue in a way he believes is right. Is the only difference the public's opinion of whether the guy is a bigot or a hero? Or is there more to it than that?
Fuck bigotry and intolerance. All Tim Cook should be concerned with is Apple's performance. I don't give two flying shits about Tim Cook's sexuality. It is literally between him and God. Tim Cook isn't employed to manage "bigotry and intolerance"; he's employed to drive Apple forward and to innovate.
I don't talk publicly about what I do with my dick, and Tim Cook should't either. Who cares?
I could care less about someone's choices in life or lifestyle, and frankly it is not anyone's business, but theirs. I don't like hearing about it either. Why? It is not my business. I just want the products I buy to actually work as advertised. If I wanted crapware, I'd bought Windoze.
Then they better come together and start praying that God gives them equal rights as well. They are living a life of mortal sin. Many of us do, but we go to confession and ask God to give us the grace to overcome our sin. That's the difference, since I knew you would ask. Being gay is a challenge that one has to deal with and pray about, just like wanting to cheat on a spouse, stealing, killing, etc. Don't accuse me of not knowing what they are going through or dealing with, as I also struggle with sin and temptation on a daily basis. It can be overcome and you can be forgiven.
Now, speaking of equality and tolerance, let's see how I am treated.
I thought that the reason it spread fast is that it's easier to get HIV from a man than a woman. The real danger was promiscuity, but a promiscuous population of gays was going to have it spread a lot faster than one of lesbians.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Exactly - you are a genius. Why don't others realize this as well? Because they never take the time to think and pursue the truth. They are brainwashed by society every day to applaud those who are doing the wrong thing. The illegal aliens, the homosexuals, the devil worshipers, etc. are all applauded and revered for what they do. On the other hand, a friend's child stated that he is proud to be straight and came this close to getting suspended from school. Since there are many gay pride groups on a gaming forum, my uncle started a straight pride forum, and was banned from the site, even thought he had followers that enjoyed the group, and they did not put anyone down.
And state that you are proud to be an American - oh you must hate everyone who is not your exact same skin color. I have been told I am a racist when I referred to America is "MY" country. I was born here, pay taxes, and served in this country's military. Which country should I refer to as my own?
Throughout history, groups of people have been hated - right now it is the white, English speaking America, bonus points if you are Christian or Catholic, but a free pass if you have already converted to Islam.
The real danger still is promiscuity. That and not using condoms.
That was the reason why it spread like wildfire among the gays in the beginning. And it is the reason why it spreads like crazy in Africa. And whereas I can understand the reason in the first case (not knowing that you have to protect against something) I can't understand it in the second case (knowing that you can get and spread it but relying on quackery and the imaginary friend in the sky to protect you).
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Something tells me if I was to proclaim this out loud then I'd be attacked for being anti Gay!
Nobody ever told them they had to hide it. They no it's wrong and they are ashamed of it.
Let me ask you this:
If you asked someone openly gay to play a straight part, and they refused, would you have called them a bigot as well?
I think Microsoft is due for a resurgence.
Apple is the child of Steve Jobs. Jobs was a family man, in the end. The fact Jobs put Tim Cook in charge as Apple's caretaker is what Jobs wanted. Why? I don't think that it had much to do with the sexual orientation of Tim Cook. I think that it had to do with the working relationship they had while Jobs was with us. Jobs is gone, Cook's in charge. That simple.
Congratulations! You suck dick and take cock up the ass. What do you want? A fucking medal?
So, you asked a woman you didn't really know well, to play a role as a homosexual, and were surprised that she refused? What part of this makes her a bigot?
"I'm not willing to play a role that is opposite of my sexual preference" is not the same as "I hate gays." I'm thinking that you're the one being bigoted by trying to come up with something mean to say because you don't like her expressed preference.
The correct come-back you came up with is... well, let's just leave it at "correct" may have not been the right word.
...osx and iOS is gay.
First, you call an actress a bigot for not wanting to play a gay character.
Then, you label the responses calling you out for exaggerating and not understanding the definition of "bigotry" as "non-sequitur hate".
I hope you realize you're greatly harming your cause by engaging in such hyperbole.
Would it be okay to ask her to play a black woman, wearing makeup (and clothes)?
While the reaction described by radtea does smack of bigotry, I don't think it's bigotry in general to turn down a role you don't feel comfortable playing or don't believe you could play properly. While I'm no actor, if someone asked me to play an outgoing playboy (of any orientation) I would refuse the part because it's so counter to my own personality that I wouldn't be able to do a good job.
Fuck you.
If a big name came out to admit "yes, the talk is true. I'm gay, but it DOESN'T MATTER! I've got a business to run!!" Who cares were he takes it or where he puts it?! Apple is big business and what that jerk does or prefers to look at is almost meaningless.
Are we almost done with "gay pride"?!