Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘I’m proud to be gay’

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – While he never denied his sexuality, he had not publicly acknowledged it either, until now: Apple Incorporated CEO Tim Cook is gay and proud of it.

His announcement puts Cook among high-profile business leaders who publicly admitted their sexual orientation.

In a revelatory essay for Bloomberg’s Businessweek published Thursday, October 30, the executive said that, for years, he had been open with many people about his sexual orientation, and that even plenty of colleagues at Apple knew that he is gay.

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

“I’ve had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people’s differences. Not everyone is so lucky,” he said.

Cook said being gay gave 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.

He said being gay made him more empathetic, which led to a richer life.

“It’s been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It’s also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you’re the CEO of Apple,” Cook said.

He also 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 took over the reins of the highly-valued company from the late Steve Jobs.

Cook said that being gay was only part of who he is, and also described himself as “an engineer, an uncle, a nature lover, a fitness nut, a son of the South, a sports fanatic, and many other things.”

He is inspired by civil rights champions Marin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, whose portraits hang in his office. – with a report by Agence France-Presse