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Apple CEO Tim Cook said he decided to come out as gay after reading letters from kids struggling with their identity
https://image.businessinsider.com/5b9c4d01b354cd1f008b613f?width=1000&format=jpeg&auto=webp
Tim Cook says he was motivated to come out as gay after receiving letters from children struggling with their sexual orientation.
The usually private Apple CEO publicly came out in 2014, revealing his sexual orientation in an open letter published in Bloomberg Businessweek. This made him the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
In an interview with People en Español published Thursday, the 58-year-old spoke about a range of topics related to sexual orientation and young people.
Discussing his 2014 coming out, he said: "What was driving me was [that] I was getting notes from kids who were struggling with their sexual orientation. They were depressed. Some said [they] had suicidal thoughts. Some had been banished by their own parents and family.
"It weighed on me in terms of what I could do," he continued. "Obviously I couldn't talk to each one individually that reached out, but you always know if you have people reaching out to you that there's many more that don't, that are just out there wondering whether they have a future or not, wondering whether life gets better … From there I really decided."
Though Cook said he "didn't worry" about how Apple staff would react to his coming out, he did acknowledge worrying about the reaction "outside of Apple," and noted that "the world is still not friendly to gay or trans people in many countries but also within our country."
In a direct message to kids struggling with their sexual orientation, he said that "life gets better, that you can have a great life filled with joy." He continued: "Gay is not a limitation. It's a characteristic that I hope they view, like I do, that it's God's greatest gift."
Cook added that being gay gave him a lens into how other people think and feel. "I'm not saying that I understand the trials and tribulations of every minority group, because I don't," he said. "But I do understand for one of the groups. And to the degree that it helps give you a lens on how other people may feel, I think that's a gift in and of itself."
Apple CEO Tim Cook said he decided to come out as gay after reading letters from kids struggling with their identity
https://image.businessinsider.com/5b9c4d01b354cd1f008b613f?width=1000&format=jpeg&auto=webp
- Apple CEO Tim Cook says he was motivated to publicly come out as gay after receiving letters from children struggling with their sexual orientation.
- In an interview with People en Español, Cook discussed his public coming out and his message to children uncertain about revealing their sexual orientation.
- Cook, now 58, came out in 2014, becoming the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 firm.
Tim Cook says he was motivated to come out as gay after receiving letters from children struggling with their sexual orientation.
The usually private Apple CEO publicly came out in 2014, revealing his sexual orientation in an open letter published in Bloomberg Businessweek. This made him the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
In an interview with People en Español published Thursday, the 58-year-old spoke about a range of topics related to sexual orientation and young people.
Discussing his 2014 coming out, he said: "What was driving me was [that] I was getting notes from kids who were struggling with their sexual orientation. They were depressed. Some said [they] had suicidal thoughts. Some had been banished by their own parents and family.
"It weighed on me in terms of what I could do," he continued. "Obviously I couldn't talk to each one individually that reached out, but you always know if you have people reaching out to you that there's many more that don't, that are just out there wondering whether they have a future or not, wondering whether life gets better … From there I really decided."
Though Cook said he "didn't worry" about how Apple staff would react to his coming out, he did acknowledge worrying about the reaction "outside of Apple," and noted that "the world is still not friendly to gay or trans people in many countries but also within our country."
In a direct message to kids struggling with their sexual orientation, he said that "life gets better, that you can have a great life filled with joy." He continued: "Gay is not a limitation. It's a characteristic that I hope they view, like I do, that it's God's greatest gift."
Cook added that being gay gave him a lens into how other people think and feel. "I'm not saying that I understand the trials and tribulations of every minority group, because I don't," he said. "But I do understand for one of the groups. And to the degree that it helps give you a lens on how other people may feel, I think that's a gift in and of itself."
