Apple CEO Tim Cook made a special video message celebrating LGBTQ pride and marking Stonewall's 50th anniversary

Advertisement
Apple CEO Tim Cook made a special video message celebrating LGBTQ pride and marking Stonewall's 50th anniversary

Tim Cook

AP

Advertisement
  • Apple CEO Time Cook marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots by saying there was still much work to be done in the push for equality for members of the LGBTQ community.
  • Though he was "eight years old and a thousand miles away when Stonewall happened," Cook said he was grateful for the LGBTQ progress that came before him.
  • Despite great steps towards LGBT equality, Cook emphasized the discrimination, harassment, and bullying that threaten the livelihoods of transgender and gay youth.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Apple CEO Time Cook marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots by praising those who stood up for LGBTQ rights while noting "unfinished work" in pushing for equality.

Speaking on CBS News, Cook praised those involved in the 1969 uprising at Manhattan's Stonewall Inn that launched the civil rights movement into the national spotlight.

Cook said that despite his being "eight years old and a thousand miles away when Stonewall happened," he "will never stop being grateful for what they had the courage to build."

"It's on all of us to carry their work forward," Cook added, pointing to the discrimination and harassment that exists in personal and professional areas of life for members of the LGBTQ community.

Advertisement

Read more: The 23 most powerful LGBTQ+ people in tech

The tech head pointed to the discrimination, harassment, and bullying that threatens the lives and professional opportunities of transgender and gay youth, highlighting that "roughly 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ."

"This Anniversary, and Pride Month in general, are a time for celebration and community," Cook said. "But we miss an important opportunity if we don't dedicate this moment to the progress yet to be made."

For several years, Cook did not publicly disclose his sexuality before coming out as gay in 2014 in a personal essay published in Bloomberg Businessweek. He said that while he wanted to continue to keep his private life to himself, he felt an "increasing sense of duty" to come out as his way to help the gay community.

"[Being gay] has 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," he wrote in his essay. "It's also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you're the CEO of Apple."

Advertisement

Cook's comments come after a relatively awkward moment for tech and Pride celebrations, as Google employees made headlines after learning that protesting against the company's LGBTQ+ policies in its official parade contingent at the San Francisco Pride Parade would violate Google's communications policy.

The board of the parade settled on allowing the Google employees to march as part of the "Resistance Contingent."

{{}}