Apple CEO Tim Cook openly admitted that he was gay in a touching first-person article published in Businessweek on Thursday.
Basing his decision on a Martin Luther King Jr. quote, Cook admitted that his desire to keep his personal life private "has been holding [him] back from doing something more important."
That thought gave him the guidance to openly admit his sexual orientation to the public. The business magnate clarified that he did not purposely hide his preference from people. In fact, plenty of his colleagues know about him being gay and has not treated him any differently.
"While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven't publicly acknowledged it either, until now," Cook clarified, "So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."
He did admit that growing up as a "minority" was "tough and uncomfortable at times" but it gave him the "skin of a rhinoceros" which helped him become the man that he is today.
The challenges that Apple CEO Tim Cook faced growing up helped him become more "empathetic" and it has also "given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry."
Why did he decide to come out now?
The electronics mogul said, "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."
Although many commended the Apple boss of his brave decision to come out, not everyone was supportive.
According to Russian website FlashNord (via Daily Mail), a Russian politician didn't appreciate Cook's declaration.
Anti-LGBT activist, Vitaly Milonov, allegedly wanted to ban the electronics company head from entering Russia based on some homosexual stereotypes that he knows.
The city legislator reportedly said, "What could he [Cook] bring us? The Ebola virus, Aids, gonorrhea? They all have unseemly ties over there. Ban him for life."
What do you think of Apply CEO Tim Cook's declaration?
