Apple’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook announced he was gay in a Bloomberg Businessweek column published Thursday.
“Let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me,” Mr. Cook wrote.
He opened his column by saying that he spent the bulk of his life trying to “maintain a basic level of privacy,” but that he believes “deeply in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King” and the question he posed: “What are you doing for others?”
So that’s why he decided to make the announcement, he wrote.
“I’ve come to realize that my desire for personal privacy has been holding me back from doing something more important,” he wrote. “While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now.”
Mr. Cook also said “being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority … which has led to a richer life. It’s been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself … and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It has also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you’re the CEO of Apple.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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