Tim Cook opens up about his personal life for the first time

[the_tech_eater]

Well you just bored me to death with that response.

You were supposed to throw the Bible at me.

Obviously I am just messing with you. I respect your opinion.

ಠ益ಠ

Well, I certainly can throw the bible at you if you want to catch it but no, I personally don't think the Internet, especially not a forum, is the place to have such extremely personal discussions.

 

[Just_Me_D]

It's funny how whenever someone announces they are gay. There is a train of people who profess they are straight and how they don't care or want someone's sexuality shoved in their face. Well if you don't care or "think it is wrong." take your own advice and "keep it to yourself."

ಠ益ಠ

No. I did not shove me being straight in anyone's face, and I'm not going to sit idly by and let you advocate one person arguably shoving their preference in the face of world as being a good thing and a few of us responding about not caring and mentioning their straight preference as a bad thing. What part of "I don't care that he's gay" don't you understand? It's okay for him to not keep his personal life to himself, but it's not okay for me to mention mine? C'mon!

 

[the_tech_eater]

Oh, isn't the title of this thread misleading? If I'm not mistaken, Tim has talked about this before... Like at auburn university I believe.

 

[cardfan]

He's doing it because he can. Of course none of you go around shouting that you're straight.....because none of you are persecuted for it. What he's doing is making other people that are hiding their true feelings feel ok about coming out and not have to be afraid to do it. Good for him I say. I'm completely ok with this and I'm 100% straight.

Umm..if you don't go shouting about it, then you won't get persecuted for it. All these people who come out, they're famous because of success or you wouldn't see news about it. They've hid it all their lives or it wouldn't be news.

Do the math. Should this make others feel ok about doing the same if they've not reached a similar level of success? Hardly of these people coming out never faced any kind of persecution or discrimination because they remained private. How many of these people would have the same level of success if they'd not remained private about it most of their life?

If you're gay and you want to be like Tim Cook, then follow his lead. Shut up about it.

 

[the_tech_eater]

So at work, no one should have pics of their kids on their desk? No one should have a pic of their SO? No one should ever ask someone else, "hey what did you do last weekend" or share what awesome experience they had over the weekend with xyz? Or what great movie, he/she went to see with xyz. No one should talk about their pets? No one should talk about sports either because what teams you support is part of your personal life? Likewise talking about the latest TV show you watched the night before. That's something you do as part of your personal life.
If people never mentioned anything about their personal lives at work, most people would probably say absolutely nothing all day. If that's what you truly meant and abide by yourself at work, then ok. But I find it difficult to believe that you've never mentioned or talked about some of the things I listed above with your colleagues.

Ok, I should have been more specific. What I meant it more like their personal sex lives. I, for myself, probably wouldn't even talk about my love life at work. But as I said, this is just my opinion, and how I do it.

 

[iEd]

I think Tim Cook is just saying he's proud of who he is.
Because there is a negative connotation to homosexuality in our society.
The special thing about what he is saying is that being something or someone that is frowned upon forces the individual to look at themselves and understand and be aware of who they are, truly aware of who they are. This were the pride comes in. It's more important to accept yourself even if society doesn't. That's the message. It's possible his words will reach someone struggling with accepting themselves.

 

[sanibel]

Well I personally don't think people should talk about their personal lives at work, whether their normal or not.

We're all normal. It depends how we look at ourselves.

 

[Illustrator Joe]

We're all normal.

Actually none of us are

 

[Illustrator Joe]

No. I did not shove me being straight in anyone's face, and I'm not going to sit idly by and let you advocate one person arguably shoving their preference in the face of world as being a good thing and a few of us responding about not caring and mentioning their straight preference as a bad thing. What part of "I don't care that he's gay" don't you understand? It's okay for him to not keep his personal life to himself, but it's not okay for me to mention mine? C'mon!

It's fine if you do. I just don't care.

 

[iTechHead]

Well I personally don't think people should talk about their personal lives at work, whether their normal or not. But that's just me, and I'm a young adult that just entered the work force.

Same

 

[Scatabrain]

I think I may quit interacting on the Internet. Twitter gamer fans are polluted with hate. Facebook is flooded with fear.

Forums have been this way from the beginning but I'm starting to feel sad for all the hate, fear and ignorance online these days. This isn't new but has become increasingly loud.

 

[the_tech_eater]

I think I may quit interacting on the Internet. Twitter gamer fans are polluted with hate. Facebook is flooded with fear.

Forums have been this way from the beginning but I'm starting to feel sad for all the hate, fear and ignorance online these days. This isn't new but has become increasingly loud.

There are a lot of hurting people out there that find the Internet to be a place where they can try to fill their devoid lives by trying to hurt others.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Someone please point out "hate", "fear" and "ignorance" in my initial comment and in my replies thereafter.

 

[Les74]

Umm..if you don't go shouting about it, then you won't get persecuted for it. All these people who come out, they're famous because of success or you wouldn't see news about it. They've hid it all their lives or it wouldn't be news.

Do the math. Should this make others feel ok about doing the same if they've not reached a similar level of success? Hardly of these people coming out never faced any kind of persecution or discrimination because they remained private. How many of these people would have the same level of success if they'd not remained private about it most of their life?

If you're gay and you want to be like Tim Cook, then follow his lead. Shut up about it.

So because he's gay he should "shut up?" That is beyond ridiculous and kind of goes against what this country stands for....freedom.

 

[Illustrator Joe]

Someone please point out "hate", "fear" and "ignorance" in my initial comment and in my replies thereafter.

Why do you think everyone is calling you out specifically? This isn't about you. it is about Tim.
"ignorance" is debatable.

 

[Scatabrain]

My hate, fear, ignorance remarks are not pointed at anyone in particular.

But in a thread about whether or not someone should be able to state they are gay or not - I think it is appropriate.

 

[anon(153966)]

I say less is more, let people believe what they want to believe. I wonder if he was getting pressure to 'come out'. But, like a few members on here, I'm not bothered either way, and it has no bearing on me owning Apple products...

 

[Illustrator Joe]

I never said there were any of those things.
But there is a difference between someone stating they are straight because as I said above that is the presumed default in our society. For example, if I'm at work and someone asks me how my weekend was and I say something like "Ed and I didn't do much. Just hung out at home", no one would think twice about it. But someone who hasn't publicly (or to their coworkers or friends) stated that they are gay, has to "self-filter" and rather than being able to answer the question naturally (like if I said, "Sally and I…), they have to make something up or else leave out the info that they spent a pleasant weekend at home with their SO. Someone stating that they are gay to friends, family, and coworkers (or in Tim Cook's case, publicly because he was already a well-known public figure), just means they can turn that "self-filter" off and talk about normal friends and family stuff without always having to watch what they say.

Well stated. I never self-filter anything I say
I feel for anyone who is has been oppressed and feel that they can't just be themselves in an everyday setting. Obviously Tim has struggled with this his whole life.

 

[anon(153966)]

...oh my goodness, this thread is on fire...

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

It doesn't bother me that he made an "announcement" on it, so to speak. I wasn't in the want-to-know camp, but I don't really think he should keep quiet about it if he doesn't want to. Some people feel compelled to let you know that they're gay just like some people feel compelled to let me know that they have a belief in "god." I can't tell you how many times I've come across people who I've known for five minutes that just want to make sure that I know that they're Christian. If it makes them feel better to engage in communicating, that's fine. I personally am more offended when I'm told "god bless you" at the end of a conversation because now you're assuming that I also believe in what you do. The same way I'd be offended if someone casually told me they're gay in a conversation without me ever inquiring and they all of a sudden make a pass at me without knowing if I'm homosexual or not.