Apple's Tim Cook profiled as "most powerful gay man in Silicon Valley"

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  • Reply 221 of 335
    axualaxual Posts: 244member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Futuristic View Post


    Care to explain why this article belongs in the dumpster?



    It's only purpose is sensationalizing and is not based on actual facts ... further, how many articles do we see titled "Company's Bob Smith profiled as most powerful non-gay man in Silicon Valley".



    If this is newsworthy, fine. It's not. So hence, dumpster.
  • Reply 222 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gustav View Post


    So, you care then? If you don't care, then why wouldn't you say "I couldn't care less" like the expression?



    yes, grammar is the outrage here
  • Reply 223 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by halfyearsun View Post


    Gossip isn't inherently negative; it's just that gossip tends to be salacious, and often ends up with someone being hurt.



    I thought it was cool as well, until i realized that it's not a verified fact.



    It is personal, which is the key to the whole argument. There are people who would trash him for being gay. He would have to face his friends and family if he hasn't already. there's a lot of complexities to it. And he hasn't made the decision to address those in a business setting.



    If he is gay, he deserves the respect and decency to announce it on his own terms, not to be forced to address the subject by gossip.



    Good points. Having just read the linked article, it seems that it's more of a "rag" than anything else, so I have to agree that its angle appears to be more gossipy than something designed to actually enlighten us. It would have been more appropriate to report on his gayness if he had been the one to talk about it--even if only to say, "Yeah, I'm gay, but really, my sexual orientation is very personal."



    I have to say now, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I stand by my original statement that gay issues are important, and should be "out" in the mainstream. And yet, there are few issues more personal than one's sexual orientation, and it's not really appropriate to make an issue about it if the person profiled doesn't want to discuss it. But, the article isn't clear about whether he is "in the closet", or whether he's just being quiet and reserved, because it talks about how he is "as reticent to acknowledge his sexual orientation as he has his prowess in overseeing the company supply chain."



    One of the side effects of being among the leadership of one of the most successful companies in the world is that you're a public figure. And, for better or worse, people are gonna want to know what makes you tick, professionally as well as personally.



    There's nothing wrong with being gay, straight, or something in between. Tim Cook seems to be a good guy. I just hope that he is okay with how the article portrays him.
  • Reply 224 of 335
    whozownwhozown Posts: 128member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wurm5150 View Post


    well..



    Apple is a type of fruit.



    lmao!
  • Reply 225 of 335
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by halfyearsun View Post


    as far as caught in some "tryst." he wouldn't be cheating on someone. unless he solicited a prostitute, how would being involved with someone merit a scandalous term like "tryst?"



    Sorry, I was not aware of the scandalous connotation of the term. If you are ok with him having a gay lover then there should be no problem with a rendezvous. Just thinking stockholders may not be as open minded.
  • Reply 226 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Futuristic View Post


    Good points. Having just read the linked article, it seems that it's more of a "rag" than anything else, so I have to agree that its angle appears to be more gossipy than something designed to actually enlighten us. It would have been more appropriate to report on his gayness if he had been the one to talk about it--even if only to say, "Yeah, I'm gay, but really, my sexual orientation is very personal."



    I have to say now, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I stand by my original statement that gay issues are important, and should be "out" in the mainstream. And yet, there are few issues more personal than one's sexual orientation, and it's not really appropriate to make an issue about it if the person profiled doesn't want to discuss it. But, the article isn't clear about whether he is "in the closet", or whether he's just being quiet and reserved, because it talks about how he is "as reticent to acknowledge his sexual orientation as he has his prowess in overseeing the company supply chain."



    One of the side effects of being among the leadership of one of the most successful companies in the world is that you're a public figure. And, for better or worse, people are gonna want to know what makes you tick, professionally as well as personally.



    There's nothing wrong with being gay, straight, or something in between. Tim Cook seems to be a good guy. I just hope that he is okay with how the article portrays him.



    I agree. Should Mr. Cook choose to take a stand as a public gay figure, I think it would be GREAT. But he hasn't made that decision yet (he may not even be gay!)
  • Reply 227 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by axual View Post


    It's only purpose is sensationalizing and is not based on actual facts ... further, how many articles do we see titled "Company's Bob Smith profiled as most powerful non-gay man in Silicon Valley".



    If this is newsworthy, fine. It's not. So hence, dumpster.



    I agree with your criticism of the article's "sensationalizing" angle. But, highlighting a person as "the most powerful non-gay man in Silicon Valley" is a non-issue, because non-gay, aka: straight, is considered "normal". Gay/Bi/Lesbian/etc. is still considered "alternative", and, as I said earlier, I'm very much in favour of moving them from the margins to the mainstream.



    I like rainbows.
  • Reply 228 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Sorry, I was not aware of the scandalous connotation of the term. If you are ok with him having a gay lover then there should be no problem with a rendezvous. Just thinking stockholders may not be as open minded.



    hmmmmm... let me check my calendar... nope, still says 2011.



    Whew! I thought I was having a 60s flashback!
  • Reply 229 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmz View Post


    Since you asked, Obama rode into the White House thanks to the financial blessing of wall street, and the slobbering television media. Also the unelectable opponent.



    What an embarrassing joke that was.



    not to mention the only candidate backed by the kennedys in the last 50 years... cough cough.
  • Reply 230 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kerryb View Post


    Whenever a minority accomplishes something that was unthinkable not too ago it IS worth reporting. I don't think Mr Cook is being "outed" here but I doubt he feels obliged to wear is orientation on his sleeve.

    We have all heard "you can grow up to be president some day" now gay teenager can believe they can grow up to be the most powerful man or woman in business.



    Excellent point.
  • Reply 231 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kerryb View Post


    Whenever a minority accomplishes something that was unthinkable not too ago it IS worth reporting. I don't think Mr Cook is being "outed" here but I doubt he feels obliged to wear is orientation on his sleeve.

    We have all heard "you can grow up to be president some day" now gay teenager can believe they can grow up to be the most powerful man or woman in business.



    hold on now. nobody said there's a problem with a powerful woman in business being gay, just as long as she's hot.



    /sarcasm
  • Reply 232 of 335
    dunksdunks Posts: 1,254member
    I thought it was a great article. As a gay man I enjoy reading about people being successful in the traditionally homophobic boys club of big business. Cook has had such success in his personal and corporate life that it would be hard to see him being upset by this overwhelmingly positive discussion. And it is relevant because it speaks to the corporate culture at Apple where people are celebrated for their performance and their ideas.



    If I could suggest one improvement it's that the word "preferences" (as used in this article) is a very loaded term. "Orientation" is a better fit, at least while there are still those whose minds have been twisted into a knotted snarl, espousing, against all human experience and a body of scientific evidence that it is a choice.
  • Reply 233 of 335
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by uberben View Post


    .... Clearly those people who don't want to talk about who is gay and who is straight are in the minority here, Appleinsider currently is all about this article and people just keep feeding it.



    Clearly, you "don't get it". The majority of the comments are not about who is gay and who is straight , but rather, if AI was correct in publishing what amounts to nothing more than gossip without even trying to do the right thing by contacting Tim Cook and see if he was OK with the article. Any reputable news organization would have done so, but as we all should know by now .... AI is only concerned with eyeball count ..... at the expense of anyone. I doubt that they even know the meaning of "reputable".
  • Reply 234 of 335
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by island hermit View Post


    hmmmmm... let me check my calendar... nope, still says 2011.



    Whew! I thought I was having a 60s flashback!



    Right. You can continue to check your calendar from now until we have an openly gay US president and the result it is unlikely to be any different.



    High profile public figure caught with gay lover = 6 o'clock evening news lead story, national newspapers and tabloids front page, and if that figure is the CEO of a publicly traded company expect the stock to sell off sharply.



    Has nothing to do with my personal opinion, just a reality check.
  • Reply 235 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by halfyearsun View Post


    hold on now. nobody said there's a problem with a powerful woman in business being gay, just as long as she's hot.



    /sarcasm



    LOLz
  • Reply 236 of 335
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bigmc6000 View Post


    I think you guys are missing my point - from what I can tell the original article was written from the gay perspective - ie a gay man wrote it.



    Some gay activists make it their life's work to "out" other gay people, as a way to further their activist agenda. It doesn't make it right.
  • Reply 237 of 335
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Homophobia can only flourish when aided and abetted by ignorance. The stigmatization of homosexuality is a double edged sword-- it constrains the lives of those so stigmatized, while allowing the larger to culture to project its fears and sexual anxieties on a blank canvas. If you can keep people from freely acknowledging their sexual orientation, you can suppress the fact that most gay people (like most everybody) are fairly boring and contrary to stereotype.



    Even better, those individuals with a penchant for public acting out and exhibitionism (as exist in every community) can be made to serve as synecdoche for gayness at large (as in the case of the endlessly circulated videos of Gay Pride day parades featuring drag queens or leather boys).



    The secret shame of fabulous gay land is that it looks a lot like the rest of America, it's just that some of America hasn't quite figured that out yet because they're strenuously pretending that it isn't so.
  • Reply 238 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Right. You can continue to check your calendar from now until we have an openly gay US president and the result it is unlikely to be any different.



    High profile public figure caught with gay lover = 6 o'clock evening news lead story, national newspapers and tabloids front page, and if that figure is the CEO of a publicly traded company expect the stock to sell off sharply.



    Has nothing to do with my personal opinion, just a reality check.



    Gay lover??!! If he's gay then he'd have a gay partner!!



    Oh what's the use...
  • Reply 239 of 335
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    High profile public figure caught with gay lover = 6 o'clock evening news lead story, national newspapers and tabloids front page, and if that figure is the CEO of a publicly traded company expect the stock to sell off sharply.



    These days, the only time this kind of thing makes news is if the "high profile figure" is a "family values"-touting politician who has gone on record as being "morally opposed" to homosexuality. It's the hypocrisy that puts them on the news, not simply that they were caught with a gay lover. There are plenty of openly gay public figures whose "gay lifestyles" never make the news--because their lifestyles are more or less consistent with their stated orientation/beliefs/choices.
  • Reply 240 of 335
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Remember, Steve has just taken leave so Tim is now acting CEO.



    I believe I read that Steve is still acting CEO, he’ll just be working from home. IOW, Cook did not blow jobs from his CEO chair.
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