Tim Cook’s Courageous Announcement

Tim Cook’s announcement that he is a gay man has provoked worldwide reaction of different sorts: from being lauded for his courage to the Steve Jobs’ memorial in Russia being removed after his announcement. The corporate world, and the world at large, will not be the same regarding gay issues after his courageous step.

When in 1971 I moved from Argentina to the U.S. with my wife and daughter I encountered a different world regarding individual rights. Although at that time there was widespread discrimination against homosexuals both in Argentina and in the U.S., both societies slowly became more tolerant regarding issues of sexual identity. Now both Argentina and the U.S. are relatively open to those issues.

In spite of progress, however, I was able to see, in several instances, the tremendous damage to personal relationships caused by both men and women trying to hide their true sexual tendency. I saw several homosexual men who, for fear of society’s discrimination, created heterosexual families only to abandon them later and declaring themselves homosexuals and leading an openly homosexual life.

And I remembered vividly a case I learnt about decades ago of a very beautiful woman married to a very successful businessman. They had two beautiful children, a boy and a girl and, by apparently all accounts, a perfect family life. Until one day the woman decided that she couldn’t continue living a life of lies, hiding her true homosexual nature, and went to live by herself until eventually she met another homosexual partner with whom she started living together.

Becoming more open didn’t cause the collapse of American society. Because Tim Cook is one of the most successful chief executive officer (CEO)’s in recent history, his decision to announce that “he is proud to be gay” will probably help make not only American society but the world at large more tolerant to these issues.

Cook’s admission of his homosexuality can be critical in furthering the acceptance of homosexuality in the corporate world. After Robert Hanson, the former CEO of American Eagle Outfitters Inc., stated that he was a homosexual, Cook is the first openly gay Fortune 500 CEO. This is very significant, since in regions away from main urban areas there is still some degree of discrimination against gay people, even in America.

What explains Cook’s decision to admit his homosexuality? An executive who comes from humble roots, he is known mainly from being a very private person, and very little is known of his personal life. Although he was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996, the diagnosis made him see the world in a different way. Since then, he participated in many fundraising events to help raise money to combat the disease.

Cook has publicly supported the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons (LGBT). In October of 2014, when he was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor he spoke about his home state’s record of LGBT people’s rights ( the Academy of Honor is the highest honor Alabama gives its citizens).

Writing for Bloomberg Businessweek Cook thus expressed his personal philosophy, “While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me. Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided me a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day.”

These are courageous words from a courageous person. In a fast changing world, they may provide the impetus to change attitudes and treat other human beings of different sexual orientation with the care and respect that every human being deserves.

Dr. Cesar Chelala is an international public health consultant and a winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award.