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Tim Cook Speaks Up

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Re: Tim Cook Speaks Up

#551

Post by byEngineer »

Crito wrote: post #507
wldcordeiro wrote: post #434

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The witch hunt against Brendan was just terrible. He made a minor donation years ago and it's something people blew out of proportion. Here was his statement about inclusiveness after his donation became an issue https://brendaneich.com/2014/03/inclusiveness-at-mozilla/ To me it looks like he was committed to keeping Mozilla inclusive and would have been a great CEO.

To most Americans, $1k is not a "minor" amount of money. Furthermore, the exact amount of money that he donated is fairly irrelevant anyway. The donation, no matter it's magnitude, serves to illustrate what he believes. If I made a $1 donation to the local KKK group, would you make excuses for me because $1 is a trivial amount of money? Of course you would not.

I'm very, very far away from judging people's work abilities (like being an CEO) based on their skin color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, or ideology.

Why you can't be the same?

Re: Tim Cook Speaks Up

#552

Post by smtddr »

[deleted] wrote: post #544
silencio wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Majority opinion may change but there are still so many holdouts. Which is why I'm glad to see things like this. I'm Asian and I married a white guy. It's only been seven months. I lost count of the number of people that raised their eyebrows because of my new European last name (less than the people surprised that he also changed his name!) and also lost count of how many people assumed my husband was Asian ~not~ a…

[deleted]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pansexuality

Re: Tim Cook Speaks Up

#553

Post by sarciszewski »

This thread is growing faster than I can read it. Yeah, Tim Cook coming out as gay is a positive thing, but it's not particularly novel or revolutionary.

If I were a young closeted gay person and someone said, "Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, just came out as gay," I wouldn't jump for joy for the future of gay people in technology. I'd instead make damn sure I didn't carry any Apple products in public for fear of some stranger connecting the dots and bullying me. But, hell, I grew up in a very oppressive town. (I also don't own any Apple products.)

What matters more is that Tim Cook is not the only one to speak up about this. I'd like to hear more CEOs come out without fear.

Re: Tim Cook Speaks Up

#554

Post by bdcravens »

angersock wrote: post #380
thenmar wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brendan Eich donated money with the sole goal of denying equal rights to people based on their sexuality. There's nothing wrong with having an unpopular opinion, but I think there is something wrong with that. And I suspect you would too if it were you whose rights were being taken away. Edit: Eich supported Proposition 8 which was _ruled unconstitutional_ for violating the Equal Protection Clause. Yes, his support w…

Eich participated in a public system in an approved way at a political level, did so without letting his politics get in the way of his personal or professional life, and made functional programming ubiquitous. There's nothing wrong with what he did given that he didn't let that view (in the abstract) color his personal interactions. And, let us note, it's all speculation on this point as to what or why he did it, be…

> Tim Cook continued contracts with Foxconn

As does Sony, Microsoft, Amazon, Nintendo, and more

Re: Tim Cook Speaks Up

#555

Post by michaelsbradley »

dodyg wrote: post #121
Jedd wrote: post #20

I wonder how carefully crafted this line was: ... I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me. It seems a particularly odd thing to slip in, on so many levels.

Tim Cook is a Christian. This is a message to the Church.

And there are members of the Church who experience same-sex attraction but strive for a life of chastity, who have a powerful message for those who long to "move beyond the confines of the homosexual label to a more complete identity in Christ."

See, for example, Tina's, Jonah's and Blake's testimonies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA4gpJUpvpc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbAqzGsjl30

Those videos are featured by the Courage apostolate:

http://couragerc.org/courage/#testimonies

This comment is not intended to be inflammatory; my intention is simply to share an alternate perspective.

Re: Tim Cook Speaks Up

#556

Post by martin1975 »

Isamu wrote: post #504
robomartin wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I applaud this. I am not gay. Conventional family, kids, etc. Oh, yes, I am also an atheist which, today, in the US, is worst than being gay in some circles. As I am sure a lot of you know, the reality show Survivor features a male homosexual couple this year. Bravo! We watch the show with our kids every week. Yes, they ask questions. The little ones cover their eyes when anybody kisses on TV anyway. Seeing two men k…

By saying "I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me" he is directly confronting those who discriminate for religious reasons, probably the majority. I think it is savvy of him to meet it head-on, to prod people to maybe reconsider their reflexive religious beliefs.

He mis-spelled God. He meant god. His own god.

Re: Tim Cook Speaks Up

#557

Post by yourad_io »

Kalium wrote: post #545
yourad_io wrote: post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 'feminism' == 'desire for equal rights' Is this not the case?

In a world of intellectual purity and abstraction, yes, that is the case. In the real world, it can be used as a fig leaf to justify a variety of abusive behaviors. For some people, that encompasses the whole of their experiences.

> In the real world, it can be used as a fig leaf to justify a variety of abusive behaviors.

We disagree that this actually changes the meaning of Feminism.

Yes, some horrid people need an excuse to dish out abuse and Feminism often becomes that excuse (I'm thinking about everyone who's ever used the potential-rapist argument).

Does this taint Feminists, the group? Maybe a little, yes.

Does this taint Feminism, the idea that genders should be as equal as possible? Well, IMHO, no.

Re: Tim Cook Speaks Up

#558

Post by notahacker »

newscracker wrote: post #430
driverdan wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think it was widely assumed that he was gay By who, Apple fanboys? Your average person probably doesn't even know who is Apple's current CEO let alone that he's gay.

There were at least a couple of places where it was mentioned earlier this year (and it was kind of "known" in the past too). Two links from April 2014: Out Magazine - http://www.out.com/out-exclusives/power-50/2014/04/15/what-d... HuffPo (about the same) - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/27/out-power-50-most-p...

You'd have to be a weirdly obsessive anti-gay to spend your spare time perusing Out magazine or lists of most influential homosexuals, though I suppose such people do exist and you'd also have to be pretty weirdly obsessive to refrain from purchasing from a corporation on account of the sexual orientation of a member of its management team.

I'm gay, politically aware, and posting on HN on a MacBook and had no idea, though frankly I also don't browse LGBT power lists.

Re: Tim Cook Speaks Up

#559

Post by Kalium »

yourad_io wrote: post #557
Kalium wrote: post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a world of intellectual purity and abstraction, yes, that is the case. In the real world, it can be used as a fig leaf to justify a variety of abusive behaviors. For some people, that encompasses the whole of their experiences.

> In the real world, it can be used as a fig leaf to justify a variety of abusive behaviors. We disagree that this actually changes the meaning of Feminism. Yes, some horrid people need an excuse to dish out abuse and Feminism often becomes that excuse (I'm thinking about everyone who's ever used the potential-rapist argument). Does this taint Feminists, the group? Maybe a little, yes. Does this taint Feminism, the i…

If an idea consistently creates abusive groups and people, should that not be viewed as a reflection upon the idea?

Re: Tim Cook Speaks Up

#560

Post by brudgers »

Still, there are laws on the books in a majority of states that allow employers to fire people based solely on their sexual orientation.

That includes Alabama where Tim Cook was born and attended university.

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