Apple CEO Tim Cook, who came out as a gay man in a Bloomberg Businesweek op-ed last week, shifted the conversation about what it means to be out. Rumored for years to be gay, Cook, who took over running one of the world's most profitable companies after founder Steve Jobs died in 2011, wrote that he's never really been closeted while at Apple. "For years, I've been open with many people about my sexual orientation," Cook wrote. "Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I'm gay, and it doesn't seem to make a difference in the way they treat me."
Despite what Cook described as his openness on the job, he hadn't taken the next step: emphatically coming out to everyone. "While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven't publicly acknowledged it either," he wrote. "So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me." And that's why his announcement is so important. These days, LGBT people are usually out to friends and family, but they have not taken the step of outing themselves publicly. The late Supervisor Harvey Milk implored gay people to come out, because he knew – even back in the 1970s – that being out and proud makes a world of difference. When people know someone who is LGBT they are more likely to support equality issues, from family to the workplace. In Cook's case, he wasn't living a lie per se, but he wasn't being completely out either by allowing for some ambiguity about his personal life. For those who are deeply closeted, living a double life is emotionally exhausting; coming out is freeing, as pro basketball player Jason Collins acknowledged when he came out last year.
Yet Cook also acknowledged that working at – and running – a company like Apple is different from many other businesses. Apple "loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people's differences," Cook wrote. "Not everyone is so lucky."
Similar to the conundrum over pro athletes coming out, a very small number of corner offices of Fortune 500 firms are inhabited by LGBT folks. Putting aside the big companies, out business executives aren't even common in smaller public companies. One who is, Trevor Burgess, is the chief executive of C1 Financial in Florida. But we only heard about Burgess because the New York Times reached out to him in its coverage of Cook's coming out.
Ultimately the decision to come out in this context is an economic issue; most people won't risk their careers. In Cook's case, he determined his coming out wouldn't hurt the company and offers him a unique opportunity to take a stand. But it won't get better until more people come out at work, and that won't change until corporate policies make it safe for employees to do so.
Part of the reason many choose workplace invisibility may be gleamed from one sentence in Cook's essay: "I don't consider myself an activist." It's that label that – rightly or wrongly – scares some LGBT folks who are not yet publicly out. For so many years, gay activists have pushed the fight for civil rights. But many LGBT folks don't consider themselves activists in the traditional sense of raising hell. Business executives typically travel on a different path, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't embrace all of themselves. As Cook and others have demonstrated, you don't have to carry a "We're Here, We're Queer, Get Used to It" banner. We've noted before that it takes all kinds of out people to make change: those who organize rallies; those who lobby lawmakers; those who work behind the scenes in government, business, or sports; and those who live their everyday lives openly.
Cook may not think of himself as an activist, but he took an active step last week that will have wide ramifications. While Apple is a global company, some countries where Apple operates repress LGBT rights or even basic rights like freedom of speech, including many in Asia, where Apple does 27 percent of its business, the Times noted.
Predictably, Russia reacted to Cook's news by removing a memorial to Jobs that was erected by a group of companies outside a St. Petersburg college. Citing the gay propaganda law, the companies, called ZEFS, said the memorial – a giant iPhone – now violates the law. It's unlikely that all those Russians who have iPhones will stop using them, so the action rings hollow.
Finally, when high-ranking people are out, the mainstream media shouldn't continue to "in" them by omitting how they identify. Last Sunday's Times magazine had a Q&A with Megan Smith, the Obama administration's new chief technology officer. Long an out lesbian, Smith is well-known in tech circles and in the Bay Area, where she once worked at Google. Heck, she was CEO of Planet Out and founded Gay.com. But readers of that Times column would never know it, as it didn't say she's a lesbian or include that information in any of the questions. It was a glaring oversight. Contrast that with a recent profile about Smith that appeared on NPR, also about her new gig. It matter-of-factly stated that Smith is a lesbian, along with other information.
Congratulations to Cook, who came out in his own way. As he noted, his move will undoubtedly help others: "So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling with who he or she is, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy."
We hope more LGBT people will follow his lead, and realize that while there is that privacy trade-off, coming out is the right thing to do.