# "I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996 "2014-10-30T12:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/1 "2014-10-30T12:48:04Z")
“Greatest gifts God has given me”? Really? :smack: So Tim Cook officially came out, though I don’t think it’s much of a surprise but good for him. That’s a pretty powerful successful person to look up to for kids that are struggling with these things no doubt. But what the heck is he saying when he says his gayness is a gift from god? What a bizarre choice of words. I’d say his trillion dollar a year job is probably his greatest gift, if you’re into god. His sexuality though? Something about that statement makes me feel like he has no perspective or is a bit unstable. I dunno. Mundane. Pointless. > **[Apple CEO Tim Cook comes out: 'I'm proud to be gay'](https://money.cnn.com/2014/10/30/technology/tim-cook-gay/index.html?hpt=hp_t1)** > > Apple CEO Tim Cook writes a column in which he announces that he's gay: "I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me." ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/2 "2014-10-30T12:51:35Z")
He elaborated on that. He said that he learned from it and knows what it’s like to be a minority and that that gave him the strength and drive to be successful and get the trillion dollar job. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/3 "2014-10-30T12:53:09Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > He elaborated on that. He said that he learned from it and knows what it’s like to be a minority and that that gave him the strength and drive to be successful and get the trillion dollar job. Ah, ok, I didn’t see that. I suppose it makes more sense in that context. The sound bite without context though is wacky for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/4 "2014-10-30T12:58:09Z")
You know what the greatest gift that Tim Cook could give me? A phone battery that doesn’t suck. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/5 "2014-10-30T13:03:18Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > You know what the greatest gift that Tim Cook could give me? A phone battery that doesn’t suck. Must resist obvious joke… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/6 "2014-10-30T13:08:46Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > You know what the greatest gift that Tim Cook could give me? A phone battery that doesn’t suck. Didn’t Tim just finish saying that sucking is a gift from God? 😃 And from the linked article - > [@](#): > > John Browne served as CEO of BP (BP) from 1995 to 2007, and acknowledged he was gay after he was forced to leave office. He resigned when an former boyfriend outed him. He has since written a book “The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out is Good Business.” I’m not sure I quite follow his reasoning here. I suspect BP’s recent troubles have little to do with the fact that shareholders didn’t know who the CEO likes to diddle and/or be diddled by. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/7 "2014-10-30T13:31:12Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Didn’t Tim just finish saying that sucking is a gift from God? 😃 > > And from the linked article - > I’m not sure I quite follow his reasoning here. I suspect BP’s recent troubles have little to do with the fact that shareholders didn’t know who the CEO likes to diddle and/or be diddled by. > > Regards, > Shodan I don’t follow your reasoning. He resigned in 2007. The Deepwater Horizon disaster was three years later. ---
**Author:** ![Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obnoxious_Hood_Ornament)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/8 "2014-10-30T14:19:52Z")
It’s a carefully crafted statement. Nothing to see here; move along. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/9 "2014-10-30T14:25:52Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Didn’t Tim just finish saying that sucking is a gift from God? 😃 > > And from the linked article - > I’m not sure I quite follow his reasoning here. I suspect BP’s recent troubles have little to do with the fact that shareholders didn’t know who the CEO likes to diddle and/or be diddled by. > > Regards, > Shodan You don’t have to care Shodan. But lots of people do care when a minority makes it to a top position. It gives others hope and someone to look up to. Is that so hard to understand? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/10 "2014-10-30T15:01:13Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > You don’t have to care Shodan. But lots of people do care when a minority makes it to a top position. It gives others hope and someone to look up to. Is that so hard to understand? When you think about it, declaring one’s gayness is the only way am ultra-rich white male can achieve the coveted status of _ **minority** _. Other than being super-rich, of course; but in my experience the ultra-rich don’t elaborate on being in this marginalized group. ‘\* We’re just a regular joe: money doesn’t change one: we put on our pants one leg at a time: we can’t take it with us\*.’ ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/11 "2014-10-30T18:23:21Z")
I see we’re going to have another recognized minority group soon – gay job creators. I await the Republican response. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/12 "2014-10-30T18:38:50Z")
Hey, including dividends I’m up 59% on Apple stock in less than 13 months. That magnificent gay bastard is OK in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/13 "2014-10-30T18:41:37Z")
He received some sort of “favorite son” award from Alabama earlier this week and surprised some of the attendees at the function in the capitol when he said Alabama needs to get with the program in LGBT rights. [Story.](http://www.al.com/news/montgomery/index.ssf/2014/10/apple_ceo_tim_cook_criticizes.html) That gained my respect. Our governor, an avatar of Montgomery Burns, who has fucked the state royally and thus can safely expect to be re-elected in a landslide next week, had no comment. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/14 "2014-10-30T18:50:19Z")
Out magazine voted him the most powerful gay person or something like that not too long ago. He had never acknowledged his sexuality at that point. I thought that was rather strange. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/15 "2014-10-30T18:53:39Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Out magazine voted him the most powerful gay person or something like that not too long ago. He had never acknowledged his sexuality at that point. I thought that was rather strange. There was some hoopla when he was “outed” last year in some book or other, which most people who knew who he was already knew anyway. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/16 "2014-10-30T18:59:51Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > When you think about it, declaring one’s gayness is the only way am ultra-rich white male can achieve the coveted status of _ **minority** _. Dude, he’s a _Mac user_. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/17 "2014-10-30T19:02:54Z")
I wonder if he secretly agreed to be outed. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/18 "2014-10-30T20:32:07Z")
That, or maybe he clicked OK without reading the whole license agreement. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/19 "2014-10-30T20:39:23Z")
LOL I’d feel a bit better if he took a strong stance on Chinese labor & human rights practices, too. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996/20 "2014-10-30T20:42:53Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I’d feel a bit better if he took a strong stance on Chinese labor…practices, too. Why on earth would a gay man care about birthing babies in Asia!?!😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-proud-to-be-gay-and-i-consider-being-gay-among-the-greatest-gifts-god-has-given-me/702996.md?page=2)