Apple CEO Tim Cook pens op-ed blasting Indiana's 'anti-gay' law
- 4:26 AM
- By Pravesh Maurya
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Apple CEO Tim Cook was at the forefront of the recent online protest against Indiana's new law permitting businesses to discriminate against LGBT consumers
There’s something very dangerous happening in states across the country," wrote Cook in the Sunday edition of the paper. "[T]he bill enacted in Indiana last week that drew a national outcry and one passed in Arkansas, [says] individuals can cite their personal religious beliefs to refuse service to a customer or resist a state nondiscrimination law."
Cook, who in recent years has gone on record as an advocate for workplace equality and the rights of LGBT citizens, drove his point home by putting the much-criticized law in Indiana in historical context.
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This additional, more detailed push against the law in Indiana by Cook, who sits at the head of the most valuable company on the planet, is likely to put even more pressure on the state's governor, Mike Pence.
Pence has been scrambling to explain the reasoning behind the passing of the law following the largely negative reaction from the public and the business community, including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Angie's List (an Indiana-based company) CEO Bill Oesterle, among others.
"This isn’t a political issue. It isn’t a religious issue," wrote Cook, on Sunday. "This is about how we treat each other as human beings."
There’s something very dangerous happening in states across the country," wrote Cook in the Sunday edition of the paper. "[T]he bill enacted in Indiana last week that drew a national outcry and one passed in Arkansas, [says] individuals can cite their personal religious beliefs to refuse service to a customer or resist a state nondiscrimination law."
Cook, who in recent years has gone on record as an advocate for workplace equality and the rights of LGBT citizens, drove his point home by putting the much-criticized law in Indiana in historical context.
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These bills rationalize injustice by pretending to defend something many of us hold dear," wrote Cook. "They go against the very principles our nation was founded on, and they have the potential to undo decades of progress toward greater equality … The days of segregation and discrimination marked by 'Whites Only' signs on shop doors, water fountains and restrooms must remain deep in our past. " Once again putting the internal policies of Apple front and center, Cook talked about how the company is "open to everyone," and added an anecdote about being baptized at a Baptist church as a child. Considering the religious parameters of the Indiana law, the church reference is particularly important to Cook, who wrote in 2014 that he is "proud to be gay."These bills rationalize injustice by pretending to defend something many of us hold dear
This additional, more detailed push against the law in Indiana by Cook, who sits at the head of the most valuable company on the planet, is likely to put even more pressure on the state's governor, Mike Pence.
Pence has been scrambling to explain the reasoning behind the passing of the law following the largely negative reaction from the public and the business community, including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Angie's List (an Indiana-based company) CEO Bill Oesterle, among others.
"This isn’t a political issue. It isn’t a religious issue," wrote Cook, on Sunday. "This is about how we treat each other as human beings."
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