What’s On Your Boots?
Apple CEO Tim Cook is gay. For some that revelation in Halloween week, was the ultimate horror story. For others, it will be a beacon of hope that they are not alone in the world. But is it important?
I don’t know if Tim Cook is a great lover and I have never seen his bedroom. He can say the same of me. It is a social pact that everyone apart from the Kardashians has agreed to adhere to. So long as no one is hurt, innocence stolen or trust betrayed, sexuality is a personal choice and no one else’s business.
Here we are at the sunrise of the twenty-first century still shaking old school dogmas off our boots so that we can progress as a world. Tim Cook noble and brave, as he is to stand up and be seen, is “…proud to be gay…” why? I’m not proud to be straight it’s just the way I am. As the head of a company that urges people to “Think Different” he should have used his revelatory opportunity to redefine the conversation beyond me too.
My rascals are 13, 06 and 02 respectively. As beautiful as the world is and as much as I have been blessed in work and play by the company of wonderful people, my heart and soul never fully opened until I held my little miracles in the palm of my hand and cut their umbilical cords. My boys redefined what love is for me and made the sun pale in comparison. Although somewhat subjective various government entities in the U.S.A. put the gay population between 2–3.8 % of the population. Thus, if one is in the U.S. it is a pretty safe bet that you work, play or do business with one or more of the nine million people who identify themselves as being gay.
Sexuality is irrelevant. It doesn’t tell you or I whether a person is loving, honest or competent at his or her job. Whether that person cares about others, his or her community, country or the world at large. Those things, the things that directly and indirectly affect you and I are not based on sexuality. If any or all of my boys were gay would it diminish their character or minimize their achievements, abilities or responsibilities in any way? Would it make them less lovable human beings?
It’s time to wipe the dogmas that get in our way from our boots. We can never travel as far as a society or enjoy the vistas available to us in our lifetime if we let old school thinking get in our way. We live in a rapidly evolving world that is more connected than ever. How apt it would be to renew our connection to each other and in unison say “I AM PROUD TO BE WE.”
Twitter: @DesktopMogul
#Big Ideas 2014, #Entrepreneurship, #Small Business, #Technology, #Politics, #Apple
Photograph courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and showcases the talent of Gualberto 107
