“Apple has once again waved the banner for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights by marching earlier [last] night at the Gay Pride parade in Austin, Texas,” Aldrin Calimlim reports for AppAdvice.
“The largest event of the celebration, the Pride parade, was held at downtown Austin with a great many spectators and, of course, participants, which included Apple employees and their families,” Calimlim reports. “According to a tweet posted by Apple CEO Tim Cook, who again invoked Apple’s diversity motto (‘Inclusion inspires innovation’), as many as 3,000 Apple employees and their families participated in the event.”
A shout-out to 3000 Apple employees and their families marching in the #AustinPride parade! Inclusion inspires innovation. #applepride
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 20, 2014
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple releases video highlighting employee participation in San Francisco’s LGBT Pride Parade – July 8, 2014
Tim Cook, Apple employees march in LGBT Pride Parade in San Francisco – June 30, 2014
Apple inviting employees to march in annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade – May 7, 2014
Apple donates $100,000 to fight same-sex marriage ban in California (Proposition 8) – October 24, 2008
Transgender? Let’s just call it what it really is: Mentally ill.
idiot. take down your shingle. you’re an embarrassment.
I am actually gay, and I agree. Mentally ill. I also don’t talk like a woman, and don’t swing my hands in the air saying “look at me, I am gay!”
so many here in the good old usa bloated with judgment and without the intellectual wherewithal to step outside this culture but for a moment to look back at a bunch of self-righteous, spoiled teeny-wots
yes, like a bunch of pompous peeps in a microwave. i don’t care if you’re gay. it doesn’t give you the privilege of having your stupidity overlooked.
Tolerance of other viewpoints is the issue, and has driven history since 1650. It would appear we have a ways to go yet
in America, you don’t have to like anyone you don’t want to. You don’t have to like them because they’re “different” or “special” or “downtrodden.” The first amendment is a wonderful thing. If homosexuals want to use a formerly great company like because their CEO is a homosexual and they like to march in the street and say “look at me I’m homosexual and that’s okay.” Fine, but I don’t have to like it. Also, I don’t have to purchase their products…and on down the road when the consumer has figured out that ’s innovation went with Steve Jobs and not this gay impostor..the red bottom line will result. (no pun intended.)
If I had a daughter, I’m not sure I would feel comfortable having Tim Cook date her.
and to this fictional daughter of yours, what if she were transgender and it was confirmed by all the professionals with whom you had her meet. would you seek to understand the phenomenon and in doing so, would you then seek to educate others in the community, her friends, their parents, teachers and administrators at her school or would you mete out the same kind of thoughtless, knee-jerk condemnation as some others here have done.
it’s easier for people to condemn and dismiss that which they do not understand until it shows up in their own house, among those they love. honestly, i wouldn’t expect you’d be among those throwing stones.
in my own life, i most certainly do expect to make enemies because i expect more of myself than to become one of a mindless, stone-throwing bunch of dolts. that’s not to say there isn’t intolerance in the lgbt crowd. certainly, there is.
It’s easy for me to preach tolerance, less easy to practice it myself. Had I a daughter, I imagine that I would at first be overly protective of her, until the day she broke free of my control. After that, the family would settle into a different state of equilibrium. But there would be no lingering condemnation, no estrangement, no exile. Family is family.
“Family is family.” A fundamental truth of civilization.
Homosexuality does not create family.
Aren’t we all female until something triggers half of us to develop into males? I just figure in most cases it’s something a little askew in our wiring that confuses the situation.
I have no problem with a biological issue relating to this, but when it evolves into a political play, or trying to influence children that it’s normal to be abnormal and okay to experiment then I grow uncomfortable.
And no matter what the persuasion, I’m more concerned with the prevalence of promiscuity in our country today. Mix that with the widespread use of recreational drugs and our future is in trouble. Just my opinion.
You started out fine with your first paragraph, which reasonably generalizes human development from a biological standpoint. But you then diverged into a judgment on normality.
Who are you or anyone else to define what is normal? Doctors have been trying to define biological normality for decades, centuries even, with only a moderate degree of success. Studies with rats show an increase in homosexual behavior with increased population density. Locusts change their physiology due to population effects. It is no stretch to conjecture that humans might exhibit similar effects.
Are differences in skin color normal? Differences in features – nose, ears, etc.? Differences in height from the very small to the very large? Gender expression is just another manifestation of the human condition. Teaching children that it is OK to be different is *not* the same thing as encouraging them to be something other than who they are. Your fear in this respect is unfounded. A straight kid raised by a gay parent or couple is raised to understand LGBT issues, but is no more likely to be gay.
Promiscuity is in the eye of the beholder. In many cultures, free expression of sexuality is accepted and normal. I believe that the repressive religious culture in the U.S. is actually the abnormal state. It defies human nature, which explains the general failure of abstinence education, even when coupled with religious indoctrination that includes eternal punishment as a disincentive.
The dangers of recreational drugs…now that is something on which we agree. Recreational drugs have been strengthened and refined to incredibly powerful and dangerous levels. The homegrown “pot” of the 1960s has become a concentrated THC oil of the 2000s with orders of magnitude more punch. A solution to the drug problem is going to be difficult and complex.
He started out fine and finished stronger.
You have a problem with sound reasoning for the betterment of society.
We have enough apologists and welfare checks for the misguided.
“Who are you or anyone else to define what is normal?”
Who are you or anyone else to define what is normal?
apple was selling pink iPhones and giving away free iButtplugs
This is MDN – facts / reports from professionals will only be accepted when they agree with the popular point of view. It’s an isolated blog where many enjoy a ‘break’ from analytical thought and at times, reasoned thinking – mainly about Apple products.
But when an issue that affects children as much as this one does, it is dangerous- unfortunately people here genuinely believe the lgbt crowd has / can do no wrong, believe their opinions come from reasoned thinking (as opposed to a subtle manipulation of media and tv programming) and still think that they are an oppressed group despite all the ‘bashing and decrimination’ stories are real despite the now public facts about nearly every one. People here even claim there has been no descrimition from the lgbt crowd- despite a new lawsuit every week where someone has deliberately entrapped an unsuspecting member of the public then sued them for refusing what they wanted – violating themselves what they promised would never happen.
So, while professional psychologists agree with you and studies (as well as logic) says the same, unless you can sway public opinion before you post here – you’ll just get voted down or called names.
God help us all.
God help you. I will take care of myself, thank you very much.
Because children are all inherently gay and need to be trained to be straight before they hit puberty, right?
You got it. It goes well beyond sex changing, which is found in clownfish, wrasses, moray eels, gobies, mushroom corals, lobsters not to mention a number of deciduous plants. Plus the sick mind behind merging the two sexes into hermaphrodites, no doubt that is sick too. Better nuke your earthworms.
Of course the sick mind behind all this perverse diversity of life can be none other than the creative god that many believe it, so it’s not a big issue to deal with. Simply get a world leader to go to the UN and whine about god having weapons of mass destruction (you can even quote Saddam and Gonnerhea), show some pictures and a map using that advanced “aim for Bin hit Saddam” guidance system and off you go. Heck you already have a good cell waiting at Gitoutalamo Bay and expertise in water torture techniques.
What more do you need?
Oh yeah, a big poster that says “Mission Accomplished.”
and “yes, we can.” You’re headed to “your comment under moderation” censorship. Best of luck being rational, Road.
Oh gee I thought I was way way past that milestone. Logic dictates that there is more to it than itself, so luck and empathy and any one of the plethora of emotions can also be well suited to go to infinity and beyond.
Hope you are doing well, you seem in fine form bot.
That’s a healthy dose of ‘think different’ from a different thinker. Biology really is a mess, isn’t it? Almost as messy as human psychology…
Hey hannahjs, thanks for that.
I don’t think biology is a mess, it’s diversity at it’s finest. Of course for those who crave monoculturalism it is a mess. Now human psychology, oh my that is a quagmire.
Always a joy to read you and thank you for your kind words. Enjoy your day/week/life.
Don’t forget to smell the flowers, they are kinky (some of them have both male and female parts, but that’s just have the fun, some of those plant critters, well they are more like growing sperm and egg (they are haploid), yup more than one cell, and green and growing in your neighborhood. Shhhh, be hush hush about it thought they might have to send the morality squad if word gets out.
I spotted a praying mantis clinging to the gate latch today, snapped a pic in fact, to stay mindful; and thought of Donovan Leitch and his memorable Zen Koan “First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.” The mantis is placid, unconcerned, majestic, knowing his proper place in the spectacle that is life unfolding. The power of this knowing flows into me.
I know the joy of fishes through my own joy.
Well put hannahjs. See you at the next exciting post.
What did I tell you? What kind of company offends half the electorate and then asks them to buy their products? Tim Cook’s Apple. He has to go!
The company is run by a homosexual. Whoever takes offense to them marching in this parade has no business buying from Apple in the first place. And I say good riddance to them.
After yesterday’s reporting on the dreaded Chinese invasion of New York Apple Stores I hope no one was bussed in to Austin. /s
Idiot!
The world overpopulation and overcrowding is caused by guess who? HETEROSEXUALS which is the main reason we are seeing climate change!
Stop with the gay bashing already!
Wow. I have never seen climate change linked to heterosexuality. Who knew?
Actually, Dennis M.’s assertion is fundamentally true. Human procreation and, therefore, population growth is almost entirely due to heterosexual activity. I say almost because bisexual activity undoubtedly contributes to a small percentage of births. And, in recent decades, people (regardless of sexual orientation) can procreate via artificial means. In the future, this could extend to human cloning.
Getting back on subject, overpopulation (which has already occurred and is getting worse) is predominantly the product of heterosexuality. And overpopulation, in combination with poor control of waste products and insufficient recycling and reuse, is the source of a great many environmental ills.
Following your logic, all of humanity’s problems are then caused by heterosexuality. It’s absurd
Equally logical is to look at it from the other way around. Over crowding in mice populations leads to a unique display of behavior not normally found in uncrowded populations. Things such as:
-reduced litters
-killing off the young.
– cannibalism.
– increase violence.
– homosexuality.
I think the same thing is possibly happening in highly dense human populations. Over population is a massive issue for human beings. We have the technology to limit our growth. No one seems to be directing the idea for it though, such is the fragmentation of humanity at the moment.
Yes, overpopulation is the biggest driver of many of the most serious problems of the world. That is why professional demographers (such as folks at the UN Population Fund) seem to be quite impressed by the China’s “One Child” policy (from their professional perspective only, obviously), which successfully arrested China’s explosive population growth. Obviously, such draconian laws can’t be forced upon any democratic and free society, so other solutions are necessary. Not to mention that Chinese solution is now striking back with vengeance — two generations of Chinese parents had only one child, which makes the size of the youngest generation one quarter of that of their grandparents — for every Chinese child of today, there are six adults that (s)he will eventually have to care for in their old age. Put it in another way, in 30 years, for every adult working Chinese, there will be six of them who are retired (and drawing state pension). Who will pay for that?
Great post Predrag. China’s efforts poor as they have been have been efforts. We had a choice, to reduce our population of have it done for us. Who is going to pay? No one, the culling will be provided free of charge.
no wonder my dick is so warm.
If you’re offended because of someone else’s love, you need to get a life.
exactly what aspect of sucking another guy’s dick evokes a pride response? pleasure i can understand. further, what compels a man to hit the street en masse to share this personal tidbit?
Your statistics are off and they are age biased. The customers and investors of the future don’t give a damn.
‘ What kind of company offends half the electorate ‘
90%.
actually, it’s figured 1.5% of the American population is homosexual.
I’m not sure where you got that figure, but virtually all independent data out there pegs it around 5%.
Not that it matters; they are still a small minority, therefore an outlier (i.e. what you might say, something other than “normal”). Even with your numbers, that still makes some 4.5 million Americans who were born into something they didn’t choose (and nobody will convince me that a teenager in today’s bigoted, homophobic society actually wants to choose this “lifestyle”). So we have St. Patrick’s Day parades, Israel Day parades, Puerto Rican day parades, and all other sorts of minority parades that don’t seem to bother anyone all that much, but when it is LGBT pride, there’s this noise. It seems to me that the main purpose for all these parades is for the people of a certain minority group to celebrate their own belonging to such group, as well as to make others aware of their own existence. This second part is much more important: we normally fear (or hate) what we don’t know, and what doesn’t conform to our own set of norms. Getting to know others, we learn to understand and accept. A hundred years ago, white anglo Americans persistently discriminated against Italian immigrants (they looked somewhat different, they spoke poor English). I’m not saying that Italian Day parades were responsible for changing the minds of the rest of America, but they certainly helped at least a little.
being Italian isn’t an abomination.
Neither is being left-handed, or gay.
Those two examples are profoundly different and not equivalent.
In fact, for this purposes they are quite similar. Neither is a choice, both are a minority, and both have been persecuted and discriminated against in the past (and in many places, they still are). My older left-handed cousins were forced to write with their right hand (this was in the 40s), which caused plenty of trauma. My daughter is left-handed and she is how accepted. However, she still struggles using devices for right-handed people (can openers, ergonomic scissors, etc). The type and scale of discrimination isn’t the same, but the essence remains similar — majority rejected them because they didn’t understand them.
The short response: your assertion that neither is a choice is unsupported. That position requires a belief in a predetermined sub speciation of humanity that exists primarily in the rhetoric of individuals and groups advocating the cause of the ‘normalcy’ of homosexual behavior. The use of the word ‘gay’ (a notoriously inappropriate euphemism) makes the whole business a worse muddle, because it brings in issues of ‘lifestyle’ and other vagaries. Your bringing in discrimination is rhetorically effective, but it sidesteps the major issue, the dignity of the person, possessing intellect and will, being more than a bundle of physical and biological forces they ‘can’t help.’ Your argument likewise relegates people who might be critical of homosexual behavior to sort of mindless dislike of things that are ‘different.’ Where do we allow them the dignity of possessing well thought out positions based on logic, science, philosophy or religion? Are they to be vilified because they are ‘different?’ The views you espouse seem widespread, but they seem based on a relativism that requires the obedient acceptance of most any view, regardless of logic or reason.
Someone upstairs begs to differ with the latter.
Your rectal prolapse was the result of “equal marriage.”
Maki, I told you that you have to accept it that your Mother realized that he was supposed to be a boy at birth but God got it wrong and I had you before I knew what a little shot you would become. If only abortion was available back then.
And if Apple doesn’t participate/support gay rights? Then the LGBT activists absolutely ROAST you and you look horrible thanks to media reporting.
Besides, who cares? Does it really affect you and your life? No matter what you think the reason why a person is LGBT, it does absolutely zero to you and there is no reason to discriminate against people for choosing to do something you don’t want to do.
If everyone who proclaims freedom in the U.S. would just let it be, then this wouldn’t be such a big issue, we wouldn’t need Gay Pride parades, and everyone could just be happier.
Your ignorance on this issue is amazing. The lgbt crowd are the continually violating the rights of people and using pressure tactics to promote their worldview. They use anger, hate and lawsuits to promote not only a lifestyle but a violation of anyone who would disagree with them.
And it doesn’t affect anyone? Pull-ease! Studies show different – that the children dumped in these ‘families’ are not only worse off but actually stunted. Who’d have thought that normalising a behaviour forbidden by the Creator would have negative effects? People have free choice – but when that effects the vulnerable I have to disagree.
That is about the most ignorant statement I have ever seen here.
Exactly whose rights are LGBT people violating and in which way? “Pressure tactics to promote worldview”??? “Anger, hate, lawsuits to promote […] a violation of anyone”??? What on earth are you saying?
I would really like to see one single study that had confirmed that children who grow up with two gay parents are developmentally or in any other way disadvantaged, compared to a control group of average children from typical heterosexual families (and it would also be nice to see a comparison to a single-parent children). While there have been studies that looked at this, none of them resulted with what you’re saying. In fact, the numbers tell quite the opposite picture: children from same-sex parents tend to do better in school, are better socially adjusted and often score better in standardised tests. For anyone with a thinking brain this makes complete sense: almost 50% of all pregnancies are accidental (rather than planned). In other words, 50% of children come to this world without any specific plan for them, and many of them were actually unwanted, but because of abortion restrictions, they couldn’t have been prevented. With same-sex parents, 100% of children are planned and wanted. Gay parents (especially gay men) must jump through massive number of hoops in order to have children. Their own investment in children is significantly higher, and therefore the involvement with those children is much greater.
News for you, aki, you are not like half the electorate, you are far, far less. A minuscule, worthless part. So, get used to being ignored, because that’s the rational response to cases like you that define the need for retroactive abortion.
Who cares? It’s impossible to totally separate how you run a company from your personal beliefs. It’s never just business…..it’s always just personal. The company’s values and how they treat their employees and customers are pinned together with the ceo’s personal beliefs. I wouldn’t march in that……because….?
It’s easier to claim yourself to be a moral and responsible person than to try harder to understand what love and life is really about.
Just don’t hate someone when you really don’t know him or her.
I guess both the CEOs and the chairman of Google, as well as the president of Samsung, for example are not homosexual, but see how the blatantly copy Apple’s wonderfully “designed” and “engineered” products? Moral seems to
be very confusing here?!
The “Moral Majority” aren’t.
The moral majority lives and numbers prove it.
Just because the media treats the group as a bald stepchild means nothing.
The majority are not always right. See slavery, women’s voting/suffrage, Jim Crowe laws, Japanese American imprisonment in WWII, etc. etc. etc.
Agreed.
It was the majority that changed all those things.
Actually, it would be far more accurate to say that a minority led those changes. The majority is usually far behind and reluctant to do the right thing. It often takes decades.
Sometimes, it takes a thousand years or more to overcome the outcomes of our animal indulgences, and a thousand years more to begin speaking of them with a clear mind and intent—as we are just now beginning to do. May we not regress.
do you advocate the moral legitimacy of pedophilia?
do you advocate the moral legitimacy of beastiality?
do you advocate the moral legitimacy of polygamy?
I would suggest your “outcomes of our animal indulgences” is but a pop response to what your heart considers vulgar and abnormal. Homosexuality defines both of those adjectives.
Legends in their own minds. More concerned with other peoples actions than casting out the motes in their own eyes.
You need to rethink your post.
never use “think” or even re-think regarding quiviran. You are asking for something that can never be.
As long as Tim doesn’t discriminate against those who don’t participate, then he can do whatever he wants.
Okay, who here wants someone or anyone else to criticize, chastise, or even repress YOU for your very own personal sexual preferences?
Anybody?
If you don’t, then return the favor.
Other’s deeply held, deeply personal, and/or born with sexual proclivities are NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!
Bigotry and prejudice are just wrong.
P.S. go buy a M$ computer and an Android phone then.
P.P.S. I hear Google is on the same vibe socially, even if they don’t go as public as Apple on this.
They could help it be nobody else’s business by not having parades.
Actually, Google had a large contingent in the SF Pride parade, as well.
Sexual preference inspires innovation?
How?
He said inclusion. In other words, if you don’t hire someone because they’re gay, you may have missed out on an outstanding future employee.
The idea that people who seek sexual stimulation and orgasm by inserting the organ of generation into the orifice of elimination and then hold parades to express “pride” in the behavior is most odd. The fact that people use the judiciary to try and define the behavior
and it’s concomitants as a civil right is bizarre.
Looks like the crowd ain’t buyin’ it Z.R.
Must be a lot of liberals, hedonists and corn-holers here today.
Guess so.
Relativism lives.
News flash, Rifnak. A significant number of heterosexuals engage in that practice. The world does not conform to you preferences.
You’re quite correct, but that doesn’t address the point of the statement.
Welcome to Obamaville, and his lovely wife, Assquatch.
Touché
Gosh I had no idea that lesbians do that. You know if the Pride Parades included heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenders the priests might be mighty upset for not being invited.
Oh silly me I had a tidbit that might help you with understanding why that behavior is odd. Apart from the clitoris the anus has more nerve receptor endings per unit area than anywhere on the body, so it’s a bit by design.
If you are unsure, just have your boyfriend or husband give you a rim job Zelda.
Thanks Cubert, you probably have the most intelligent response here today.
I think that may be a result of his not having any hangups about sex or sexuality to cloud his thinking. Rare…
heh.
Possible because when one’s deepest urges are outside of the cultural mainstream, one thinks outside of the box by default.
Michelangelo, Leonardo DaVinci, Tchaikovsky all dome immediately to mind.
Think Differently.
Don’t forget Alan Turing and Tim Berners-Lee.
You have to appreciate the irony of the comment though about how excluding people based on sexuality wouldn’t deter innovation when the comment is made on a computer (credit to Alan Turing) over the Internet (credit to Time Berners-Lee).
I’m sure there are many others we’re neglecting to mention, and even more that were never public.
Logic does not deter dogma, yet one must still try
Hey, how come Pa never feeds the dog. Oh gosh I forgot to put /shjtt tags on all my posts here. I’m going to be in so much trouble.
Never mind the excuse-me tags, slather it on. You make sense in a serious way, even if it does go around the bend once before hitting.
“excluding people based on sexuality
Accepting them based on their sexuality, one way or the other makes no sense either.
The point is to accept them regardless of their sexuality.
My favorite time of the month: when MDN goes click-whoring.
They certainly were yesterday, September must be sweeps month on the Internet.
Month is coming to a close, need to get clicks up for them to generate ad revenue. MDN writes inflammatory headlines generate clicks and comments.
I make it a point to not ever click an ad on this page because of it.
Not sure why this has to be reported. Plenty of companies and organisations join Pride Parades on a regular basis. When it first happened for Apple it was news. Now it’s just background noise.
It’s a stupid business practice to chase ½ of you clients away!!! Are the going to march in the NRA parade next
?? It’s not about ‘who you love’ it’s about sex!!! & male parts don’t go with other male parts!!!
Hmmmm we all know that “male parts” often go to places that aren’t, strictly speaking, the “right” ones, regardless of what your orientation is.
Yes, sales of the iPhone 6 and 6+ are obviously suffering because Apple supports gay rights. Thank you for pointing out all the people who refused to buy Apple products this past weekend.
yet, Timmy’s only solo product without the vision of Steve Jobs will be the watch, and it will be a dismal failure. The dumbass has the actually claim “this was created after the death of Jobs.”
“Great products in the pipeline.”
Thanks for reinforcing the bigot-grammar rule.
Erm Google does exactly the same thing, it aired a TV on prime time tv advert here in the UK to do with gay, Lesbian people.
They are trying to appeal to the Pink pound!!! As this group has alot disposable income. Also estimates put it that between 5-10% of tje population are gay, bi
I don’t see it that way. If you portray your company as progressive and inclusive you only put off that teeny tiny minority of people who care so much about this they’ll allow it to affect their purchasing decisions. In the meantime you’ll attract everyone who believes in inclusiveness, who obviously outweigh the antis by quite a margin.
The gains obviously work out financially, or why is just about every company doing it?
Marching in a gay pride parade publicly is not something Steve would have endorsed for business reasons. The PLAYBOOK is non-partisan.
That said, the gay leader of Apple is different increasing support for gays in public events, fine.
Now Tim, will Apple support a Tea Party Parade or an alternative view politically you DO NOT SUPPORT?
Back in the early 1990s, when Steve Jobs was emphatically in charge at Apple, they were among the first to adopt a company-wide policy of providing spousal benefits to same-sex partners. That ended up blowing up a deal for a major project in the county just north of Austin. Apple–and Jobs–would not back down. Supporting equality IS a business reason, even if it offends some people.
Supporting equality is good and good for Apple.
But you missed the point of my post. Does equality matter for ALL VIEWPOINTS or just the garden variety liberal cause célèbre?
that wasn’t Goe’s question, coward.
His question was whether Apple should support causes that it does not support. I couldn’t understand the logic of the question, so I responded to his assertion that “Steve wouldn’t do it.” Steve did do it. I was there in Williamson County, Texas when his personal representatives refused to back down on equality issues when doing so would have allowed the company to build a facility that never did get built.
I’m sure that Apple and its CEO support the rights of its employees to support anything that isn’t illegal, but that does not equate to the company supporting ideas that conflict with its business plan. Apple thinks that inclusion and diversity are good business, so it supports them. If it does not support the Tea Party in the same way, it is because doing so does not fit their business plan.
That seems pretty obvious to me, even if I am a coward.
However it started off The Tea Party is now just a bunch of lunatic climate-change-denying bundles of anger banging on about gun rights. It’s already blown its fuse and should disappear.
Getting plowed in the rear until you crap your intestines out is buttfking lunacy (aka Liberalism 101).
Your rectal prolapse is not a sacred stigmata.
Apple sported the colors of pride long before it was adopted by the LBGT community. I say Apple should bring back the multi color logo for these events.
Don’t like my preferred company(s) getting involved with anything political like this. Not smart Apple, not at all. Just make great products and services. Mr Cook is not playing his superstardom very well.
Wow, I guess judging by these comments there’s a lot more homophobia still about than I thought. It never occurred to me that someone might think a celebration like a pride parade was still considered political. Perhaps you should go to one, nowadays it’s more like a competition between companies for the best float – I see Budweiser, AT&T and American Express we’re sponsors along with Apple in Austin. Companies know that many gay people have high disposable incomes (especially those that decide not to have children) and understandably want to sell their products to as many people as possible. Fortunately homophobia is generally on the decrease as people become better informed and tolerant. Why hate people for loving each other when there’s so much evil out there. Lighten up, deal with it and move on.
I don’t wish to contend with your post, but I’d like to draw attention to a pet peeve. The use of the term “homophobia” is generally intended to belittle opponents as having an unreasoning fear or hatred of people engaging in homosexual behavior. The problem is the word is a fake; it’s intended to sound clinical, erudite and authoritative. However, I believe the conflation of these greek roots means “fear of the same,” hardly what people are talking about. Seems to me we could have productive discussions if we used plain English and clear logic.
You must be fun to sit next to at dinner parties.
A barrel of laughs.
You know, twenty years ago, when I first came to America, I was extremely homophobic. And at the time, I was massively annoyed by the term “homophobia”, because it implied unreasonable fear. I wasn’t afraid of them; I thought they were abnormal and unnatural, and I wanted them out of existence.
Well, twenty years of living in New York made a difference and it is obvious to me now that I was an idiot back then. A homophobic one, too. Once you accept the reality (that nobody chooses homosexuality), you realise that these people are most viciously discriminated against just because they are different from others, by those who don’t want to understand them.
So, no, the word “homophobia” is not a misnomer; it is an adequate definition for an irrational fear (and hate) against a small minority of population who happens to be homosexual.
The point of the post was simply that the word, as assembled, doesn’t mean fear of homosexuals, its elements mean ‘fear of the same.’
Regarding your assertion that people don’t choose homosexuality, that would seem to imply that we are simply an instrument of our appetites and bodily functions without the intervention and control of intellect and will. You don’t really mean that do you?
While the literal translation of the word may be fear of the same, obviously, the meaning as it is today, in most languages of the world, is fear of homosexuals.
As for the assertion of choice, homosexuality as a sexual preference is not a choice. You as a heterosexual man had wanted to mate with females since your puberty. The idea of mating with a man would likely be repulsive to you (as it is to me, as a heterosexual man). When one says ‘mate’, we mean the complete range of feelings and desires; from sub-conscious physical attraction, to sexual arousal, to emotional attraction and to all other levels of attraction that take place between two people who are ready to mate. And for us who are heterosexual, this attraction exclusively happens to a person of the opposite sex. I have been married for over fifteen years and I am continuously very much attracted to my wife; emotionally, intellectually, physically and sexually. While it is altogether another argument whether we are monogamous or promiscuous species, we are definitely always attracted to the opposite sex. Not even the most physically attractive man (with most magnetic personality and most appealing human qualities) would ever make me attracted to him in such a way to want to mate with him.
Homosexuality works exactly the same way, but with people of the same sex. Same emotional, intellectual, physical, sexual and all other levels of attraction as with us, heteros.
Much like catholic priests are required by their profession to subvert their human desire to mate, so can homosexuals subvert their own desire to mate with members of their own sex, but it does NOT remove their attraction to others.
Did I explain this well enough?
You explained well enough and thoughtfully enough for me to understand your point. However, I don’t accept your major premise that we are deterministically divided at birth into sexual ‘orientation’ sub-species.
However, your closing mention of attraction not being dispelled by ‘subverting’ the desire to mate is interesting. It brings us back to the question of will and action. What does one do with feelings and attractions? It is ordinary and expected that married people and priests respect their vows and not act on ‘attractions.’ Until now, it was likewise expected that people not act on homosexual urges. All of the above involve discussion of morality, which is difficult to do in today’s climate.
We can’t praise God but we can praise Gay? Jeez Tim, give it a rest already.
people shouldn’t waste time ‘hating gays’
there are too many real problems out there from rising consumer cost like food, to overpopulation (the giant underlying cause of green house gases and environmental degradation) , to disease spread, to national debt, to clueless politicians , not to mention bunches of crazed terrorists here and there…
So far all the above have negatively impacted my life in some ways (e.g: hassles at the airport due to terrorists ), gays not so much.
I suspect that many gay haters are in other aspects smart, competent people , so maybe they should spend their smarts in solving those problems I mentioned. Even if you think ‘gays are wrong’ they are not ‘hurting’ you, but the stuff I mentioned are.
Few comments:
I live on Austin and worked for Apple for years.
This was a LGBTQ parade. Please don’t forget the Q.
I no longer work for Apple, in part, because I was uncomfortable with the alternative emphasis and felt forced to embrace it.
As a stock holder, I love Tim reaching out to any micro-community to attract buyers.
Linking heterosexuals to global warming is about as ridiculous as gay people who want to eliminate ‘breeders’.
When will it be equally as acceptable to celebrate being a Christian, or a straight person? Have a parade for those things in downtown Austin, and the city would erupt in protest.
A very small minority is driving discussion, culture, and influence. If this minority is not decided by choice, why does it keep growing as a percent of population? One would assume a genetic or other issue would be consistent in percent like any other. Unless this is a long term result of smoking, caffeine, or artificial sweeteners. Duh duh!
Loving my iPhone 6, regardless of who works at Apple!
Actually, if anyone is interested in sponsoring a parade to celebrate inclusiveness in our society for Christians and straights, I’m sure that would be fine. Of course, the airwaves are full of such ads, programs, and comments 24/7 now, as are conversations all around us within earshot, so I’m not sure who would come out to watch a parade on top of that. These parades for minority groups are to show the greater population that they actually exist and are no threat to them. They also let other members of that minority know that there are others just like them, and to not despair. Knowledge of something reduces our fear of it, and allows us to accept it as just part of the overall culture.
If it bothers you, just ignore it. They’re not hurting you in any way that matters.
Seriously, what does the Q mean?
I’ve never been to Austin Texas and I’m quite shocked that they don’t allow Christians to celebrate mass on Sunday in the church structures built for Christians. I’m guessing by your post that straight people (heterosexuals) have to get married elsewhere. Is it just in Austin or is that state wide? If it’s state wide, it sure explains a lot of things about George Bush. Now it makes sense why he committed those crimes against humanity.
gross.
Good for Apple, I’m proud of them.
Your rectal prolapse is bleeding and festering with pride.
I don’t have any need to identify myself publicly by my sexuality, and have no idea why anyone would need to make it the keystone of their life and allow it to color and filter everything they see or do.
Just live, judge everyone by how they treat each other and not by some category or label, life is so much easier and happier that way.
It is wrong to ascribe characteristics to anyone based upon these endless group categories, but rather individually based upon how they treat others.
Don’t make me approve or disapprove of you based upon a group that you are a part of. I judge you individually and am proud of that, will not be changing.
Just my opinion.
I’m sorry to have to point out that all of us instinctively judge others by labels, appearances, and past experience. No one has the time or energy to independently evaluate each and every person he or she meets. Pattern recognition is life’s greatest gift of cognition, and we all rely on it to the exclusion of any rational premises that may be laid at our feet.
Therefore our general tolerance for one another must be based on a cosmopolitan outlook, one that desires world trade and understands how it can can work despite perceived cultural or personal differences. The alternative is essentially religious war, a fundamental form of insanity.
immorality, like any lie, has a label.
There is nothing immoral about people living their lives openly and honestly in a way that hurts nobody else.
In saying that, you are equating morality and truth. Morality is mutable, truth transcendent.
true.
The fact that mores vary from culture to culture and epoch to epoch does not disprove the existence of objective moral truths.
“No one thing is true, it’s all true.” – Ernest Hemingway, “Islands In The Stream.”
Nonsense. Well written nonsense, but nonsense nonetheless.
Ernest must have been thinking that right before he put a shotgun in his mouth. My reference is incorrect, the original quote is from “For Whom The Bell Tolls.” However, actor George C. Scott uses the quote in the film version of “Islands In The Stream.” My apologies for the inaccuracy, I appreciate your thoughtful comments.
Thanks for the update. I didn’t recognize the quote at all, though I have read the novel. I think your shotgun comment is apt- I believe a lot of really brilliant people like him find themselves trapped in logical-philosophical quandaries like that. It reminds me of the spooky title of H.G. Wells’ last book: “Mind At The End Of Its Tether.”
P.S.: I’ve been enjoying your comments as well, especially the one on family, etc.
PS: there has been “world trade” since the Persian Spice Trails…what is important is to be the country that is the making the stuff to sell.
I have tremendous respect for those few men left who earn their living without any government support, that love a woman and care for their children. Parades about buttfuckers are without merit.
yeah, yeah, I know…my comment is “currently under moderation.”
Your lack of respect isn’t going to stop anyone sleeping at night.
well, Dave, I don’t allow some guy’s dick in my ass, so I bet I sleep a lot better at night than you.
SICK IM SO TIRd of this crap. Gay pride please i don’t see straight people running around having a straight pride parade. If your gay fine be gay but we don’t need to announce it to the world and have some parade and all this.
Apple needs to get to work and quit messing around with this gay crap. GET TO WORK APPLE we don’t want to hear how gay you are just do what you do make great products. SO sickening that people feel the need to do these parades and dress weird.
Only gay people feel the need to show off in a parade and let the world know they are gay. i figure its because they feel so bad they have to get approval from others and show off in a parade to feel good.
Again fine be gay but do it at home keep it out of the workplace and quit showing off. The world does not want to hear about it we just want to do what we do you do what you do