Thanks to Tim

As celebrity coming-outs go, Apple CEO Tim Cook’s was relatively muted. Going public with his sexual orientation for the first time in a powerful essay, Cook wrote he is “proud to be gay” and that he considers “being gay among the greatest gifts god has given [him]”. Yet, Cook’s homosexuality has been something of an open secret. Sections of the media, for instance, included him on power lists of gay celebrities after he took over Apple — and the softening of public opinion on gay rights in the United States has made it that much less terrifying to declare it to the world.

Yet there are few openly gay chief executives in corporate America, and the threat that a public disclosure could adversely affect their careers or overtake other aspects of their personal and professional persona is still very real. So Cook’s declaration, which treats his sexuality as central to his identity — he writes that it gives him “a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority” and makes him more empathetic — can be all the more resonant.

Celebrities who come out today are rightly heralded for their courage, but the announcement loses power if no pink glass ceiling is broken. The fact that Cook can be gay and lead one of the world’s most valuable companies must offer comfort, succour and inspiration to those struggling with discrimination at work. In a perfect world, Cook would not need to offer himself up as a symbol for gay rights. But as some virulent reactions to his coming-out show, equality in the workplace, or even in private spaces, continues to be a pipe dream in many parts of world — including, shamefully, India.