{"id":2164,"date":"2014-10-30T10:20:35","date_gmt":"2014-10-30T18:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iwasmisinformed.com\/?p=2164"},"modified":"2014-10-30T10:20:35","modified_gmt":"2014-10-30T18:20:35","slug":"hes-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iwasmisinformed.com\/?p=2164","title":{"rendered":"He’s Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tim Cook finally unveils the worst-kept secret in Silicon Valley<\/a>, in the pages of Bloomberg Businessweek. \u00a0To be honest, it didn\u2019t seem like it would be a big deal. \u00a0This has to be one of the most gay-friendly places on Earth, and the man whose intensity is the stuff of legend never gave the impression that his orientation was relevant – because who can picture him having time for any kind of relationship other than the Auburn Tigers? \u00a0But he said it, and sounded much like Anderson Cooper when he did: everyone knows, everyone\u2019s known, it\u2019s not a big deal, but I need to say it for the sake of other people who might need the help or the inspiration or the comfort of knowing it\u2019s not just me.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s not nothing. \u00a0In fact, that\u2019s huge, in perspective. \u00a0Because the worst thing you can be growing up in exurban Alabama is different. \u00a0Gay, black, foreign, or just smart<\/em> – if you have anything that keeps you from being just like everybody else, you\u2019re going to be on the outside looking in. \u00a0The closest thing I ever had to being a minority was that four-year undergrad stint where I wasn\u2019t in a fraternity, and it drove home the point that as a minority, it\u2019s not the active prejudice that does for you as much as the ignorance of your existence. The assumption that difference doesn\u2019t exist – it\u2019s that third Goventa level of power, the dismissal of anything that the dominant power doesn\u2019t wish to acknowledge.<\/p>\n

Well, this is going to be hard to dodge. \u00a0Possibly the richest, most powerful living Alabamian – and Auburn alum – is gay, and doesn\u2019t care if you know, and thinks his home state should work harder on not being assholes to gay people. \u00a0The cognitive dissonance alone might be enough to power the state for a year or two. \u00a0(Although it REALLY makes you wonder what would happen if Nick Saban delivered and supported an openly gay Heisman-caliber quarterback who came through with a national title.)<\/p>\n

Good for Tim. \u00a0He didn\u2019t have to, but he knows the meaning of non nobis solum. And if some kid in Alabama feels less alone and more empowered – or if somebody in the old country rethinks their beliefs as a result – he\u2019s done more than any amount of boosting AAPL stock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tim Cook finally unveils the worst-kept secret in Silicon Valley, in the pages of Bloomberg Businessweek. \u00a0To be honest, it didn\u2019t seem like it would be a big deal. \u00a0This has to be one of the most gay-friendly places on Earth, and the man whose intensity is the stuff of legend never gave the impression … <\/p>\n

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