March 11, 2022
Out Apple CEO Tim Cook 'Deeply Concerned' about Rash of Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Out Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted that he is "deeply concerned" about the rash of state laws by Republican elected officials targeting LGBTQ+ youth and their classrooms, Apple Insider reported.
"As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, I am deeply concerned about laws being enacted across the country, particularly those focused on our vulnerable youth," Cook tweeted on March 10.
"I stand with them and the families, loved ones, and allies who support them," Cook added.
Cook's tweet came two days after Florida state Republicans approved the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill, a measure intended to squelch classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ topics in classrooms through third grade – and which critics warn will affect students in all grades, and could silence and marginalize LGBTQ+ youth or students with LGBTQ+ family members.
"Tim Cook has previously tweeted in support of the reintroduced Equality Act in 2021," Apple Insider noted. "He also famously came out in 2014 specifically with the hope that doing so would help others."
The Florida bill "has stirred national controversy amid an increasingly partisan debate over what schools should teach children about race and gender," Reuters said.
On March 10, Republican state lawmakers approved a second measure, the so-called "Stop WOKE Act," which similarly seeks to limit what can be said in schools – and also workplaces in the private sector – about LGBTQ+ and race-related topics.
"Another case that has stirred corporate concern about LGBTQ rights is that of a Texas judge who recently issued an order blocking the state from investigating the parents of a 16-year-old transgender girl for providing her with gender-affirming medical treatments," Reuters added.
That case stems, the Associated Press reported, from "Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's directive that DFPS [Department of Family and Protective Services] investigate reports of transgender youth receiving gender confirming care as child abuse."
Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton had earlier issued a legal opinion that such care – although provided by qualified health professionals – constitutes child abuse.
Apple has joined with other tech firms, Reuters noted – including Google, Facebook owner Meta, Microsoft, and over 60 others – "that have opposed equating gender-affirming treatment with child abuse by putting their names to an ad that will run in Texas on Friday," Reuters detailed.
A March 10 press release from the Human Rights Campaign said that "[m]ore than 290 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced across 33 states in 2021, including more than 140 specifically anti-transgender bills," with "25 anti-LGBTQ+ bills [being] enacted in states across the country – 13 of which were anti-transgender laws across 8 states – making it the worst year on record for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation."
The pace has only picked up: 2022 is already poised to surpass 2021's number of anti-LGBTQ+ measures.
"These bills are the result of a concerted effort by right-wing organizations that have been battling against LGBTQ+ progress for years," the HRC release says.
"Groups like the Heritage Foundation, Alliance Defending Freedom, Eagle Forum, and others are at the helm of this effort, seeking to use LGBTQ+ rights as a political wedge."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
