Tim Cook: Anti-gay discrimination holds everyone back

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said anti-gay discrimination holds everyone back.

The 54-year-old made the comments while accepting the Human Right Campaign’s Visibility Award at the group’s 19th annual dinner on Saturday (3 October) in Washington, DC.

‘Thirty-one states, more than half the stars on our American flag, have no laws to protect gay and transgendered people from discrimination,’ he said.

‘Discrimination against anyone holds everyone back. Everyone. And as all of us know, discrimination doesn’t simply fade. It has to be pushed back, challenged, overcome and then kept at bay.’

Cook said he came out as gay in an op-ed for Bloomberg Businessweek magazine last year ‘to lend my voice to people who might not be ready to exercise theirs.’

‘I did not do it for attention. I’m a private person by nature. Growing up I was taught that you distinguish yourself in life by what you do, not by what you say or how loudly you say it,’ he said.

‘But sometimes you just have to be loud because people need to hear that being gay is not a limitation.

‘People need to hear that you can be gay or transgender and be whatever else you want to in life – a CEO or a senator, an Olympic athlete, an award-winning actor or actress.’

Cook added: ‘We all have a role. Apple will continue to play our role by remaining open to everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love.’

Watch his full acceptance speech below:

The post Tim Cook: Anti-gay discrimination holds everyone back appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/tim-cook-anti-gay-discrimination-holds-everyone-back/

WATCH: Joe Biden Wants Military to Welcome Trans Service Members

Vice President Joe Biden is once again skipping ahead of President Obama in his support of an LGBT policy advance.

The Obama administration is still in the midst of a policy review on whether transgender service members ought to be allowed to serve openly, or whether they must continue to face expulsion. But Biden, during a speech on Saturday at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual gala in Washington, D.C., is already offering his unqualified support for open service. 

“No longer is there any question: Transgender people are able to serve in the United States military,” said the vice president.

“It’s simple,” he said, “all Americans who qualify to serve physically should be able to serve.”

HRC President Chad Griffin had appropriately introduced Biden to the crowd as, “Someone who has been known to be a little impatient when it comes to doing the right thing.” He was making a coy reference to Biden having supported marriage equality before Obama, who was planning to announce his backing as part of the 2012 reelection campaign. 

Earlier on Saturday, Hillary Clinton also made her support clear for open service by transgender members. In a speech ahead of the gala to HRC volunteers, the 2016 candidate said transgender people are serving now and “keeping this core part of their identities under wraps because they are so committed to defending our nation. They shouldn’t have to do that.”

While Clinton said transgender service members shouldn’t have to remain closeted, she supports the policy review and hopes for open service as the outcome. Her entire statement:

“Transgender people are still banned from serving. That is an outdated rule, especially since you and I know there are transgender people in uniform right now. They are just keeping this core part of their identities under wraps because they are so committed to defending our nation. They shouldn’t have to do that. That’s why I support the policy review that Defense Secretary Carter recently announced at the Pentagon. And it’s why I hope the United States joins many other countries that let transgender people serve openly. Now we pride ourselves on having the world’s best military. But being the best doesn’t just mean having the best trained forces or the biggest arsenal. It also means being a leader on issues like this, on who we respect enough to let serve with dignity as themselves.”

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders has already signaled his support for repealing the ban on transgender service members. Sanders was asked about the ban by a transgender soldier during a chat on Reddit and said, “As somebody who has consistently voted to end discrimination in all forms — who voted against DOMA way back in the 1990s — I will do all that I can to continue our efforts to make this a nondiscriminatory society, whether those being discriminated against are transgender, gay, black or Hispanic.”

Watch the entire speech by Biden in the video below:

Lucas Grindley

www.advocate.com/politics/2015/10/04/watch-joe-biden-wants-military-welcome-trans-service-members

Kim Davis’ lawyers dispute Vatican’s ‘false’ account of pope meeting

The law firm representing Kim Davis are disputing the Vatican’s ‘false’ account of her meeting with the pope.

The Kentucky clerk – who was jailed for repeatedly refusing to issue gay marriage licenses – met Pope Francis on his recent trip to the US, during which he reportedly told her to ‘stay strong.’

After a backlash, the Vatican downplayed the meeting as a ‘brief greeting’ that ‘should not be considered a form of support.’

But Liberty Counsel are challenging the Vatican’s version of events.

‘The meeting with Kim Davis was initiated by the Vatican, and the private meeting occurred at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, DC, on Thursday, 24 September,’ it said in a statement.

‘This meeting was a private meeting without any other members of the public present.

‘That statement by Reuters citing a “senior Vatican official, who declined to be named,” is false.’

Pope Francis and #KimDavis t.co/q2OIeF5qs7 pic.twitter.com/ZmE0KIQ7UR

— Liberty Counsel (@libertycounsel) October 2, 2015

The anti-gay group reiterated: ‘There was no line of people before, near, or around Kim Davis. Had Kim Davis been in a line of people or been seen by anyone outside of Vatican personnel, we would not have been able to keep her visit secret.’

The Holy See press office issued the following statement on the meeting last week:

‘Pope Francis met with several dozen persons who had been invited by the Nunciature to greet him as he prepared to leave Washington for New York City. In order to contribute to an objective understanding of what transpired I am able to clarify the following points:

‘Such brief greetings occur on all papal visits and are due to the Pope’s characteristic kindness and availability. The only real audience granted by the Pope at the Nunciature was with one of his former students and his family.

‘The Pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects.’

The post Kim Davis’ lawyers dispute Vatican’s ‘false’ account of pope meeting appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/kim-davis-lawyers-dispute-vaticans-false-account-of-pope-meeting/