Apple CEO Tim Cook Says He Consulted Anderson Cooper ‘at Length’ Before Coming Out

In a new interview with The Washington Post reflecting on his five years as the head of Apple, Tim Cook talks about his decision to come out as gay and why he did it.

Said Cook:

“I was thinking about kids. I was getting notes from kids who knew I was gay, or assumed I was, because of something they had read on the Web. And they were kids who were distraught. Some had been pushed out by their families. They thought they couldn’t achieve anything. They couldn’t do anything. They were seeing the national discourse around it and feeling isolated and depressed. And I just thought — I’ve got to do something…I thought it would minimally say you can do pretty good in this world and be gay. That it’s not a limiter. It’s okay to be. That it’s okay to be honest about it. I figured if I could help one person, it would be worth it.”

FLASHBACK: Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘I Consider Being Gay Among The Greatest Gifts God Has Given Me’

“Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day,” Cook said in the October 2014 Bloomberg Businessweek coming out essay. “It’s made me more empathetic, which has led to a richer life. It’s been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It’s also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you’re the CEO of Apple.”

Cook said that it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision to come out, that he had been planning it for awhile. He said that he consulted with Anderson Cooper before taking the plunge:

“I wanted it to be in a business [publication]. That’s what I know, that’s who I am. There was a lot of work there. I visited people. I talked to Anderson Cooper at length — multiple times. Because I thought that the way that he handled his announcement was really classy. I was getting advice from people who I thought were really great people who had really deeply thought about it.”

Read the full interview here.

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Donald Trump Wants to Test Muslim Immigrants on Gay Equality

His new “extreme vetting” would add an ideological test to his already proposed religious test.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/8/15/donald-trump-wants-test-muslim-immigrants-gay-equality

The New York Mets Embraced LGBT Fans This Weekend (Photos)

www.advocate.com/sports/2016/8/15/new-york-mets-embraced-lgbt-fans-weekend-photos

New Bud Light Ad Celebrates Gender Identity: ‘Labels Are for Beer, Not People!’ – WATCH

Bud Light today debuted a new trans-inclusive ad starring Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen featuring transgender actor Ian Harvie.

In the ad, Schumer and Rogen are candidates giving a stump speech for ‘The Bud Light Party’.

Says the ad:

“It’s a party for everyone….men, women, people of all genders. But, you know, gender identity it’s really a spectrum…we don’t need these labels. Labels are for beer, not people. We don’t care. We’ll sell you a beer any day of the week.”

Said Nick Adams, GLAAD’s Director of Transgender Media: “When a brand like Bud Light shows support for the transgender community, it makes a difference. Not only does it help bring more visibility to the trans community, it also inspires other companies to do more to show their support. This ad also includes out trans actor Ian Harvie, which puts a face on the trans community and gives a trans person the opportunity to appear in a high-profile spot like this one.”

Watch:

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Donald Trump to Propose ‘Gay Rights Test’ for Immigrants – VIDEO

Donald Trump will announce today a proposal to test whether immigrants support gay rights before granting them entry to the United States.

Trump will make the remarks during a foreign policy address in Ohio in which he will lay out principles for how he would handle international affairs. He and his team dub the Trump approach, “foreign policy realism” that promises to end the practice of nation-building. It’s worth noting that George W. Bush made the same promise in the 2000 presidential debates. And look how that turned out.

The focus of Trump foreign policy would be on defeating “radical Islamic terrorism.” Part of that strategy involves adding even more provisos to who the government allows into the United States.

PREVIOUSLY: Donald Trump Incites Twitter Takedown with ‘Ask the Gays’ Remark – VIDEO

While Trump has already called for a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the United States, he will go further and suggest that there need to be political tests applied to immigrants and others seeking entry to the US. One of those tests would be centered on gay rights.

The AP reports: 

It will be the latest version of a policy that began with Trump’s unprecedented call to temporarily bar foreign Muslims from entering the country — a religious test that was criticized across party lines as un-American. Following a massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in June, Trump introduced a new standard.

“As he laid out in his Orlando remarks, Mr. Trump will describe the need to temporarily suspend visa issuances to geographic regions with a history of exporting terrorism and where adequate checks and background vetting cannot occur,” Miller said.

Trump is also expected to propose creating a new, ideological test for admission to the country that would assess a candidate’s stances on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights. Through questionnaires, searching social media, interviewing friends and family or other means, applicants would be vetted to see whether they support American values like tolerance and pluralism.

What Trump will define as support for gay rights is largely unclear, however, given that he himself has said he would consider appointing Supreme Court justices that would overturn the gay marriage ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.

RELATED: Trump’s SCOTUS List: Why It’s Bad News for LGBT People

UPDATE. During his address, Trump blasted Hillary Clinton’s record on gay rights because the Clinton Foundation has accepted money from anti-gay countries.

Said Trump, “While my opponent accepted millions of dollars in foundation donations from countries where being gay is an offense punishable y prison or death, my administration will speak out against the oppression of women, gays and people of different beliefs.”

Trump: The Clinton foundation accepted money from countries “where being gay is an offense t.co/74hBWleQnA t.co/zebgiaauzw

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 15, 2016

Trump has leveled this charge against Clinton before.

Right-wing group “LGBT for Trump” issued a statement following Trump’s speech declaring that Trump is the “only presidential candidate committed to protecting LGBT Americans from radical Islam.”

LGBT for Trump says he is “only presidential candidate committed to protecting LGBT Americans from radical Islam.” pic.twitter.com/JFfZQzPZwT

— Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) August 15, 2016

Meanwhile, some on Twitter were nonplussed with Trump’s remarks.

Trump’s new admissions test would question immigrants on religious freedom, gender &gay equality

MANY many many GOPers would fail that test

— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 15, 2016

Trump blasts Clinton for accepting money from countries “where being gay is an offense punishable by prison or death.” Again, Russia?

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) August 15, 2016

Trump also reportedly blasted President Obama for not denouncing Middle Eastern nations for their records on gay rights.

Trump blasting Obama for not speaking out against oppression against gays in the Middle East. What does Trump have to say about Russia?

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) August 15, 2016

Watch Trump’s full foreign policy speech, below.

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Get Ready to ‘Strut’: Oxygen Debuts New Reality Series About a Trans Modeling Agency – WATCH

Hitting airwaves this fall on Oxygen is a new reality series about a modeling agency that focuses exclusively on transgender models.

Strut, both the name of the show and the agency, follows a group of transgender models as they trail-blaze their way in the glamorous and oh-so-dramatic (not to mention catty) world of modeling. Whoopi Goldberg executive produces the show which brings together a group of faces that may be familiar to some readers (see: Laith Ashley).

Watch a trailer for the show which premieres on September 20, below.

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International Olympic Committee Takes Gradual Steps to Support LGBTQ Community

After harsh criticism from the LGBTQ community during the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) adopted policy changes to protect the LGBTQ community in future games.

In 2014, the IOC received criticism for choosing a host country (Russia) with draconian and discriminatory anti-LGBTQ legislation. In response to this criticism, the IOC changed its charter to include sexual orientation in its non-discrimination clause. However, the non-discrimination policy does not include gender identity, and therefore does not protect transgender athletes.

The IOC also adopted a policy that ensures that each host city and its national olympic committee abide by the IOC’s Olympic Charter. This is a welcome change from the Sochi Games, when Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws put athletes and visitors at risk.

In 2015  the IOC changed its policy towards transgender athletes. Under its new policy, transgender athletes no longer need to undergo gender affirming surgery to compete. Transgender men can now compete with little restriction. However, transgender women must show testosterone levels below a cutoff point.

HRC welcomes the positive changes in IOC policy. However, the IOC must continue to enforce its non-discrimination policy and raise the bar for host cities to become more inclusive of the LGBTQ community. They must also include gender identity in their non-discrimination policy and make it easier for trans athletes to compete.

www.hrc.org/blog/international-olympic-committee-takes-gradual-steps-to-support-lgbtq-commun?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Trump Is Literally a Threat to National LGBT Health

Our mental and physical health can’t afford a Trump presidency, argues Boston-area LGBT public health advocate D.A. Steward.

www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/8/15/trump-literally-threat-national-lgbt-health