Steve Jobs memorial torn down in Russia after current Apple CEO Tim Cook comes out as gay
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Version 0 of 1. A Russian group of companies ordered the destruction of a memorial tribute to late Apple founder Steve Jobs after the technology giant’s current CEO, Tim Cook, came out as gay last week. In a moving open letter published on the Bloomberg Businessweek, Cook declared that he is “proud to be gay” and considers being gay “among the greatest gifts” God had given him. ZEFS, which originally had the six-foot monument in the shape of an iPhone erected outside a college in St Petersburg in January to pay homage to the achievements of Jobs following his death from cancer in 2011, has since taken the decision to dismantle it, citing a need for it to abide by Russia’s “gay propaganda” laws, Reuters reports. “In Russia, gay propaganda and other sexual perversions among minors are prohibited by law,” a statement issued by ZEFS reads. The memorial, it continued, was “in an area of direct access for young students and scholars”. “After Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly called for sodomy, the monument was taken down to abide to the Russian federal law protecting children from information promoting denial of traditional family values.” Jobs himself, however, was not gay. Apple CEO Tim Cook came out in a moving open letter last week Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin controversially passed legislation that prohibited the distribution of what he claims is “gay propaganda” among children. ZEFS reaction follows that of Russian politician Vitaly Milonov last week, who called for Cook to be permanently prevented from entering the country following his admission about his sexuality. According to a translation by Buzzfeed, the anti-LGBT campaigner, also from St Petersberg, told the FlashNord website: “What could he [Cook] bring us? The Ebola virus, Aids, gonorrhea? They all have unseemly ties over there. Ban him for life.” |