北京时间10月30日晚间，苹果CEO库克在美国《商业周刊》网站发表文章，公开表明自己的同性恋性取向。
他表示，自已为作为同性恋感到自豪，同性恋正是上帝赐予我的最好的礼物。
以下库克“出柜”宣言中文译文：
纵观我的整个职业生涯，我一直努力维护最基本的个人隐私。我出身卑微，我不希望吸引人关注我的目光。苹果现在已成为全球最受外界密切关注的公司之一，我希望将我们的重点放在产品方面，并重点关注我们客户在这些产品中所发现的难以置信的功能。
与此同时，我深信马丁·路德·金博士的一句名言，他曾说过：“生命中最永恒且最迫切的问题是， 你在为其他人做些什么？ ”我经常用这个问题来挑战自我，而且我也意识到，维护自己个人隐私的愿望一直束缚着我，让我无法从事更加重要的事务。为此，我决定今天说出实情。
多年以来，我已经向许多人公布了我的性取向。在苹果公司，我的诸多同事已经知道我是一个同性恋者，但是，他们对待我的方式并未因此而有什么异样。当然，我拥有非常好的运气，能够在这样一个喜欢创造和创新的公司工作。我深知，当你支持他人的异样特质时，你的公司才会欣欣向荣。当然，并非所有人都拥有如此的好运。
尽管我从未否认我的性问题，但是我也一直没有公开承认此事，只是现在有所不同而已。在此，我将明确表示：我为自己是一名同性恋者而感到自豪，我认为，同性恋正是上帝赐予我的最好的礼物。
作为一名同性恋者，我能够更好地理解这在少数人当中意味着什么，而且这也让获得一个更好地了解其他少数人群每天面临的挑战的窗口。这也让我更加富同情心，而且也让我拥有一个更加富裕的生活。但是，我也因此而多次面临着一些困境和沮丧，但是，这也给我带来了更多的自信，让我坚持遵循自己的道路，并超越困境与偏执。除此之外，这还给我带来了“保护套”，这一点，在我担任苹果首席执行官时派上了用场。
伴随着我的成长，整个世界也在发生着翻天覆地的变化。美国正在向婚姻平等的方向发展，那些勇敢面对现实的公众人物也一直在帮助改变人们的认知，并让我们的文化更加宽容。目前大多数国家的法律都规定了一些条款，可以让雇主仅仅以员工的性取向为由来解聘员工。还有许多地方，房主可以赶走身为同性恋的房客，有一些地方还禁止同性恋者看望患病的伴侣或继承他们遗产。不计其数的人，特别是孩子们，每天都因为他们的性取向而诚惶诚恐，饱受欺凌。
我认为自己并不是一位激进主义者，但是，我已经意识到我从其他人的牺牲中受益匪浅。所以，如果听到苹果首席执行官是一位同性恋者能够帮助那些饱受性别困境的人、或者给那些感到孤独的带来安慰、亦或者激励人们坚持他们的平等观，那么，我现在公布我的隐私也就物有所值了。
我得承认，今天的所为并不是一个轻而易举的选择。在我看来，隐私仍然非常重要，我希望能够保密下去。我希望再坚持保密。如今，我已经倾自己全力来为苹果公司工作，我将继续利用自己所有活着的时光，让自己成为最好的首席执行官，这也是我们的雇员、员工、开发者、股东以及供应商理所当然的追求。社会一直进步，其中之一就是不会只凭一个人的性取向、种族或性别来评判一个人。我是一名工程师、叔叔、健身狂、南方的来客儿子、狂热的体育迷、而且也爱好大自然和其他诸多事物。我希望人们能尊重我的想法——专注于我最为擅长的东西和那些给我带来快乐的工作。
我如此荣幸地领导的这家公司，长期以来一直在倡导所有人的人权和平等。我们也一直在强有力地支持国会通过职场平等的法案，就如同我们坚定地支持我所在的加州地区的婚姻平等一样。当初，亚利桑那州通过针对同性恋的歧视性法案时，我们曾提出异议。我们将继续为我们的价值而奋斗，我相信，这家令人难以置信的公司的任何一位首席执行官，不论种族、性别或性取向，他都会做出同样的举措。我本人也将继续全力倡导所有人的平等，直到生命的终结。
我每天早晨到达办公室时，都会看到马丁·路德·金以及罗伯特·肯尼迪（Robert F. Kennedy）的照片，并会深受他们的鼓舞。我并不是想假装写下这篇文章，并以此与他们相提并论。实际上，能够让我看到这些照片，只是想让我知道我自身的职责，无论这份职责有多么渺小，特别是在帮助别人方面，但是，我们却是借助一块块砖石，积少成多，最终为正义铺设了一条阳光大道。我的所为，就是其中的一块砖而已。（牛牛）
中文翻译难免辞不达意，以下为库克“出柜”宣言英文原文，供参考：
Throughout my professional life, I ve tried to maintain a basic level of privacy. I come from humble roots, and I don t seek to draw attention to myself. Apple is already one of the st closely watched companies in the world, and I like keeping the focus on our products and the incredible things our customers achieve with them.At the same time, I believe deeply in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, who said: “Life s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others? ?” I often challenge myself with that question, and I ve come to realize that my desire for personal privacy has been holding me back from doing something more important. That s what has led me to today.For years, I ve been open with many people about my sexual orientation. Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I m gay, and it doesn t seem to make a difference in the way they treat me. Of course, I ve had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people s differences. Not everyone is so lucky.
While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven t publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I m proud to be gay, and 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. 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.The world has changed so much since I was a kid. America is moving toward marriage equality, and the public figures who have bravely come out have helped change perceptions and made our culture more tolerant. Still, there are laws on the books in a majority of states that allow employers to fire people based solely on their sexual orientation. There are many places where landlords can evict tenants for being gay, or where we can be barred from visiting sick partners and sharing in their legacies. Countless people, particularly kids, face fear and abuse every day because of their sexual orientation.I don t consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I ve benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it s worth the trade-off with my own privacy.I ll admit that this wasn t an easy choice. Privacy remains important to me, and I d like to hold on to a small amount of it. I ve made Apple my life s work, and I will continue to spend virtually all of my waking time focused on being the best CEO I can be. That s what our employees deserve—and our customers, developers, shareholders, and supplier partners deserve it, too. Part of social progress is understanding that a person is not defined only by one s sexuality, race, or gender. I m an engineer, an uncle, a nature lover, a fitness nut, a son of the South, a sports fanatic, and many other things. I hope that people will respect my desire to focus on the things I m best suited for and the work that brings me joy.The company I am so fortunate to lead has long advocated for human rights and equality for all. We ve taken a strong stand in support of a workplace equality bill before Congress, just as we stood for marriage equality in our home state of California. And we spoke up in Arizona when that state s legislature passed a discriminatory bill targeting the gay community. We ll continue to fight for our values, and I believe that any CEO of this incredible company, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, would do the same. And I will personally continue to advocate for equality for all people until my toes point up.When I arrive in my office each morning, I m greeted by framed photos of Dr. King and Robert F. Kennedy. I don t pretend that writing this puts me in their league. All it does is allow me to look at those pictures and know that I m doing my part, however small, to help others. We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick.
