MSNBC Guest on Apple CEO Tim Cook Revealing He’s Gay: ‘It’s Really Important’

SWISHER: “A lot of people might have known, but they never spoke to him [Tim Cook] about it. He never talked about it out loud. I don’t think he did say it in a public form. I’ve interviewed him many times and we didn’t ask him about it, but he didn’t discuss it. He is probably one of the most prominent executives in the world and it’s a pertinent fact about his life. So, that he said it so publicly and such in a strong way and he didn’t back down at all in this announcement. It’s really important. It’s a really important thing to say out loud and that was the point I think he was trying to make.”
FARROW: “And he made the point that it’s specifically important for him in this particular kind of position. One facet of that importance is he’s a huge, large-scale employer —Deloitte study recently found that 83 percent of gay, lesbian and bisexual people hide aspects of their identity at work. How significant is it from that standpoint?”
SWISHER: “Well, it’s important. I did it for a very short time. I was not that closeted for very long, but it’s painful thing to have do, to have to leave part of your life out. It’s interesting because gay people have to hide from their parents, they have to hide from their  family in many cases and not just society at large. And then there are repercussions at work all over the country still to this day. And that’s what Tim was addressing in Alabama is that there are no laws in place. And he was specifically talking about {ANDL}, which is a law to prohibit discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation orientation. And you can be fired, they can use that as an excuse and not be something that’s actionable.”
FARROW: “So it’s a big deal for an employer of the size of Apple to be so outspoken on that. An you mentioned you yourself are an openly guy CEO in the tech world. In the tech sector specifically, is that still a  difficult path even today?”
SWISHER: “No. You know, I think tech people are much more tolerant, they are more libertarian, I think, than anything else. So they tend to be like, 'I don't care, it doesn't matter.' It does matter that Tim Cook comes out because there are still these discriminations in place across the country. But I think that in tech it’s relatively easy. And, you know, there's pockets of discrimination, but in general, it’s a tolerant group of people, so it's easier. But all across the country and in the world, it’s dangerous to be gay in many places in the world, and very troubling for a lot of people in certain states and certain companies."
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