{"id":9786,"date":"2014-10-31T12:20:10","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T16:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/a-gay-ceo\/"},"modified":"2014-10-31T12:20:10","modified_gmt":"2014-10-31T16:20:10","slug":"a-gay-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/a-gay-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gay CEO?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Gay CEO?<\/b><\/p>\n

\"2014-10-31-tumblr_ne9tmiR5SZ1r3wairo1_500.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, came out yesterday, just a couple<\/a> weeks after National Coming Out Day.<\/p>\n

The best quotation from his announcement: “Let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay<\/a>, and I consider being gay<\/a> among the greatest gifts God has given me.” He also went on to say that while he has been open with many of his colleagues, he’s never “announced” it before. I understand that fully.<\/p>\n

But first: When have you ever heard being gay<\/a> described as a gift? I love it!<\/p>\n

Sure, we’ve grown accustomed to celebrities coming out, some with great fanfare. But businesspeople? It’s a rarity. Big businesspeople? Hardly ever at all. In fact, just a short time ago, BP CEO John Browne resigned for fear of being “outed.” That was 2007. My, how times have changed!<\/p>\n

I was personally told, back in the day, that I shouldn’t tell people that I’m gay<\/a>. I was told that I’d lose clients and people would be afraid to work for me. This coming from “friends.” Maybe it was true; I’ll never know. It may have taken me a while, but I eventually told people. <\/p>\n

I eventually put a picture of my partner in my office. With my kids.<\/p>\n

I eventually took my partner to a work function. Even to a client dinner.<\/p>\n

No fanfare, no announcement, no declaration. I didn’t wave flags or scream it down the halls. It was just a slow process, really just telling people one on one, for the most part.<\/p>\n

For many years I had my own agency, CPPartners. We created the first print advertising for Tylenol specifically targeting the LGBT community, timed perfectly for Pride that year. An industry publication wrote that I was the “openly gay<\/a>” president of the agency. It was meant well but just sounded so odd at the time. It sounds even odder now.<\/p>\n

Coming up through the ranks, I’m sure I paid for being open. I would walk into meetings and comments were made publicly about “the gay<\/a> guy<\/a> walking in the room.” I smiled through it, but I worried about being labeled as someone who wouldn’t go far as a result. I felt like it was being said to somehow push me down.<\/p>\n

Looking back from where I sit now, I don’t care. I did what I had to do to balance my career with raising my kids. I’m happy with every decision I made. My kids are succeeding in college, thank you very much, and I’m thrilled with my work.<\/p>\n

Was I proud? Yes, but also scared. I didn’t know what the impact would be on my professional or personal life. I still don’t really know. But thanks to high-profile businesspeople like Tim Cook, I think we can all breathe just a little easier now. Let’s hope he sparks a trend of people being more open about who they are, no matter who they are, at work.<\/p>\n

Have I ever considered being gay<\/a> a gift? No, but I do now.<\/p>\n

I say bravo to Tim Cook. While some may say, “What took you so long?” I say anytime you’re ready to talk about who you are is the right time. Bravo!<\/p>\n

His brand just skyrocketed in my book. Thank you, Tim!<\/p>\n

Maybe someday I can take the question mark out of the title of this post.<\/p>\n

www.huffingtonpost.com\/jim-joseph\/a-gay-ceo_b_6080630.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Gay CEO? The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, came out yesterday, just a couple<\/a> weeks after National Coming Out Day. The best quotation from his announcement: “Let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay<\/a>, and I consider being gay<\/a> among the greatest gifts God has given me.” He also went on to say … Continue reading A Gay CEO?<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc"],"yoast_head":"\nA Gay CEO? - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/a-gay-ceo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Gay CEO? - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Gay CEO? 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