向前一步——重温库克同志的出柜告白
4月13日，微博宣称，将进行为期三个月的集中清理行动，包括“涉黄的、宣扬血腥暴力、同性恋题材的图文及图文短视频内容”。其中涉及的“同性恋题材”表述内容引起社会热议，成为社交网络热点。
4月15日，“人民日报评论”微信公众号称：“同性恋者在性倾向上是少数群体，保护少数人的权利，也是社会公平正义的必然……性倾向本身，也不应该成为少数人哗众取宠的内容。如果在网络平台以各种方式博出位、博眼球，把性倾向当成了一个‘卖点’，就会变成一种低俗、媚俗的表演。”
抛开热点本身，放眼全球企业界，身为同志的Tim Cook领导着全球第一市值的公司——苹果。当年，库克在《彭博商业周刊》网站上撰文，公开出柜，表示自己是同性恋。
蒂姆•库克公开发声全文：
Throughout my professional life, 37 35185 37 13060 0 0 7300 0 0:00:04 0:00:01 0:00:03 7300 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 most closely watched companies in the world, and I like keeping the focus on our products and the incredible things our customers achieve with them.
在我的职业生涯中，我一直努力维持最基本的隐私。我来自草根阶层，我不想引起对我自身的关注。苹果业已是全球最受关注的企业之一，我希望人们关注于我们的产品，以及我们的客户利用我们的产品所实现的杰出成就上。
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.
与此同时，我深信马丁•路德•金的一句话：“一个人一辈子要回答的最经常、最急迫的问题是：‘你在为他人做些什么？’”我经常向我自己提出这个问题，而我已经意识到，我希望保留个人隐私的愿望一直在阻碍我做更重要的事。所以，才有今日之事。
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.
多年来，我一直对很多人公开我的性取向。苹果的很多同事都知道我是同性恋，这似乎并没有让他们对我另眼相待。当然，我非常有幸在这家公司工作，他们喜欢创造力和创新，他们知道，只有接纳人们的多样性，公司才能蒸蒸日上。并非每个人都像我这样幸运。
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.
虽然我从未否认我的性取向，但截至目前，我也没有公开承认过。所以，我想在此阐明：我很自豪我是同性恋，我认为身为同性恋是上帝赐予我的最好礼物。
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.
同性恋身份让我更加深刻地体会到，作为一位少数派究竟意味着什么。它给我提供了一个视角，让我能够深入洞察其他少数派每天都在应对怎样的挑战。它让我更加善解人意，并由此经历了一段更加丰富的人生。它有时让我感到不舒适，心神不宁，但它给予我信心，让我有勇气张扬个性，走自己的路，超越逆境和偏执。它还赋予我一身犹如铜墙铁壁般的犀牛皮——当你是苹果公司CEO的时候，这层皮囊随时都能派上用场。
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.
沧海桑田。这个世界已不复我孩提时代的模样。美国正在迈向婚姻平等，勇敢出柜的公众人物已经改变了世人的观念，促使我们的文化变得更加宽容。不过，美国大多数州的法律依然允许雇主仅仅基于员工的性取向而将其解雇。在许多地方，房东依然可以因租户是同性恋而将其驱逐出门。还有一些地方禁止我们探访生病的伴侣或分享他们的遗产。无数同性恋者，尤其是孩子，每天生活在恐惧和被虐待的屈辱之中。
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.
我不认为自己是一位活动家，但我意识到自己受惠于其他人的牺牲。因此，如果听说苹果公司CEO是一名同性恋者，可以帮助一些人更加坦然地接受自己的同性恋身份，或者给一些饱受孤独之苦的同性恋者带来一丝慰藉，或者能激励人们坚持他们的平等观念，那么我牺牲一点个人隐私还是非常值得的。
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.
我要承认，这并非一个轻松的选择。隐私对我仍然重要，而且我希望还能保有一点点隐私。我已经将苹果公司作为自己毕生的工作，而且仍会将清醒的每一分钟，都专注地致力于成为最卓越的CEO。这是我们的员工应得的——我们的客户、程序员、股东和供应商合作伙伴同样如此。社会进步的部分意义在于认识到不能仅凭一个人的性取向、族裔或性别来对其作出评判。我是个工程师，是别人的叔叔，是大自然爱好者，是健身狂人，是一个南方家庭养育的儿子，是体育运动迷，此外还有众多其他身份。我希望大家能尊重我的愿望，我会集中精力于自己最擅长的领域，继续专注带给我快乐的工作。
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.
我是如此幸运，领导了一家长久以来倡导人权和人人平等的公司。我们曾在国会坚定地支持职场平等法案，也曾在公司所在的加州支持婚姻平等。此外，当亚利桑那州立法机关通过了一项针对同性恋族群的歧视法案时，我们曾站起来抗议。我们将继续为自己的价值观而奋斗，我也相信，在这家公司，换成任何人当CEO，不管他们的族裔、性别或性取向如何，都会做同样的事情。我个人将继续为所有人的平等而大声疾呼，直至生命最后一刻。
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.
我每天早上进入办公室时，都会看到马丁•路德•金和罗伯特•肯尼迪(Robert F. Kennedy)的相框。我写这篇文章并不是要虚张声势，把自己与他们并列，而是为了让我在看到这些照片时，知道自己正在倾尽所能帮助他人，无论我的贡献是多么微不足道。我们正一砖一瓦地铺设一条通向正义的阳光之路。这就是我添上的一块砖。
编辑：齐宇琨 翻译：詹涓、任文科、赵萌萌
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