In a video broadcast on CBS Sunday
Morning, Apple CEO Tim Cook praised the people who had the courage to
fight back against the police 50 years ago at the Stonewall Inn.
On June 28, 1969, LGBT patrons at the
Stonewall Inn in New York City fought back against a police raid of
the bar, sparking riots that spilled onto the streets and a movement
for equality that has spanned generations.
The 58-year-old Cook, who came out gay
in 2014 after years of speculation, said that he was 8 years old and
a thousand miles away when Stonewall happened.
“There were no news alerts. No way
for photos to go viral. No mechanism for a kid on the west coast to
hear these unlikely heroes tell their stories,” Cook said. “What
I would not know for a long time was what I owed to a group of people
I never knew in a place I've never been. Yet I will never stop being
grateful for what they had the courage to build.”
Cook went on to say that discrimination
against the LGBT community remains.
“With the spread of marriage equality
to all 50 states and a seismic shift in the public opinion in favor
of equality for all, the march that began at Stonewall continues with
the wind at our back. This anniversary and Pride month in general are
a time for celebration and community. But we miss an important
opportunity if we don't dedicate this moment to the progress yet to
be made,” he
said.