Cook wrote this op ed for tomorrow's Washington Post, which is now available on their website.
Here's the opening paragraph:
There’s something very dangerous happening in states across the country.
Or as it he puts it bluntly in the fourth graf:
These bills rationalize injustice by pretending to defend something many of us hold dear. They go against the very principles our nation was founded on, and they have the potential to undo decades of progress toward greater equality.
As he puts it in the fifth,
America’s business community recognized a long time ago that discrimination, in all its forms, is bad for business. At Apple, we are in business to empower and enrich our customers’ lives. We strive to do business in a way that is just and fair. That’s why, on behalf of Apple, I’m standing up to oppose this new wave of legislation — wherever it emerges. I’m writing in the hopes that many more will join this movement. From North Carolina to Nevada, these bills under consideration truly will hurt jobs, growth and the economic vibrancy of parts of the country where a 21st-century economy was once welcomed with open arms.
And that may be key, and a major part of a backlash. Most businesses, places like Hobby Lobby excepted, understand that when it comes to human rights there should be no doubt that they will oppose discrimination like this. After all, many of their execs are themselves gay, or have friends or children who are gay.
Cook writes from personal experience:
I remember what it was like to grow up in the South in the 1960s and 1970s. Discrimination isn’t something that’s easy to oppose. It doesn’t always stare you in the face. It moves in the shadows. And sometimes it shrouds itself within the very laws meant to protect us.
Read the entire piece. It is pointed, it is powerful, and it concludes like this:
This isn’t a political issue. It isn’t a religious issue. This is about how we treat each other as human beings. Opposing discrimination takes courage. With the lives and dignity of so many people at stake, it’s time for all of us to be courageous.
Yes indeed. All of us.