Like anyone needed reminding, homophobia is alive and kicking in Russia – a company called ZEFS has dismantled a statue of the iPhone in the light of Apple's CEO Tim Cook announcing that he's gay. Last year the Russian conglomerate ZEFS erected a two metre iPhone statue outside a St Petersburg university, placed there as a memorial to Steve Jobs. Now, owing to its link to Cook, it's been disassembled and taken away.
ZEFS explained its decision in a statement. "In Russia, gay propaganda and other sexual perversions among minors are prohibited by law. After Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly called for sodomy, the monument was taken down to abide to the Russian federal law protecting children from information promoting denial of traditional family values."
Politican Vitaly Milanov said last week that he wanted to ban Tim Cook from Russia forever, saying "What could he bring us? The Ebola virus, AIDS, gonorrhea? They all have unseemly ties over there".
Russia's anti-gay laws are particularly fierce – in 2013, Vladimir Putin passed a law that banned the "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" with the stated aim of protecting children and of course it's only served to facilitate discrimination and homophobia. Even the computer game The Sims was deemed too gay for Russia.
In last week's column in which he wrote about his sexuality for the first time, Tim Cook said that he was "proud to be gay" and wanted to help others with their own struggles in coming out. Hopefully his revelation will help anyone facing a similar emotional battle.
Meanwhile, Russia continues to discriminate against LGBT individuals and partnerships, making life as difficult as possible for non-heterosexuals. Read "Putin's War On Gays" here.
