politicartoons | Well June is Gay Pride month: CNBC Host Accidentally "Outs" Apple CEO Tim Cook As Gay (Reply)

On Friday morning, a CNBC segment of “Squawk on the Street” turned awkward after co-anchor Simon Hobbs accidentally “ outed” Apple (AAPL +1.18%) CEO Tim Cook as being openly gay. “I think Tim Cook is fairly open about the fact that he’s gay at the head of Apple isn’t he?” asked Hobbs to columnist Jim Stewart. During the segment, The New York Times journalist was discussing his upcoming column on John Browne, the former CEO of oil giant BP whose book, The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good For Business, details his life as a closeted executive. “No,” Stewart answered after an awkward silence. “I don’t want to comment on anybody who might or might not be,” he added. “I’m not going to out anybody. I called a lot of people and no one at any major company would allow their names to be used.” Cook has never confirmed nor denied his sexual orientation.

More here, with video of the segment.

I think it's one thing to out a closeted politician who is consistently hurting people in their day-to-day lives by the legislation they're advocating and enacting into law (Charlie Crist was horrible in that regard in Florida, when he was governor). But I'm not sure about businessmen or executives. If their company's business policies are fair, sane, and not hurting anyone, I think outing them is unfair and a breach of their privacy.