There’s nothing more tiresome in modern American life than the indignation sweepstakes we get in all the time to see who can be most angry about this and that. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, thinks Indiana is a horrible place. He opened marketing and retailing operations in Saudi Arabia two months before a man was sentenced to 450 lashes for being gay. The selective indignation is itself wonderful.
There are two important principles at stake here. One is the government should rarely, and only at extreme difficulty, compel people to take actions contrary to their consciences. The other is that when you open your doors to commerce you open them to everybody. That’s a simple thing. It goes back to the ’64 Civil Rights act, public accommodations section which is surely a great moment in American history. So, you kind of work this out, but the indignation isn’t helping.
The graphic above (click to enlarge) shows the countries in the Middle East, Africa and India where Apple operates and sells its products. In 17 of those countries, homosexual acts are illegal and in four of those countries, homosexuality is punishable by death, according to this Washington Post article. If the current sanctions are eased, Apple is planning to do business in Iran, another country where there is a death penalty for homosexuality.
As Tim Cook wrote in the Washington Post: “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.”
Maybe Tim Cook and Apple should demonstrate their courage by refusing to operate in homophobic countries, especially in the countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran where homosexuality is punishable be death?
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