Russia wants to eliminate all reminders of Apple and its CEO Tim Cook, who came out last week as a gay man. The country has strict anti-gay laws that prohibit "gay propaganda" among its younger citizens.
The Russian corporation, ZEFS, initiated the dismantling of a memorial to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs after Cook's announcement. The head of the company, Maxim Dolgopolov, gave several reasons on Monday for the disassembly of the more-than-six-foot high monument located outside an IT university in St. Petersburg on Friday.
"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," Dolgopolov said in the statement. "In Russia, gay propaganda and other sexual perversions among minors are prohibited by law."
Cook publicly revealed his sexual orientation in an op-ed piece for Bloomberg Businessweek on Oct. 30. The CEO being gay was not a secret to many in Silicon Valley and the tech world.
"While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven't publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me," Cook wrote.
ZEFS dedicated the memorial to Jobs in January 2013, about two years after his death. Jobs was not gay.
Conflicting reports show the ZEFS may have ordered the monument to come down before Cook's statements. The National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, where the memorial stood, told the state news agency Tass that the company wanted to take down the giant iPod for repairs.
In another report, ZEFS wanted to take down the memorial because of the recent revelations that the United States and the NSA had used iPhones to spy on users around the world, according to Ekho Moskvy news website. Dolgopolov urged Apple owners to switch to other devices by manufacturers "not compromised by surveillance."
