Apple is an openly pro-LGBT company, with CEO Tim Cook recently outed himself in an interview with Bloomberg Business. On top of that, Apple employees have appeared at LGBT rallies and events, acting as representatives of the organization. However, it appears that this support may have also caused Apple to fire one of their lobbyists.
Buzzfeed News reported that the tech giant has supposedly fired political lobbyist Jay Love over his expression of anti-LGBT beliefs. According to Alabama's Ethics Commission, Love was recently hired to represent the company in the state.
However, an Apple representative told The Huffington Post that Love no longer worked for Apple without giving the reason for why Love was fired. Love was also not available for comment, but many suspect the firing occurred because of the discrepancy between Apple's pro-LGBT policy and Love's history of supporting anti-LGBT policies.
Love is a businessman from Alabama who also had political aspirations. He was elected to the Alabama House in 2002. At the cusp of his second term, Love announced his run for Senate at the end of his second term. During his campaign, he ran as a social and Christian conservative. Love's anti-LGBT views were revealed in 2008, when he stated in an ad that he would "stand up to the liberals and fight for what's right. He'll defend the unborn [and] traditional marriage".
While Love won the Republican primary, he lost to the Democrat candidate in 2008. Despite his loss, Love continued his time in the Alabama House of Representatives, where he was also involved in submitting a resolution that would praise 2009's Miss USA Carrie Prejean for sharing her support for traditional marriage on stage.
Love would hold his position in the Alabama House until 2013, when he resigned so he could focus on educational advocacy.
While it isn't 100-percent clear that Apple fired Love over his anti-LGBT policies, it isn't a coincidence that Apple fired Love around the same period that Rep. Patricia Todd (who is openly gay) is submitting a bill that would be named after Cook and protects LGBT state employees from discrimination.
