Seems like all it takes is one tweet on someone’s sexual orientation, especially someone famous and, in this case, the definitely famous Tim Cook, and the comment war and wrangling begins. Doesn’t show much sign of dissipating soon, either.

Tim Cook, the new CEO of Apple, is gay. And with that in mind, it’s pretty safe to say he’s the most powerful gay leader in the business world, considering the enormity of Apple’s total worth. And there are lots of people who think this is really great press, and conversely, a lot of people who think  just the opposite, for one reason or another.

Case in point: Felix Salmon, blogging for Reuters, thinks this is a newsworthy item. He goes on in another blog entry to expand on the subject. Cook doesn’t try to hide his sexual preference from the world. He neither denies it nor trumpets it from the ramparts. He simply makes nothing of it. That’s pretty much Salmon’s take on the issue. So, how does that shake out with the morality of the media?

Well, all it took was for the Financial Times’ Tim Bradshaw to post a single tweet on the subject, and he found himself almost instantly in a defensive and explanatory position, or, as the saying goes, “Up to his butt in alligators“, fielding an onslaught of critical responses to his bringing up the subject publicly. In a similar instance, when Gawker initially reported on Cook’s sexuality back in January, the MacDailyNews described their actions as “petty, vindictive, and just plain sad.” You just don’t do that! It’s not crucial to anything. It doesn’t matter. It’s his own business. The litany goes on and on.

Other people are of the opinion the news about Tim Cook isn’t just something that it’s okay to talk about, but that it should be talked about, openly, even celebrated, and that the press has a moral obligation to bring the subject to light in the public eye. It’s a victory for homosexuals not to have to hide their real selves in the closet any longer. It’s proof of how fair and unbiased we all have become nowadays. We are a nation of diversity, and we celebrate that. New laws are being enacted all the time to protect the rights of homosexuals.

And then you also have a whole lot of people and, in this writer’s opinion, most people, who are totally indifferent on the subject. They could care less one way or another who’s sleeping with whom, just so long as it’s adult and consensual, no one’s getting hurt, no one’s being abused or exploited. But you have folks who write for a living, and they are in constant need of “grist for the mill“, something controversial that will catch the eye of the public, good or bad, just so long as it gets noticed, brings readers to a particular website or blog, or sells newspapers. They are always in need of new material. Of course there are also those who use their influence via the media to push their own private agendas. And there’s everyone else in between, trying their best to keep the boss happy, to make a living, to write something which profits their employer and, at the same time, does it in a fair and unprejudicial manner in good conscience. Kudos to them. They need to enter the “walking on eggshells” event at the next International Writers’ Olympics. They’re sure to be shoe-ins.

So when all’s said and done, when you’re in the public eye, no matter how carefully, judiciously, and fairly you strive to speak or write in a politically correct manner,  someone somewhere is going to take umbrage at it, and the complaining and finger-pointing are going to start. Just changing Abraham Lincoln’s quote a fraction, it comes down to, “You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot please all of the people all of the time!” You write about something and someone complains. You don’t write about it, and someone else complains. It boils down to, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t! It just comes with the territory, and if you’re thin-skinned, you’re probably not going to last very long at it.