Russian Steve Jobs memorial deemed “gay propaganda” after Apple’s Tim Cook comes out

SO-CALLED “gay propaganda laws in Russia have led to a St Petersburg monument to Apple founder Steve Jobs being dismantled following the official coming out of his successor Tim Cook.

The two-metre-high memorial, in the shape of an iPhone (pictured above), was located on the premises of a college and erected in January 2013 by ZEFS, a group of Russian companies.

The group said in a statement on Monday that they needed to abide by the country’s “gay propaganda” law, and that the memorial had been removed the day after Cook came out last week.

“In Russia, gay propaganda and other sexual perversions among minors are prohibited by law,” ZEFS stated.

The group also highlighted that the statue was “in an area of direct access for young students and scholars”.

Although Apple’s current chief executive has publicly confirmed he is gay, Steve Jobs — to whom the memorial is dedicated — was not.

President Vladimir Putin last year ratified a law prohibiting the spread of “gay propaganda” among minors across Russia, to help promote what he called “traditional values”.

H/T Reuters