Apple believes in equality and diversity as they take part in Gay Pride parades

As the San Francisco Pride Festival took place, Apple Inc, Facebook Inc and other prominent Silicon Valley technology companies flew the flag for gay rights as they wanted to encourage morale among employees and reflect a corporate culture of diversity. Thousands of Apple employees donned specially designed T shirts at the festival and were seen to be marching in unison. This year’s turnout happened to be the largest in the company’s history. T

The San Francisco event was one of many Gay Pride parades held across the United States on Sunday. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook made a surprise appearance at the San Francisco event in order to greet employees and their families early in the morning, but did not march in the parade himself. Apple has a long history of supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The company recently came out against an Arizona bill that would permit businesses to refuse service on religious grounds, a measure that critics said could allow discrimination against gay people.

According to Apple spokeswoman Michaela Wilkinson,”Apple believes equality and diversity make us stronger, and we’re proud to support our employees and their friends and families in this weekend’s celebration.” Google Inc and Facebook also spent several days planning their festival debuts. Hundreds of employees showed up at this year’s parade.”It’s a dog whistle to their consumer base that these tech firms are cool, with it, and progressive,” said Fred Sainz, vice president of communications and marketing at the Human Rights Campaign.