The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, has delivered a passionate speech to LGBTIQ+ young people, telling them that they are "a gift to the world".
The speech was made to an audience of 30,000 at Utah’s LoveLoud Festival, which raised more than $1 million for charities and organisations including The Trevor Project, the Tegan and Sara Foundation and Encircle.
“I stand before you tonight as an uncle, a sports nut, a CEO, a lover of the beautiful Utah outdoors, and a proud gay American,” Cook said.
He continued: “I’ve come to deliver a simple message that I want every LGBT person to hear and to believe: You are a gift to the world, a unique and special gift, just the way you are. Your life matters.
“To you, I say: find your truth. Speak your truth. Live your truth."
Cook was on stage to introduce Imagine Dragons, one of several bands and artists performing at the festival.
“My heart breaks when I see kids struggling to conform to a society or a family that doesn’t accept them, struggling to be what someone else thinks is normal," Cook, who came out in 2014, said.
"Let me tell you, normal might just be the worst word ever created.
“We’re not all supposed to be the same, feel the same or think the same, and there is nothing wrong with you."
Cook continued: “Now, I know that life can be dark and heavy, and sometimes it might seem unreasonable and unbearable. But just as night turns to day, know that darkness is always followed by light."
“You will feel more comfortable in your own skin, attitudes will change, life will get better, and you?
“You will thrive.”
