A 6-foot iPhone statue on a university campus in Russia has been removed after
Apple CEO Tim Cook came out as gay last week.
ZEFS, a group of Russian companies that operates the interactive statue built as a memorial for late founder Steve Jobs, issued a statement calling
Cook's announcement "a public call to sodomy," The Associated Press reported.
Cook, 54, succeeded Jobs on Aug. 24, 2011, nearly two months before Jobs died.
ZEFS said the statue at St. Petersburg University had been removed Friday, one day after Cook announced his sexual orientation.
"In Russia, gay propaganda and other sexual perversions among minors are prohibited by law," ZEFS said in the statement, adding that the memorial was displayed in an
"area of direct access for young students and scholars," according to Reuters.
The company cited adherence to Russia's law that protects minors from homosexual propaganda, though critics have condemned the edict as a way of repressing sexual minorities.
St. Petersburg lawmaker Vitaly Milonov, who has rallied against gay rights, and helped write a law that was signed by President Vladimir Putin, has called for Cook to be banned from entering the country, according to Reuters, citing Russian media reports.
Apple declined to comment on the removal of the statue, though Twitter users had their own comments.
In a letter published Oct. 30, Cook openly acknowledged his homosexuality in the hopes of furthering civil rights challenges.
"I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me," Cook wrote for Bloomberg Businessweek.
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