A Russian memorial to Steve Jobs has been taken down because Tim Cook is gay

Last year a group of Russian companies known as ZEFS erected a six and a half foot tall iPhone-shaped memorial to Steve Jobs outside of a St Petersberg college. Now that statue has been taken down by the same group, all because Tim Cook publicly came out as gay.

According to Re/code the move was done in order to abide by Russian laws that forbid ‘gay propaganda’. Due to the fact that the memorial was near a college and ““in an area of direct access for young students and scholars” it could be in breach of this law, and so the monument was removed. ZEFS later added:

“After Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly called for sodomy, the monument was taken down to abide to the Russian federal law protecting children from information promoting denial of traditional family values.”

This isn’t the first time Tim Cook’s sexuality has caused an issue with certain people in Russia either. Last week a staunt anti-gay politician called for Cook to be banned from the country because of his sexuality, claiming that the Apple CEO could bring ebola, AIDS, and gonorrhoea into the country.

Image: Reuters / Alexander Demianchuk