Apple Inc. Gives Rainbow Watch Bands For Pride 2016

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On Sunday Apple on Sunday joined the LGBT Pride parade in San Francisco again with employees showing its support for human equality and diversity across sexual orientation and ethnicities. Even CEO Tim Cook took part in the march. The tech giant surprised its employees by giving them limited edition Pride Apple Watch bands.

Pride bands are the highlight of the day

Only employees who registered for a Pride event such as the San Francisco parade received a band. This is the first time the smartphone maker is gifting limited edition Pride bands to employees. The iPhone maker produced a small quantity of woven nylon bands done up in the Pride regulation rainbow to celebrate 30 years of its Pride association, which was its first Diversity Network Association.

In addition, the iPhone maker activated a dedicated Pride section in the iTunes Store on Sunday, like it has in past years. The curated category features movies, eBooks, TV shows, music, podcasts and other media honoring individuals who fought for equality before, during and after the 1969 Stonewall riots.

Cook tweeted a picture of his contingent waving rainbow flags and wearing company shirts. Sakusuhon, a Reddit user, posted an image of the watch band, including a pamphlet which reads that this limited-edition band is a symbol of Apple’s commitment to equality and that the company hopes people will wear it with pride.

“Happy Pride to everyone who turned out this weekend to celebrate! #applepride #pride2016,” Cook tweeted.

Apple employees flooded Instagram with images of the event. Several employees took photos at the San Francisco Pride Parade and shared them on Twitter, thanking the iPhone maker for its support of LGBT rights.

Will Apple release the Pride band as a public product?

Apple employees first received official backing from the smartphone maker in 2014 after years of marching as individuals. The tech giant supplied custom-printed flags, banners and T-shirts in 2015 to the parade participants. Later, the smartphone maker produced a video showcasing its efforts.

It does not look like the tech giant intends to launch this rainbow band as a public product, but it would have done well if it was released. The available third-party rainbow bands are not as elegant as the one given during the parade.

Honoring the LGBT movement, President Barack Obama named New York’s historic Stonewall Inn as a national monument last week.

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