John Browne was the CEO of one the nation's most profitable oil giants, BP, until he was forced from his position when a tabloid outed him as gay in 2007, three years before the company's now-notorious oil spill.
Now the author of "The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good Business," John appeared on CNN yesterday, in honor of LGBT Pride month, encouraging fellow gay executives to be open about their identities.
According to the CNN pundits, there are still no openly gay CEOs of major corporations.
John told CNN's Richard Quest, if he had been open about being gay, "I think I would have had better relationships with people."
Richard, a journalist, is also gay, and describes the fears he had regarding be open about his identity in his industry. He told CNN's Erin Burnett, "my biggest fear was that I would be sent on a story like a fire or a riot or a hurricane, there would one bed in the room, we'd all have to share, and someone would say 'I'm not staying in that room with him because he's gay.'...And do you know what I would say now to that [person]? 'There's the floor. Make yourself comfortable.'"
Watch the full video here:
In America, you can be fired in 29 states for being gay, and in 33 states because of your gender identity. Visit glaad.org/enda to learn more about employee protections.