another gay lost his job

[rayosytruenos]

Hi!

John Browne, the architect of British Petroleum's (BP) renaissance as a giant of the global oil industry, stepped down on Tuesday after his homosexuality was exposed to the full glare of publicity.

In a personal statement, Browne acknowledged he had had a four-year relationship with Canadian citizen Jeff Chevalier.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070501/tts-uk-bp-ceo-b0d3c37.html

Has he resigned for being publicly exposed as gay? Is this another sample of persecution of people for not following what the societal rules dictate? Has he voluntarily resigned or is it one of those said voluntarily taken (but actually forced to) decisions?

All the best,

ray

[BreeIsMe]

I think this issue is certainly important BUT many people in visible jobs in society resign for a number of reasons...

For instance, having a hetero affair can lead someone to resign
racist remarks also


does this mean we are specifically persecuting those gays?
in a way yes but I think it is more the prominence of the job that leads to the departure and if it were a non "visible" position, nothing would change....

PS don't get me wrongl, losing your job over private sexual preferences in any way is wrong....but in these high profile cases, there are many forces at work (don't mind my pun)..

Bree

[TaylorMade]

I think this issue is certainly important BUT many people in visible jobs in society resign for a number of reasons...

For instance, having a hetero affair can lead someone to resign
racist remarks also


does this mean we are specifically persecuting those gays?
in a way yes but I think it is more the prominence of the job that leads to the departure and if it were a non "visible" position, nothing would change....

PS don't get me wrongl, losing your job over private sexual preferences in any way is wrong....but in these high profile cases, there are many forces at work (don't mind my pun)..

Bree

Werd, Bree.

Not every firing of a gay person is homophobia.

*Taylor*

[DiamondDog]

I actually saw this mentioned on TV.

He said how he wasn't fired but he voluntarily resigned because he was mad at how the press had exposed his relationship because he likes to keep his personal life and his dealings with British Petrolium seperate.

He was set to retire in a few months anyway.

[noostoo]

Looks like it was another queer bashing crusade by right wing rag, the "Mail on Sunday". This BBC News article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6614291.stm) gives a little more info.

Their investigation seems to be based on the premise that he had abused his position to help his lover but knowing this publication then that's just an excuse to have a go at a gay man.

[darkeyes]

I am not sure that he lost his job because of his sexuality. I think there is much more to this than having a knee jerk reaction. As I understand it, he was known to be gay anyway, and throughout this tenure in the job the company werent over bothered. It is a fact that his star was on the wain in the business world anyway, in part because of his management choices and because of a tragedy, in mexico I think, for which the company was severely crticised, and as the no 1 man he was carrying the can.

I think he went as much because of his own sensitivities as any vindictive pressure from the company because of his lifestyle.

No doubt more will become known in time, but as things stand I agree with Taylor..not every sacking (which is questionable in this case) can be attributed to homophobia.

[happyjoe68]

He's said to have committed perjury, hence the loss of the job ...

[biwords]

Yes, I understood it was the lying, not the homosexuality, that did him in.

His extraordinarily beautiful boy-toy, Mr. Chevalier, is a fellow Torontonian, I see. I know nothing about him, but the writeup in today's National Post (fairly or otherwise) paints him essentially as a mercenary little tart, bordering on blackmail. Without those fatal good looks, he might actually have had to develop the skills to succeed at something else...