Lord Browne admits guilt for failing to open 'glass closet'

“For decades, I believed that it would be socially unacceptable to come out,” he writes in his new book, The Glass Closet: Why Coming out is Good Business. “I worried that the negative stereotype of a gay person would overshadow the reality of who I was. By avoiding one stereotype, I conformed to another: that of a gay man in the closet.”

Lord Browne, 66, was outed by a tabloid newspaper in early 2007, when his former lover, Canadian-born Jeff Chevalier, sold the story of their four-year relationship. He tried unsuccessfully to win an injunction blocking the disclosures, but lied over how they had met, insisting it was while exercising in Battersea Park rather than through gay escort website. When the story broke, Lord Browne resigned immediately.

In 2010, Lord Browne wrote Beyond Business, a book about the experience. His follow-up effort, The Glass Closet, features commentary with high-level LGBT - lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender - executives from across the globe.

Most still deny their sexuality in the workplace, he claimed. In the US, only half of LGBT employees are estimated to have come out at work. In the UK, a third continue to hide their sexuality. This prompted Lord Browne to style himself as an LGBT rights “activist”, he said.

Lord Browne hopes that this new book will give hope to those still living a lie. “The act of coming out happens in a moment, but gaining the confidence to do so can take decades,” he writes in The Glass Closet. “Anxiety still grips LGBT employees, from the factory floor all the way to the chief executive's office.”

According to Lord Browne, the effort required to maintain a double life is hampering productivity among his fellow LGBT professionals. It is “exhausting”, Lord Browne writes, “especially when the working day sometimes stretches to 16 hours."

He added: “So, too, is having to obscure details of what you did over the weekend, changing the pronoun used to refer to the person you are dating and making sure you do not accidentally reveal aspects of your life on social media."

Lord Browne has exhorted gay employees at all levels to normalise the issue in big businesses. “Coming out does not mean your life will be peace and serenity,” he said. “You will still encounter people who make you uncomfortable. You will still have to make difficult decisions. You will still face challenges big and small, meaningful and trivial. But you will be better able to cope with all of them.”

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