Government Finance Officials Who Have Identified as LGBTQ
Finance is one of the most high profile and important departments in a government. It encompasses everything from budgeting to taxation, spending, economic development and overall government operations. Any individual with a high degree of responsibility in this position has a tremendous amount of respect in the domestic and global financial and political communities.
To have an LGBTQ individual in such a role signifies that the individual is financially competent and adept, and that such recognition stands regardless of their sexual orientation. Moreover, it also reflects a government itself that is highly competent in managing its assets and fiduciary responsibilities - a government which accepts diversity's strengths instead of forcing people to spend energy on hiding who they are and spending money on harassing and imprisoning minorities.
Similarly, global financial cooperatives such as the World Bank, the Bank for International Settlements, or the International Monetary Fund play key roles in coordinating financial policies between national governments. Policies within in each of these entities can help in creating productive financial systems based on tolerance and acceptance
The large majority of LGBTQ individuals in this profession have become Ministers of Finance in government Notable among these is Norway's Per-Kristian Foss who went on to serve a short time as that country's Prime Minister, making him the first openly-gay head of state. Other notable individuals include America's Alexander Hamilton, that country's creator of its government financial operations, and Great Britain's exceptional economist John Maynard Keynes.
There have been few women to attain leadership positions in government finance. Australia's Penny Wong and Germany's Barbara Hendricks are the standouts here.
We have identified the following government finance officials who have identified as LGBTQ. Simply click on their names to read their fascinating biographies.
Australia
- Adam Boynton, Federal Treasury
- Penny Wong, Commonwealth Minister for Finance and Deregulation
Canada
- Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board
- Paul Cadario, World Bank
- Cecil Clarke, Provincial Minister of Economic Development
- Andrew Thomson, Provincial Minister of Finance
France
- Clement Beaune, Deputy Head of the Finance Acts Bureau
Germany
- Barbara Hendricks, Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of Finance
'Great Britain
- Allen Bell, Minister of the Treasury
- Alan Bray, Inland Revenue
- Sir Paul Jenkins, Treasury Solicitor's Department
- John Maynard Keynes, Treasury department
- David Laws, Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Italy
- Daniele Viotti, General Rapporteur for the European Budget
New Zealand
- Grant Robertson, Finance Minister
Norway
- Per-Kristian Foss, Minister of Finance
'South Africa
- Lynne Brown, Minister of Economic Development
'The Netherlands
- Jan Kees de Jager, Minister of Finance
- Joannes Gerardus Wijn, Minister of Finance
United States
- John Berry, Treasury Department
- Siddarth Dube, World Bank
- Barney Frank, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee
- Alexander Hamilton, Treasury Department
- Richard Hopper, World Bank
