‘Influential’ can be a pretty fluid term, but when your job is to determine where the ecomony and interest rates are going, and whether governments and the reserve bank are doing the right thing, then there’s really no disputing that you have a pretty major influence.

“Certainly the people that I either work for or work with, or people who approach me for my opinion on the economy are influential,” says Dr. Ron Woods, a man who is far from your run of the mill economist. David Koch once said of Woods, ‘he’s out there and he’s an outsider, but it’s amazing how often he gets it right.’ “In this job, being gay can help, because it gives you a different perspective. You can see what the consensus doesn’t necessarily see. I think that’s why I have a following.”

While Woods notes the benefits of being gay, he also says that in the business world it’s been far from easy. “In the mid-nineties I was outed in the financial market. What followed was eighteen months of working in an appalling situation, something that scarred me for a long time. Some of my colleagues were allowed to have this cowboy mentality and they were allowed to harass me in some of the most unspeakable terms. I lost a lot of friends both gay and straight because of it.”

Woods developed health problems as a result of the constant workplace homophobia. “I retreated into my work and I continued to shine and eventually I got out of there and moved to another company… I’ve lived through some horrific events - my partner and I were on the beach in Thailand when the tsunami hit, and people died all around us. I’ve also been in a hurricane when I was living in the states and our town got flattened. I’ve been in a cyclone at sea in Indonesia, in an earthquake as well - but all of those events are nothing compared to the damage that people can do to other people because of their sexuality.”

Woods says all these years later the financial industry hasn’t changed much. “The same people are still there, they’ve attended workshops on how to deal with gays and it hasn’t changed their attitudes. At different times they’ve sought to undermine me through other means, the nice thing is that I’ve still survived through it all.”

When it comes to role models, Woods says that he’s basically had very few to look up to. “Professionally I suppose there have been the great economists through history that I’ve admired and most of them have been gay or bisexual anyway, but essentially I’ve had to forge my own territory. In business everyone is invariably white, middle class and married.”

How does he feel about being considered a role model himself? “I’m proud to put myself forward so that everyone can see that gays can be regular business people like everyone else,” says Woods.

“You never know what non-gay people are up to in their bedrooms but somehow it’s an issue for us. There’s always been that double standard. One of the things about my life I’m the most proud of is that I didn’t give in and get married and live that closeted heterosexual life. It was available to me… but I’ve always had a level of integrity within myself and I just couldn’t lie to any female friends. To me, that’s one of the things I am proudest of. It’s caused me grief at times, but at least I’ve always been honest.”

By Christian Taylor