Development, Sexual Rights and Global Governance

4 The World Bank’s GLOBE Queers in/queering development Andil Gosine In fall 1992, draft versions of a proposed anti-harassment policy were being circu- lated at headquarters of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development – the World Bank – at 1818 H Street in Washington DC. One section caught the attention of Hans Binswanger, then a senior agricultural economist at the Bank. “I was surprised to see it offered protection from harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation,” he recalls (2006). The reference to sexuality survived subsequent revi- sions, and was included in the Bank’s “Policy on Eradicating Harassment.”1 Binswanger anticipated an “en masse coming out” by gay and lesbian staff at the Bank would soon follow. “I thought that with the policy there was no more reason for people to hide their sexualities,” he remembers, “but this didn’t happen. Almost nobody came out; most stayed in the closet” (2006). Determined to seize upon the opportunity afforded by the policy, he decided to take steps toward the formation of a staff association. A gay couple employed at the Bank offered their home for a first meeting, and after overcoming efforts by some of their (presumably heterosexual) colleagues to stop the gathering,2 60 men and women came together at a private residence in January 1993 and founded GLOBE, the Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual Employees staff association of the World Bank Group. By 2005, GLOBE had 165 paid members, up from 146 in 2003 and 122 in 2001. The group continues its work “to advance the fundamental principle of non- discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation” by: holding regular business meetings, social gatherings and film showings; encouraging Bank management to adopt administrative policies that treat gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders equitably (e.g. domestic partners benefits); liaising with counterpart organizations in related agencies; and pro- moting debate and action on issues relating to sexual minorities in developing countries. (http://globe.worldbank.org, accessed June 14, 2004) Membership in GLOBE is limited to “all active or former World Bank Group staff” and their partners, although colleagues at the International Monetary Fund and from other similar institutions, and all of their partners and friends, have also usually been invited to participate in the group’s activities. It also collaborates with local 68 A. Gosine gay and lesbian organizations in Washington, most often with Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFFA), and has sponsored film screenings at the local gay and lesbian film festival, Reel Affirmations. Thirteen years into GLOBE’s existence, and with many of its original objectives now apparently achieved, it seems appropriate to now ask: What do we make of queer organizing at the World Bank? How has the existence of a gay/lesbian/bisexual staff association influenced the institution’s work culture and its articulation of international development? Through review of the organization’s history and activities, this chapter seeks to identify and begin to evaluate some of the ways in which GLOBE has interpreted, negotiated and sometimes challenged the heteronormative terms mandated by the World Bank’s constitution and implementation of its development programs, and in its institutional practices.3 The first section, “queers in development,” describes and evaluates some of GLOBE’s efforts to achieve better working conditions for gays and lesbians, including through its challenges to the institutionalization of heterosexist claims in its human resources (HR) policies. The second section, “queering development,” underlines the specific institutional location of GLOBE, a group operating within and contributing to the knowledge and policy production processes of perhaps the most powerful institutional actor in international development, and considers how GLOBE has and/or could potentially interrupt the production and promotion of heteronormativity in development policies and practices. This discussion has broader relevance; it reveals some of the implications of queer organizing in development institutions, and provides insight into the ways in which sexuality issues are being framed in development theories and practices. I draw on many sources in this study, including feminist and queer scholarship, World Bank publications, documents provided by GLOBE, and from interviews conducted with World Bank staff. In 2005 and 2006, I interviewed seven men and two women employed at the Bank, four of whom are identified in the essay: current President of GLOBE, Daniel Crisafulli, past President Jeffrey Waite, Diversity Advisor for the World Bank Group, Julie Oyegun, and the already mentioned Hans Binswanger, who retired from his position as a Senior Advisor in 2005. Aliases are provided for the remaining five interviewees, of whom three were employed as permanent staff at the Bank and two were full-time consultants when the interviews were held. Queers in international development That the World Bank has a gay/lesbian/bisexual staff association surprises many people, as imaginations of the preconceptions historically associated with economic liberalization, environmentally and socially destructive policies, and burdening Third World countries with debt are unlikely to feature queer organizing in the mix. Yet the introduction of GLOBE was hardly a unique event. The 1990s brought about a series of organizing efforts in North America and Europe that sought to improve working conditions for gay men and lesbians at private and public cor- porations. In Canada and Western European countries, advocacy efforts resulted in legislated workplace protections and reforms to insurance, partnership, and The World Bank’s GLOBE 69 marriage regulations. But as similar legislative protections were not available in much of the United States, changes at the workplace depended on lobbying from employee groups and a supportive management (cf. Raeburn 2004).4 Advocates shared similar ambitions: opportunities for queer-identified men and women to meet, and better working conditions, including protections against discrimination based on “sexual orientation.” Results have been quickly achieved. In 1990, no Fortune 500-listed company offered domestic partner benefits to employees in same-sex relationships, but, by 2004, more than one-third of them did (Davison and Rouse: 2004: 22). When Binswanger moved to organize GLOBE, he believed it could work on two main goals: “getting gays at the Bank together to socialize,” and “achieving equal rights.” GLOBE’s current by-laws emphasize the latter in their statement of objectives: 1 To advance, in the World Bank Group, consisting of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral InvestmentGuaranteeAgencyandtheInternationalCenterfortheSettlement of Investment Disputes, the fundamental principle of non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identification. 2 To establish an organization which promotes better integration of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender employees into the World Bank com- munity; assists in the affirmation of their identity; and encourages and stimulates interest in, and understanding and acceptance, of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender people. 3 To enhance awareness in the World Bank Group that sexual orientation and gender identification are an integral element of an individual’s char- acter; it is not the sole component of personal and professional conduct. 4 To encourage respect for legitimate standards in World Bank Group operations on the premise that discrimination against a group or individual on the basis of perceived sexual orientation or gender identification is unacceptable.5 This agenda may be read as a not atypical liberal call for gay and lesbian rights, aimed at the normalization of (some) homosexual practices and the assimilation of (former) sexual dissidents into mainstream institutional and cultural practices, and which are configured around the demands of capitalism. Despite the important lim- itations of this approach,6 GLOBE’s efforts have brought about some real material gains for queer men and women, and interrupted the production and reproduction of heterosexism within the Bank, including recognition of same-sex domestic part- nerships, successful challenges to assumptions of universal heterosexuality, and creation of a “gay friendlier” work environment. As outlined below, these changes have been universally celebrated, but not always equally experienced, by queer men and women at the Bank. GLOBE’s most valued victories have been its achievement of domestic benefits 70 A. Gosine for same-sex partners and healthcare coverage for HIV-positive staff, both won after votes taken by the Bank’s Board of Directors in January 1998. Same-sex spouses and partners now hold almost equal privileges as opposite-sex couplings, including: medical coverage, access to Bank premises and resources, travel and relocation allowances, accident insurance, education payments for children, health club membership, immunizations, and other benefits. There are still some excep- tions; for example, through a points reward system, opposite-sex spouses are permitted to travel with Bank staff on some work missions, but the same privilege is not afforded to same-sex spouses.7 Still, these gains surpass those sought by other gay advocacy groups at similar institutions.8 Other interventions

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