This Pride Month, Casey Johnson, a DPhil student in RDM's Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, highlights some of the influential members of the LGBTQIA+ community whose contributions have helped advance their disciplines and visibility in STEM.
Pride month is a time for celebrating and uplifting every member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and this increased visibility has only been possible thanks to dedicated advocates who have worked tirelessly throughout history to give voice to the voiceless.
While the Stonewall riots and the first Pride marches are often remembered as defining moments in LGBTQIA+ history, it's equally important to recognise the influential members of the community who have shaped fields like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Sally Ride (1951-2012)
Dr Sally Ride was an American Astronaut and Physicist who was joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1978. She became the first American woman in space, and the youngest during the Challenger STS-7 mission. After retiring from NASA in 1987, Ride journeyed into teaching, developing a strong desire to encourage children, especially young girls, to enjoy science. Ride joined the University of California, San Diego faculty in 1989 as a professor of physics. She founded her own company in 2001, Sally Ride Science, aimed at motivating young girls and women to take up careers in science, math, and technology. While her advocacy for female representation in science was well known, her relationship with her lifelong friend and partner Tam O’Shaugnessy, was only revealed posthumously. Since her death, Ride has remained a role model for both women and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Joan Roughgarden (b. 1946)
Dr Joan Roughgarden is an American ecologist and evolutionary biologist and has challenged the paradigm of Darwinian theories of sexual selection. Alongside pioneering research on barnacles and Caribbean lizards and creating mathematical models explaining the intricacies of ecosystem interactions, Roughgarden also increased visibility of transgender existence when she came out in 1998. Since then, her book Evolution’s Rainbow where Roughgarden explores the diversity of mating systems and sexuality throughout the animal kingdom has sparked debate amongst the scientific community. In her book, Roughgarden highlights examples of species behaviour deviating from the Darwinian concept of sexual selection such as observed homosexuality in bonobos, elephants, and lizard, and argues for a new theory of ‘social selection’.
Nergis Mavalvala (b. 1968)
Dr Nergis Mavalvala is a Pakistani-born astrophysicist who has made contributions to our understanding of gravitational waves by observing the behaviour of black holes. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Mavalvala moved to the US to study physics and astronomy. After earning her doctorate in astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), she later joined the faculty in 2002. In 2020, Mavalvala was named as the first female Dean of Sciences in MIT history. Mavalvala describes herself as an ‘out, queer person of colour’ and is an advocate for LGBTQIA+ representation in STEM. In 2014 she was awarded the LGBTQ Scientist of the Year by the National Organisation of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals. Mavalvala continues to advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and challenges racial and social injustice in STEM.
There are countless other members of the LGBTQIA+ community who have contributed and continue to contribute to the ever-expanding field of science. If you are interested in reading more about LGBTQIA+ representation in STEM, I'd encourage you to check out a few of these links and resources below:
- LGBTQ+ People in STEM - National Museums Liverpool
- Why LGBT Representation Matters in Science - The Institute of Cancer Research
- LGBTQ+ in STEM - STEM Women
Casey sits on the RDM EDI Committee as the student representative.