Was Moon B Gay? Rumors or Tth, Let's Fd Out! - Crossover 99

Contents:

• WHY AREN'T THERE ANY OPENLY GAY ASTRONTS?
• GAY ASTRONTS: A FAL FRONTIER
• BLUE MOON RORT FOR GAY MEN
• WAS MOON B GAY? RUMORS OR TTH, LET’S FD OUT!
• WAS MOON B GAY? RUMORS OR TTH, LET’S FD OUT!
• WAS MOON B GAY? RUMORS OR TTH, LET’S FD OUT!

WHY AREN'T THERE ANY OPENLY GAY ASTRONTS?

Only one is publicly known to have been gay or bisexual — Sally Ri — and she kept private until her ath, yterday (July 23), when her obuary on the Sally Ri Science anizatn's webse stated that Ri was survived by Tam O'Shghnsy, her "partner of 27 years. "I hope mak easier for kids growg up gay that they know that another one of their hero was like them, " Bear Ri, who intifi as gay, told Buzzfeed Rights Campaign print Chad Griff ncurred, tellg Buzzfeed, "The fact that Sally Ri was a lbian will further help round out Amerins' unrstandg of the ntributns of LGBT Amerins to our untry.

GAY ASTRONTS: A FAL FRONTIER

But the lack of even one openly gay or lbian astront the history of Amerin spaceflight may reflect the culture at the NASA astront office. Still, the fact remas that no astronts have ever e out as gay or lbian, while many astronts clu mentn of their hbands, wiv or children on their NASA official bgraphy pag. )Cassutt said even though he spects there are or have been some other gay or lbian astronts, and spe of the progrs ma on LGBT issu, "I don't expect anyone the current rps to be 'out' any time soon, assumg anyone is gay.

' While there are a great many more people who are openly gay today, we are not yet to a pot of universal acceptance, " he is also the fact that 219 of the 330 current and former astronts served the ary, acrdg to NASA. Ary operated unr a "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy om 1993 until 2011, unr which gay and lbian servicemen and women had to rema closeted or risk expulsn. The repeal of DADT last year allowed gays and lbians to serve openly the U.

Who would be the first openly gay astront? ”Gay Amerins were persecuted throughout the 1960s, the when astronts first flew. Cocintally, was the summer of 1969, when NASA triumphed wh s Apollo 11 moon landg, that the Stonewall rts New York began an assertive time of grassroots prott and mand for equal rights for gay and trans for perhaps a few untri who have yet to put their first cizen orb, there are few personal firsts left to claim.

BLUE MOON RORT FOR GAY MEN

Gay astronts would not always have been wele the space programs of the world, and many plac would still not be. In the Soviet Unn, beg gay was a crimal offense: any gay smonts om that era, if any exist, have kept secret.

Sce the fall of the Soviet Unn, no smonts have publicly intified themselv as gay eher.

Michelle Evans is a rpected space historian and thor, as well as an expert advote for LGBTQ (Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Queer) issu. Their biggt worry is that anizg protts favor of gay and trans rights might lead to larger protts agast the untry’s learship — and this is somethg that will not be tolerated.

WAS MOON B GAY? RUMORS OR TTH, LET’S FD OUT!

”Photo by Samuel Kubani—AFP/Getty ImagGay Amerins were persecuted throughout the 1960s, the when astronts first flew.

Cocintally, was the summer of 1969, when NASA triumphed wh s Apollo 11 moon landg, that the Stonewall rts New York began an assertive time of grassroots prott and mand for equal rights for gay and trans Amerins. It was not until 2003 that the Supreme Court crimalized homosexualy Ameri. There are however still no laws the state explicly protectg gay rights.

WAS MOON B GAY? RUMORS OR TTH, LET’S FD OUT!

Before this, gay Amerins were barred om feral employment by laws passed durg the same Cold War that had created the space program. Gay Amerins were prohibed om servg the ary, a policy only eased slightly wh 1993’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” directive.

Unr this lg, gay Amerins uld serve the ary — as long as remaed a total secret. Any gay astronts who were active ary members before this spent their reers forced to live a lie. They would also be put through a seri of qutns by psychologists, a profsn that listed homosexualy as a mental disorr to the mid-1970s, when they downgrad to the margally ls misguid “disturbance” of sexual Shepard sort of warned about this — he said, now, be sure that you give the ‘proper’ answers.

WAS MOON B GAY? RUMORS OR TTH, LET’S FD OUT!

“Given the tim, a gay astront would not have been selected, ” she explas. “Gay employe would almost certaly stay the closet until after retirement, or even beyond, ” Michelle Evans explas.

“A good example of the nservative nature of aerospace is Pete Knight, a pilot for the X-15 rocket plane who flew suborbal space missns, and how he handled his brother and his son g out as gay the late 1990s.

He disowned them, then worked as a California State Senator to create legislatn to harm gay people by not allowg them to be married. “Texas was not a very welg environment for gay people, ” he tells me.

“Although I did meet some gay people there, was kept pretty quiet. I’m certa NASA would have gone ballistic if there had been any gay astronts then.

In such an atmosphere, I’m certa we wouldn’t have selected someone who was known to be gay. Wh so many reer obstacl before, durg, and after any attempt at beg an astront, did any gay applints make through before civil rights advocy abolished many of the more discrimatory hurdl?

PHOTO BY NASAThe first spacefarer to publicly e out as gay did so a remarkable way — the day she died. An expert partmentalizg her life, as Lynn Sherr explas her excellent 2014 bgraphy “Sally Ri: Ameri’s First Woman Space, ” she was never lookg to be a standard-bearer for gay rights. What was perhaps the fal thrhold had yet to be crossed — uld a current NASA astront be openly gay?