Why Aren't There Any Openly Gay Astronts? | Space

Contents:

• GAY ASTRONTS: A FAL FRONTIER
• WHY AREN'T THERE ANY OPENLY GAY ASTRONTS?
• HISTORY’S FIRST GAY ASTRONTWHY IS STEM SO STRAIGHT?KAMNA KIRTI·FOLLOWPUBLISHED THE COLLECTOR·3 M READ·AUG 31, 2020--SHARESALLY RI WAS THE FIRST AMERIN WOMAN AND FIRST GAY SPACESOURCE: WIKIMEDIASALLY RI MA HISTORY AS AMERI’S FIRST WOMAN SPACE ON 18TH JUNE 1983. HOWEVER, WAS ONLY AFTER HER ATH THAT BEME KNOWN THAT SHE WAS GAY.THERE WERE STUTNAL REASONS WHY RI, A PH.D. ASTROPHYSICS, CID NOT TO E OUT OF THE CLOSET DURG HER LIFETIME. SHE WAS JT 32 SHE WHEN TO WENT TO SPACE.DURG HER STT AT NASA, SHE WAS PART OF MANY FIRSTS.• SHE WAS THE FIRST WOMAN TO E THE ROBOT ARM SPACE• SHE WAS THE FIRST TO E THE ARM TO RETRIEVE A SATELLE• ON HER SEND FLIGHT, THE CHALLANR, SHE SPENT MORE THAN 343 HOURS SPACE• THIS FLIGHT WAS ALSO HISTORIL THE SENSE THAT WAS THE FIRST FLIGHT TO CLU MORE THAN ONE WOMAN. RI WAS ACPANIED BY KATHRYN D. SULLIVANWHY IS STEM SO STRAIGHT?QUEER STEM ORGANIZATNS: WORKPLACE DISADVANTAG FOR LGBT EMPLOYE STEM RELATED FERAL AGENCISOURCE: MDPIACRDG TO A STUDY NDUCTED UNRGRADUATE STUNTS WHO INTIFY AS LGBTQ ARE LS LIKELY TO NTUE THEIR STEM MAJORS¹. OBVLY, SCE THE STUNTS DROP OUT OF STEM AND DO NOT GO TO GRADUATE SCHOOLS, WE SEE FEWER LGBTQ FACULTY AND THE VIC CYCLE NTU. THIS RULTS A VERY WEAK SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR STUNTS INTIFYG AS SEXUAL MORI.NASA WAS NO EXCEPTN TO THIS DURG RI’S TIME THERE. BOTH NASA AND THE US ARY OPERATED ON “DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL” ( DADT) POLICY UP UNTIL 2011. THIS MEANT GAY SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN HAD TO REMA THE CLOSET OR RISK EXPULSN.61% OF THE ASTRONTS SELECTED BY NASA HAVE E OM ARY SERVICE². THGS WERE EVEN WORSE FOR ARY PERSONNEL — APART OM THE DADT POLICY, THE NSERVATIVE NATURE OF ARY HERAGE BED WH THE TAC STRS ON MANLS MA DIFFICULT FOR SERVICE PERSONNEL TO E OUT.US ASTRONTS ALL TRA HOTON TEXAS, WHERE UP UNTIL 2003 SODOMY LAWS REMAED BOOKS.WHY SALLY NEVER ME OUT OF THE CLOSET?
• WHY AREN'T THERE ANY OPENLY GAY ASTRONTS?
• GAY ASTRONTS: A FAL FRONTIER
• WHY AREN'T THERE ANY OPENLY GAY ASTRONTS?
• SALLY RI FIRST OPENLY GAY ASTRONT
• HOW MANY OF NASA'S ROCKET RIRS WERE/ARE GAY?

GAY ASTRONTS: A FAL FRONTIER

Who would be the first openly gay astront?

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.

WHY AREN'T THERE ANY OPENLY GAY ASTRONTS?

Michelle Evans is a rpected space historian and thor, as well as an expert advote for LGBTQ (Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Queer) issu.

HISTORY’S FIRST GAY ASTRONTWHY IS STEM SO STRAIGHT?KAMNA KIRTI·FOLLOWPUBLISHED THE COLLECTOR·3 M READ·AUG 31, 2020--SHARESALLY RI WAS THE FIRST AMERIN WOMAN AND FIRST GAY SPACESOURCE: WIKIMEDIASALLY RI MA HISTORY AS AMERI’S FIRST WOMAN SPACE ON 18TH JUNE 1983. HOWEVER, WAS ONLY AFTER HER ATH THAT BEME KNOWN THAT SHE WAS GAY.THERE WERE STUTNAL REASONS WHY RI, A PH.D. ASTROPHYSICS, CID NOT TO E OUT OF THE CLOSET DURG HER LIFETIME. SHE WAS JT 32 SHE WHEN TO WENT TO SPACE.DURG HER STT AT NASA, SHE WAS PART OF MANY FIRSTS.• SHE WAS THE FIRST WOMAN TO E THE ROBOT ARM SPACE• SHE WAS THE FIRST TO E THE ARM TO RETRIEVE A SATELLE• ON HER SEND FLIGHT, THE CHALLANR, SHE SPENT MORE THAN 343 HOURS SPACE• THIS FLIGHT WAS ALSO HISTORIL THE SENSE THAT WAS THE FIRST FLIGHT TO CLU MORE THAN ONE WOMAN. RI WAS ACPANIED BY KATHRYN D. SULLIVANWHY IS STEM SO STRAIGHT?QUEER STEM ORGANIZATNS: WORKPLACE DISADVANTAG FOR LGBT EMPLOYE STEM RELATED FERAL AGENCISOURCE: MDPIACRDG TO A STUDY NDUCTED UNRGRADUATE STUNTS WHO INTIFY AS LGBTQ ARE LS LIKELY TO NTUE THEIR STEM MAJORS¹. OBVLY, SCE THE STUNTS DROP OUT OF STEM AND DO NOT GO TO GRADUATE SCHOOLS, WE SEE FEWER LGBTQ FACULTY AND THE VIC CYCLE NTU. THIS RULTS A VERY WEAK SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR STUNTS INTIFYG AS SEXUAL MORI.NASA WAS NO EXCEPTN TO THIS DURG RI’S TIME THERE. BOTH NASA AND THE US ARY OPERATED ON “DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL” ( DADT) POLICY UP UNTIL 2011. THIS MEANT GAY SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN HAD TO REMA THE CLOSET OR RISK EXPULSN.61% OF THE ASTRONTS SELECTED BY NASA HAVE E OM ARY SERVICE². THGS WERE EVEN WORSE FOR ARY PERSONNEL — APART OM THE DADT POLICY, THE NSERVATIVE NATURE OF ARY HERAGE BED WH THE TAC STRS ON MANLS MA DIFFICULT FOR SERVICE PERSONNEL TO E OUT.US ASTRONTS ALL TRA HOTON TEXAS, WHERE UP UNTIL 2003 SODOMY LAWS REMAED BOOKS.WHY SALLY NEVER ME OUT OF THE CLOSET?

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.

”Gay Amerins were persecuted throughout the 1960s, the when astronts first flew.

WHY AREN'T THERE ANY OPENLY GAY ASTRONTS?

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.

Even then, until a Supreme Court lg of 2020, discrimatn employment was still wily rried 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.

GAY ASTRONTS: A FAL FRONTIER

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 orientatn.

“Given the tim, a gay astront would not have been selected, ” she explas.

WHY AREN'T THERE ANY OPENLY GAY ASTRONTS?

”“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?

SALLY RI FIRST OPENLY GAY ASTRONT

Some of Ameri’s bt-known and most distguished astronts ma 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? “I had no knowledge of any gay astronts prevly. I hadn’t known Sally Ri was gay until she died and me out then, even though I’d dated her for a while s earlier.

”The paful way which this news me out overshadowed somethg historic — for the first time, an active NASA astront was space, and beg reported as a gay Amerin the media.

HOW MANY OF NASA'S ROCKET RIRS WERE/ARE GAY?

Not only bee McCla was not able to choose the moment of her outg, but also bee a gay astront no longer seemed to be an unual ia to media reporters.

Sally Ri’s announcement seven years earlier seemed to have ma the ia a faiar the announcement of the first woman space, first black astront, and other posive steps spacefarer diversy, the story of gay astronts so far has e out three different, more plex ways.