LGBT people in science

LGBT people in science are students, professionals, hobbyists, and anyone else who is LGBT and interested in science. The sexuality of many people in science remains up for debate by historians, largely due to the unaccepting cultures in which many of these people lived.[1] For the most part, we do not know for certain how people in the past would have labelled their sexuality or gender because many individuals lived radically different private lives outside of the accepted gender and sexual norms of their time.[1] One such example of a historical person in science that was arguably part of the LGBT community is Leonardo da Vinci, whose sexuality was later the subject of Sigmund Freud's study.[2][3]

Mona Lisa, one of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous works

History of LGBT people in science

Magnus Hirschfeld, a German physician and sexologist, was one of the first advocates for homosexual and transgender rights. Hirschfeld was most well known for his sexual theories and for activism.[4] In 1897 Hirschfeld created the first sexual rights organization, the Scientific Humanitarian Community, which aimed to explore and defend the rights of homosexuals. As one of the first advocates for homosexual rights, Hirschfeld faced a great amount of backlash from newspapers claiming, for example, that "abnormal propensities" should be distanced from "mainstream medicine".[5] Hirschfeld was attacked by Nazis for being gay and Jewish, and he was beaten, sacked, and had his books burned. He was eventually forced into exile in France.

John Maynard Keynes, an English economist, changed the ideology and practice of macroeconomics, and his ideas formed the school of thought known as Keynesian economics. Keynes's romantic relationships early in his life were only with other men.[6] He had many sexual encounters with other men and he was open about these affairs. Several communities, in which Keynes was involved with, such as the Bloomsbury Group, and the Cambridge Apostles were accepting towards Keynes's homosexuality. People who opposed Keynes's ideas used his sexuality to attack his work.[7] In Keynes's later years he began to pursue affairs with women. In 1925, Keynes married well-known Russian ballerina, Lydia Lopokova.

Writer, physician, tubercular radiologist, and transsexual Alan L. Hart made great strides in tuberculosis detection after earning his master's degree in radiology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1928.[8] Hart sought psychiatric help from his professor, J. Allen Gilbert, for his "abnormal" attraction to women previous to his transition. The treatment of Hart was documented in the case study "Homosexuality and Its Treatment" in 1920. Hart requested a full hysterectomy, claiming he felt that he deserved to be sterilized for his "abnormal inversions".[8]

Mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist Alan Turing was a prominent LGBT English scholar during the twentieth century that led a group of cryptanalysts in cracking the code of the Enigma machine, ultimately helped turning the tide of World War II. Despite his service to the Allied cause, he was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts and had most of his academic work covered up through the Official Secrets Act.[9]

At the height of the Lavender Scare, astronomer Frank Kameny was fired by the US Army Map Service in 1957, shortly after his PhD from Harvard University. In 1958, he was barred from future employment in the federal government. Subsequently, radicalized, he became "one of the most significant figures" in the American gay rights movement.[10] According to chemist Abhik Ghosh, the legendary porphyrin chemist Martin Gouterman,[11] only a few years Kameny's junior, managed to escape similar persecution and was able to pursue a successful scientific career at the University of Washington.

Computer scientist Lynn Conway worked at IBM and invented a method for issuing multiple out-of-order instructions per machine cycle. She was also a pioneer of microchip design with many high-tech companies today using her work as the foundations for their technology.[12] Conway suffered from gender dysphoria and underwent a gender transition in 1968. After Conway revealed her intent to transition to IBM, she was fired. After her transition, Conway kept her transition a secret with only a few close friends who knew. In 2000 when her story went public, she began to work in transgender activism to advocate for more transgender rights and transgender equality.[13]

George Washington Carver was an agricultural scientist who developed several plant-based products and promoted the start of peanut farming. Although Carver did not make any comments on his sexuality a previous partner suggested that he was bisexual, and it is known that he lived the remainder of his life with Curtis Austin Jr.

Sara Josephine Baker was a physician known by the name Doctor Jo who developed many programs for disease prevention. She created the Federal Children's Bureau which significantly contributed to the improvement of hygiene. She was known to have lived with Ida Alexa Ross Wylie for the later part of their lives.

Sally Ride was an astrophysicist known for being the first American woman in space. She developed a foundation in her name dedicated to improving science education, particularly for young girls. After she died, it was announced that she and Tam O'Shaughnessy, who she had lived with for 27 years, were partners. This made Ride the first LGBT astronaut as well.

Challenges for LGBT people in science

There are traditions and expectations that LGBT people should not study or have careers in science, according to Manil Suri.[14] In 2016 the American Physical Society published a list of ways in which LGBT physicists have a more difficult career experience than their non-LGBT counterparts.[15]

Studies have shown that many LGBT faculty and researchers are not out in their departments, and coming out may negatively affect retention.[16] This is of particular issue in the STEM field as the work cultures and professional environments within this field of work can often exclude or alienate the existence of the LGBT community and the individuals within it.[17][18][19] A 2021 study identified various inequalities for LGBT people in science.[20]

Chemist David Smith speculated that the visibility of more LGBT role models in science would make it easier for other LGBT students to join the sciences, and conducted a survey which seemed to support this view.[21]

A report on a 2015 survey of United States undergraduate students found that gay students of science were more likely to change their major to a subject outside of science than non-LGBT students.[22] Some academic commentators who study LGBT issues commented that LGBT students face social barriers to studying science which non-LGBT people do not experience.[23] Various activist organizations used this study as supporting evidence that social changes could bring equal opportunity for LGBT people to study and have careers in science.[24]

Organizations & Campaigns

United States
NASA pride parade in Silicon Valley

In recognition that LGBT people are underrepresented in the sciences, various universities have programs to encourage more LGBT students to join their science programs.[25] The organization is oSTEM (Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) has a network of about 90 student chapters at universities across the United States.[26] oSTEM has an annual conference and aims to provide a place for LGBT science students to gather, whether they are out or not.[27]

Other professional organizations for LGBT people in science include the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP).[28] NOGLSTP educates professional communities about LGBT issues and offers two scholarships annually.[28] In 2018, Lauren Esposito, curator of arachnology at the California Academy of Sciences, created the campaign 500 Queer Scientists, which aims to promote inclusivity in science.[29] NASA employees annually holds LGBT pride parade events.[30]

United Kingdom and Europe

Pride in STEM, a charitable organization based in the United Kingdom, co-founded the International Day of LGBTQ+ People in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.[31] In Germany, a similar movement was founded under the name LGBTQ STEM Berlin.[32]

The first interdisciplinary conference in the UK for LGBTQ+ people working in STEM fields was the LGBTSTEMinar hosted at the University of Sheffield in 2016.[33][34] It has been hosted annually since then and in 2020 the Royal Society Athena Prize was awarded for this work.[35]

See also

References
  1. "LGBTQ+ History". English Heritage. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  2. Blass, Rachel (28 June 2008). "A psychoanalytic understanding of the desire for knowledge as reflected in Freud's Leonardo da Vinci and a memory of his childhood". The International Journal of Psychoanalysis. 87 (Pt 5): 1259–1276. doi:10.1516/AV50-5C24-YLHN-HBX5. PMID 16997725. S2CID 31681913.
  3. Freud, Sigmund; Tyson, Alan (December 1965). "Leonardo Da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood". Art Education. 18: 38. doi:10.2307/3190663. JSTOR 3190663.
  4. Brennan, Toni; Hegarty, Peter (December 2009). "Magnus Hirschfeld, his biographies and the possibilities and boundaries of 'biography' as 'doing history'". History of the Human Sciences. 22 (5): 24–46. doi:10.1177/0952695109346642. ISSN 0952-6951. PMID 20422759. S2CID 21981143.
  5. Bauer, Heike (2017). The Hirschfeld archives : violence, death, and modern queer culture. Philadelphia. ISBN 978-1-4399-1434-2. OCLC 987859569.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. Robert L. Heilbroner (11 May 1986). "The man who made us all Keynesians". The New York Times (book review). Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  7. Bartlett, Bruce (7 May 2013). "Keynes's Biggest Mistake". The New York Times Economix Blog. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  8. "Alan Hart (1890–1962)". www.oregonencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  9. Doan, Laura L. “Queer History/queer Memory: The Case of Alan Turing”. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 23.1 (2017): 113–136.
  10. Bullough, Vern L. (2002). Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context. Harrington Park Press. ISBN 978-1-56023-192-9. OCLC 48450042.
  11. Ghosh, Abhik (2021). "An Exemplary Gay Scientist and Mentor: Martin Gouterman (1931–2020)". Angewandte Chemie. 133 (18): 9844–9854. Bibcode:2021AngCh.133.9844G. doi:10.1002/ange.202012840. ISSN 1521-3757.
  12. Lee, John A. N. (1995). International Biographical Dictionary of Computer Pioneers. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 978-1-884964-47-3 – via Internet Archive.
  13. "Lynn Conway". Computer History Museum. 3 July 2016. Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  14. Suri, Manil (4 September 2015). "Why Is Science So Straight?". The New York Times.
  15. American Physical Society (March 2016). LGBT Climate in Physics (PDF). American Physical Society. ISBN 978-0-9848110-7-6.
  16. Patridge, E.; Barthelemy, R. (2014). "Factors Impacting The Academic Climate for LGBTQ STEM faculty". Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. 20 (1): 75–98. Bibcode:2014JWMSE..20...75P. doi:10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2014007429.
  17. Barres, Ben; Montague-Hellen, Beth; Yoder, Jeremy (4 April 2017). "Coming out: the experience of LGBT+ people in STEM". Genome Biology. 18 (1): 62. doi:10.1186/s13059-017-1198-y. PMC 5379691. PMID 28372568.
  18. Cech, Erin. “LGBT Professionals’ Workplace Experiences in STEM-Related Federal Agencies.” Association for Engineering Education - Engineering Library Division Papers. Atlanta: American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), 2015. 26.1094.1–26.1094.10.
  19. Broadfoot, Marla. “Most Gay Scientists Are Out in the Lab: Female-Dominated Fields Found to Be More welcoming.(Society).” Nature 524.7565 (2015): 275. Print.
  20. Cech, E. A.; Waidzunas, T. J. (13 January 2021). "Systemic inequalities for LGBTQ professionals in STEM". Science Advances. 7 (3): eabe0933. Bibcode:2021SciA....7..933C. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abe0933. PMC 7810386. PMID 33523910.
  21. Smith, David (1 April 2014). "'No sexuality please, we're scientists'". Chemistry World.
  22. Hughes, Bryce E. (14 March 2018). "Coming out in STEM: Factors affecting retention of sexual minority STEM students". Science Advances. 4 (3): eaao6373. Bibcode:2018SciA....4.6373H. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aao6373. PMC 5851677. PMID 29546240.
  23. Langin, Katie (14 March 2018). "STEM is losing male LGBQ undergrads". Science.
  24. Ruiz, Rebecca (14 March 2018). "The culture of STEM may sideline aspiring queer scientists". Mashable.
  25. Grijseels, Dorieke (14 February 2018). "Out and About STEM: Why visibility of LGBT scientists is important". The Biochemist Blog.
  26. "About oSTEM | Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics". www.ostem.org. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  27. Pain, Elizabeth (20 November 2017). "Coming out and standing up for others". Science. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  28. "Queered Science: NOGLSTP's Rochelle Diamond Forged A Path For All of Us". Autostraddle. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  29. Walrath, Rowan. "They're here. They're queer. They're scientists". Mother Jones. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  30. "NASA Ames LGBT Advisory Group". 22 May 2015.
  31. "Nature is proud to support Pride in STEM". Nature. 571 (7763): 5. 2 July 2019. Bibcode:2019Natur.571....5.. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02022-8. PMID 31267063.
  32. "@lgbtqstemberlin" on Twitter
  33. Montague-Hellen, Beth (11 February 2016). "First conference in the UK for LGBT STEM professionals". The Biochemical Society Blog. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  34. "Empowering LGBT+ STEMinar celebrates diversity in science". Royal Society of Chemistry. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  35. "Royal Society Athena Prize". Royal Society. Retrieved 26 November 2020.

Further reading
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