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This Pride Month, why not deepen your space education and aim for the stars?
Out Astronaut’s new contest invites LGBTQ+ space enthusiasts to attend an in-person astronautics course at the Florida Institute of Technology, with merch and career development support part of the experience.
Entries to the annual competition close on June 30, and you can find full entry qualifications and details here on the non-profit organization’s website.
The contest is part of Out Astronaut’s ultimate goal to fly an LGBTQ+ community member as a scientist-astronaut. “We believe that communities are empowered when they are represented. Astronauts inspire our youth, represent limitless possibilities and serve as ambassadors,” Out Astronaut states.
Related: Sally Ride’s life partner weighs in on the future of LGBTQ+ astronauts
Significant career barriers exist for LGBTQ+ individuals pursuing careers in space and in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). NASA, like many others in the space community, is seeking to correct decades of discrimination, such as the Lavender Scare of the 1950s and 1960s against LGBTQ+ people.
For example, NASA’s efforts to increase diversity date back to at least 2010, according to its Office of the Inspector General. NASA also enacted a charter for its LGBTQ Pride Alliance in May 2018.
Only a few NASA astronauts have disclosed LGBTQ+ status — and none did so at the time of their selection. For example, representatives for the first American woman in space, Sally Ride, made a posthumous announcement after her death from cancer in 2012. Anne McClain’s divorce from her wife was disclosed in the wake of a now-overturned legal dispute. Wendy Lawrence, a space shuttle astronaut, waited until her retirement from NASA to make her own announcement.
A 2021 peer-reviewed study in the journal Science surveying 21 STEM professional societies found that community professionals “were more likely to experience career limitations, harassment and professional devaluation than their non-LGBTQ peers,” along with health issues.
Related: The space industry has a big, ugly sexual harassment problem
GLAAD, which describes itself as the world’s largest media advocacy organization for LGBTQ+ individuals, documented 124 threats or violent incidents in a 2022 report that called the situation “unprecedented.”
STEM professionals, educators and libraries have been targeted for abuse in recent months as well. Librarians and drag story time performers across the United States are facing protests and threats of violence concerning LGBTQ+ programming and books.
The climate for helping U.S. LGBTQ+ individuals varies not only by workplace, but at the state level. Illinois made book bans illegal in legislation signed yesterday (June 12). The State Library of Oregon is working to resist what it calls “challenges” to LGBTQ+ materials, according to NPR.
However, the White House says over a dozen other states have enacted anti-LGBTQ+ laws. In response, U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris last week jointly announced several new measures intended to protect LGBTQ+ communities, to support children and to address book bans.
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