My Family and My LGBTQ+ Community
I am honored and humbled to have the love of my husband, Jesse, and our son. As a queer physicist, I am always mindful of my family's place within the broader LGBTQ+ community and of our community's place within the physics profession.
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Physics has always been very accepting of me and my family, but this is not the case for all LGBTQ+ individuals who pursue careers in physics and other STEM professions. As the spouse of a transgender man, I am especially attuned to the unique struggles of the transgender community in gaining social and institutional acceptance in physics and in society.
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Because of this, I am a committed advocate and out representative of the LGBTQ+ community in my workplace. I serve as an active organizer within the national LGBT+ Physicists organization and a founding board member of Prism, the LGBTQ+ employee resource group at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Useful Resources for the LGBTQ+ Community in Physics
A comprehensive report on the climate and challenges facing LGBTQ+ physicists, commissioned by the American Physical Society. This report is the source of the above statistics.
A survey of recommendations and concrete actions which departments and institutions can implement to foster an inclusive environment.
A public, voluntary list of "out" LGBTQ+ physicists and their allies at various institutions. The purpose is to help new people at your institution to find friendly colleagues and mentors. You can add yourself to the list by clicking here.
The American Physical Society has a history of being a strong, outspoken advocate for the LGBT community, including this public statement condemning a Colorado state constitutional amendment which would have prohibited antidiscrimination protections for gay people. This situation is directly analogous to recent legislation in North Carolina, Texas, and other states which forbid legal protections for LGBTQ+ people and criminalize bathroom usage by transgender people.
Some of the partner organizations with whom we have collaborated on issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, on intersectional issues which combine the challenges associated with race and gender / sexual identity, and broader goals of inclusion within the physics community.