By: Susan Oser, NFBPWC Advocacy Team LGBTQIA+ Lead 

LGBTQ+ Icon of the Month:  Sally K. Ride

Why highlight? 

Sally K. Ride became the first American woman to travel into space in June 1993.   She was

 also an engineer, physicist (as well as professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego, and director of the California Space Institute.  Her mission was to get kids engaged in the sciences.  Former President Obama honored Sally with a Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously.  She kept her personal life private but after she passed away in 2012, it was revealed that she was in a relationship with a woman for over 27 years, which never mattered until after her death. 

Source(s) for more information: 

• Jacket, In-Flight Suit, Shuttle, Sally Ride, STS-7 -https://tinyurl.com/y59rc9kk 

• These Queer Icons Will Be the First LGBTQ+ People Featured on U.S. Currency - https://www.them.us/story/first-lgbtq-people-featured-us-currency-sally-ride-nina-otero-warren 

• Earth to Ben Shapiro: Lesbians Have Already Been to Space -https://www.them.us/story/benshapiro-lesbians-astronauts 

Good LGBTQ+ News for May –  

• A case for the ERA: Marriage equality - https://eracoalition.org/2023/12/27/a-case-for-the-eramarriage-equality/ 

• How two legendary lesbians inspired a culinary oasis in the California desert - https://tinyurl.com/5n7wf4kp- Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein served as inspiration for Alice B., a new venture by restaurateurs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. 

• Beastie Boys paid for trans woman’s gender-affirming surgery -https://tinyurl.com/97p66d84- She kickstarted their career. They helped her start a new life. 

• Dawn Staley just won another title — and still had time to stand up for trans athletes - https://tinyurl.com/2w56nun6- South Carolina's Dawn Staley took her place among other legends of women’s sports who support trans inclusion in women’s sports. 

And now for the BAD news: 

• Trans folks are peeing in bottles & avoiding water to dodge harassment under Florida’s bathroom law -https://tinyurl.com/43xw8r3a- Residents have taken it upon themselves to police restrooms, traumatizing trans folks and often incorrectly enforcing the law. 

• Vatican blasts gender-affirming surgery, surrogacy and gender theory as violations of human dignity -https://tinyurl.com/y8t5prxf- The Vatican’s doctrine office issued “Infinite Dignity,” a 20page declaration that has been in the works for five years. After substantial revision in recent months, it was approved March 25 by Pope Francis, who ordered its publication. 

If you have any news or leads on anything related to LGBTQ+ news, issues, and organizations, please contact Sue Oser at soser@nfbpwc.org