Gay astronauts

See astronaut Sally Ride : As of , there have been at least three known LGBTQ astronauts, Sally Ride, [1] Wendy B

Sally died the same way she lived: without fear. Her memorial fund is going to be in support of pancreatic cancer. Here's the essay that Bear Ride has been sending around as a tribute to her sister:. For 17 months, nobody knew, and everyone does now.

We grew up in Encino, CA. Our parents, Joyce and Dale Ride, encouraged us to study hard, to do our best and to be anything we wanted to be. Sally died peacefully on July 23rd after a courageous month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Sally never hid her relationship with Tam. They were partners, business partners in Sally Ride Science, they wrote books together, and Sally's very close friends, of course, knew of their love for each other. In life, Sally Ride became famous as America's first woman in space — and in death, she's now added to her fame as the first acknowledged gay revelation came in a low-key way.

In an email today, Sally Ride's sister, Bear Ride, explained why the former astronaut kept quiet about her sexual orientation. Not right or wrong — simply Sally. In Newsweek quoted our father as saying, 'We might have encouraged, but mostly we just let them explore.

Why Aren 39 t : Within the American space program, two-thirds of astronauts have been members of the military, which had a " don't ask, don't tell " policy from to Prior to public knowledge of

Three hundred and thirty American men and women have served as astronauts since the start of NASA's human spaceflight program. Everyone who knows her well really got that about her. I was at her side. Sally's signature statement was 'Reach for the Stars. We consider Tam a member of our family.

Sally had a very fundamental sense of privacy, it was just her nature, because we're Norwegians, through and through. Gay Americans were persecuted throughout the s, the decade when astronauts first flew.

She wanted to get the job done. She became an astronaut and I was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. People did not know she had pancreatic cancer, this is bound to be a huge shock. Her personal feelings were just that: personal.

In life, Sally Ride became famous as America's first woman in space — and in death, she's now added to her fame as the first acknowledged gay astronaut. Coincidentally, it was the summer ofwhen NASA triumphed with its Apollo 11 moon landing, that the Stonewall riots in New York began an assertive time of grassroots protest and demand for equal rights for gay and trans Americans.

Our parents taught us to explore, and we did. Sally studied science and I went to seminary. Her integrity was absolute; her spirit was immeasurable; her approach to life was fearless. Only one is publicly known to have been gay or bisexual — Sally.

The revelation came in a low-key way: Monday's obituary from Sally Ride Science, the educational venture she founded a decade ago, referred to Tam O'Shaughnessy as "her partner of 27 years.