What do Sir Francis Bacon, Florence Nightingale, Margaret Mead, Alan Turing, and Leonardo da Vinci all have in common besides all being scientists? They were all homosexual.

I had the pleasure of attending a NOGLSTP (National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals) conference over the weekend, where two brilliant women that I love were Keynote Speakers and panelists: my cousin Dr. Victoria Orphan and her wife Dr. Shana Goffredi. A pamphlet I picked up entitled Queer Scientists of Historical Note listed 14 leaders of their scientific fields and their CVs. I can’t imagine the difficulties Bacon and da Vinci had being gay in the 16th century. Or, come to think of it, some people in the 21st. Shana spoke of the interaction in a panel discussion where an attending young scientist felt he had to sing his own praises, not because of the academic pressures in a competitive field, but because his father didn’t approve of his homosexuality. We do this to our children?

They say a rising tide lifts all boats. It’s time to support those whose contributions benefit all society regardless of their sexual orientation.

Victoria’s Keynote Speech was, thankfully, dumbed down for those of us who are not Geobiologists. There were aha! moments in her presentation; such as what is grown in Petrie dishes makes up only 1% of that which was sampled – she compared them to weeds – which would be like basing our knowledge of all plant life on only dandelions. And that half of the oxygen we breathe is from 2 microorganisms in the ocean, and they can be seen from space. Or that less is known about the earth’s deep oceans than is known about the moon. And that after 22 years of exploratory dives less than 1% of the sea floor has been explored. Victoria was putting the call out for scientists to join her field of study, as there is so much more to know. C’mon in, the water’s fine.

Dr. Victoria Orphan

But scientific funding is being cut in the current administration. What would be a miniscule amount of military spending is a tremendous amount for science, so we need pressure from the public to continue to fund science. It’s about the air we breathe.

And speaking of pressuring government, if anyone hasn’t seen the ABC docudrama miniseries When We Rise I highly recommend catching it on-demand. It chronicles the struggles, both personal and political, of a diverse group of LGBT individuals, the pioneers of the Gay Rights Movement. Based on Cleve Jones’ memoir called When We Rise, My Life in the Movement, it begins just after the Stonewall riots in 1969 and ends just after the Supreme Court ruling legalizing same sex marriage. Our LGBT brothers and sisters continue their struggle for acceptance, both public and familial. This series puts faces to those brothers and sisters, and only the coldest hearted won’t feel for their plight.

So thank you Victoria and Shana for inviting me into your conference and for the amazing and important work that you do.

One struggle. One fight. In this and so much more.

Deborah