Welcome to QueerBio.com
DID YOU KNOW?
The Queer Presence in Space Exploration
Space exploration is known colloquially as the 'last frontier'. Certainly, in terms of LGBTQ participation in the profession it has been slow to accept and promote minority community members. Notable LGBTQ members of this complex and narrow profession hail entirely from the United States.
A good reason for the lack of diversity in the profession is due to the close relationship between space exploration and the military, which has historically marginalized the LGBTQ community.
The most high profile member of the LGBTQ community involved in space exploration has been Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut in space. She was publicly found to be lesbian only after her death.
Our list reveals that the vast majority of community members are female.
There are several initiatives to encourage greater LGBTQ participation and presence in space exploration in the United States. The group OutAstronaut was created by the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences to highlight the contributions of LGBTQ+ members currently working in science and space, and provide grants to promising LGBTQ students currently pursuing professions in space-related fields. In 2016 NASA created the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Special Emphasis Program to work with agency leadership to identify and address key issues and areas affecting NASA’s LGBTQ employees and allies.
We have identified several notable LGBTQ individuals active space exploration. To read more and see the complete list, click HERE
Directory of past 'Did You Know?' Articles See Here
The goal of QueerBio.com is to be the definitive online biographical reference source for the international LGBTQ community. Its database lists over 17,000 contemporary and historical figures who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, two-spirit, or gender fluid (LGBTQ) and includes artists, sports figures, politicians, entertainers, business leaders, academics, activists, and more. The database is widely international in scope and is an ideal source for research and analysis with full search and sort functionality.
The mission is to inspire, educate, and motivate all generations of LGBTQ individuals and others through a collective knowledge of this international community.
Managing Editor: Mark S. Bonham
Search for a Biography
To search for an individual from the database of over 17,000 biographies, simply type the name in the Search Box located in the top right hand corner of this Home Page and click on GO. Similarly, you can search for a common characteristic such as Country, City, Nobel Prize winners, writers, and so on.
Alternatively, you can view and scroll through the entire list of biographies by viewing the All Biographies section.
Library of Congress Historic Collection - LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive
QueerBio.com has been chosen for the Library of Congress Web Archiving Program - Preserving important cultural artifacts by acquiring, cataloging, preserving and serving collections material of historical importance to foster education and scholarship.
Announcing Our New Documentary Project - Being Different: 101 Global LGBTQ Individuals Who Changed the World
Despite adversity and discrimination, LGBTQ individuals have excelled throughout history. Yet historians and academics have conveniently participated in the heterosexist erasure of these LGBTQ contributions by omitting the LGBTQ status of prominent historical figures from academic and historical documents. Accordingly, there are relatively few comprehensive projects which document and showcase the influence of these LGBTQ efforts.
Being Different: 101 Global LGBTQ Individuals Who Changed The World will be an original documentary outlining the contributions that members of the LGBTQ community have made, individually and collectively, to changing the world.
We are now Crowdfunding to get this project off the ground. We would love to have you as part of our team. You can help us and SUPPORT THIS PROJECT!
SEE THE TRAILER, READ MORE AND CROWDFUND HERE
Donate
Our goal is to make QueerBio.com the go-to website for global biographical information on LGBTQ identified individuals. To do this requires a serious commitment of people and resources, so we need your help to fund and help this project grow.
Click here for more information.
Sign Up for our Bi-Weekly Newsletter
Sign up to receive our informative bi-weekly newsletter. Included in the newsletter is the updated 'DID YOU KNOW?' column, a sample of new biographies added since the previous newsletter, and relevant news features pertaining to QueerBio.com.
Bonham Centre Awards Gala
Annual Awards established in 2007 to recognize individuals or groups that have made a significant contribution to the advancement and education of human rights issues surrounding sexual education. Click here to find out more about the Bonham Centre Awards, past recipients, and present nominees.
Books Available From QueerBio.Com
It's A Fabulous Morning! My Interviews With Fascinating People in the LGBTQ World (Pearse Murray and Mark S. Bonham, 2019) presents fascinating interviews with individuals from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Two Spirit and Ally (LGBTQ) community. Icons such as Lily Tomlin, Chaz Bono, Melissa Etheridge, Mark Tewksbury, John Cameron Mitchell, Kathleen Wynne, Wanda Sykes, Tony Kushner, David Hockney, Edmund White and more provide their personal stories of the community and their lives within it. Compelling insight into events of the community, such as Toronto’s Bath House Raids, is also provided. 262 pages.
A Path to Diversity: LGBTQ Participation in the Working World (Mark S. Bonham, 2017) investigates the current state of employment markets around the world for the LGBTQ community. Included is a discussion of equality in the workplace and why it is important to both the employer and employee, the wage gap, which professions are attractive to LGBTQ individuals and why, and the role of unions and government legislation. A survey of seventy five professions provides a status report for each, and seventy two biographies of influential LGBTQ professionals from around the world is included. 242 pages
Notables: 101 Global LBGTQ People Who Changed the World (Mark S. Bonham, 2015) reveals a group of select global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals whose accomplishments in their profession changed the world in some relevant way. Included are founders of various social movements, innovators in sports, leaders in business and politics, explorers and discoverers, instigators in religious movements, thinkers in philosophy, infamous villains, creators of new academic fields of study, and risk takers in the arts, culture, and entertainment worlds. 212 pages.
Champions: Biographies of Global LGBTQ Pioneers (Mark S. Bonham, 2014) reveals a group of select artists, writers, politicians, lawyers, sports figures, activists, and religious figures from around the world who have helped shape the history of the LGBTQ community. Presented in a convenient notebook format. 114 pages.
READ MORE AND PURCHASE PRINT or EBOOK COPIES HERE
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Order for yourself, and the books also make an ideal gift for friends and family while supporting the development of QueerBio.Com