#LGBTSTEMDay

Today is the inaugural international day for LGBTQ+ people in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) –  #LGBTSTEMDay

Charitable trust Pride in STEM – run by an independent group of LGBT+ scientists & engineers from around the world – is spearheading the initiative, to right the ongoing wrongs of an ecosystem stuck in the middle ages on this. According to a press release from Pride in STEM, ‘one-third of out American physicists have been told to stay in the closet to continue their career’ while ‘more than 40 percent of LGBTQ people in STEM are not out’.

“LGBTSTEMDay won’t fix all the issues, but it will shine a big light on them. We are sure it will start conversations, and that’s so important. Ignorance kills. It is time to stop pretending that the STEM disciplines are not influenced by politics and social changes. Some science might be done in a physical vacuum, but no science is done in a historical one,” said Dr Alfredo Carpineti, Chair and Founder of Pride in STEM, a British charitable trust, and one of the primary organisers of the initiative.

Watch this video and listen to staff and scientists talk about their experiences of being #LGBT at one of the world’s most traditional seats of learning.

And add your voice to the movement for change using hashtag #LGBTSTEMDay. Here’s a tweet from Dr Holly Butler to inspire you. Dr Butler was the winner of our Global Game Changers 2017 Women in Innovation award, an event we partner with Newsquest Media on.

#LGBTSTEMDay pic.twitter.com/ivZCfMvCPF

— Holly Butler (@HollehButler) July 5, 2018