The history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals is replete with famous personalities from the arts. Growing up predominantly as a science student, as well as being part of the LGBT community, can be pretty discouraging. In my personal experience, I do remember this nagging feeling that I had to be good in the arts if I were gay. This meant years being spent reading literature extensively and stressing myself over art pieces which I can make no head or tail of. Then it came to me – being gay does not mean that one has to be good in the arts, or good at speaking, or find a job in the theatre when one grows up; it’s about being who you are. Forgive the platitude, but at the very heart of my awakening lies the idea that if there should be anything I should have learnt growing up gay, it is that there is no one right way to lead my life. I am gay. And I suck at the arts.
So for all of you out there who, like me, embrace the science geek in you as much as your homosexuality, I have compiled a list of some LGBT personalities who have succeeded in their own respective scientific fields. I do hope that you would be able to find in them a source of inspiration.
| Name | Profession |
|---|---|
| Eric Allman | Computer programmer |
| Vera Gedroitz | Surgeon, poet |
| Tim Gill | Software entrepreneur, LGBT rights activist |
| Warren Goldfarb | Mathematician, professor |
| G. H. Hardy | Mathematician |
| Matt Heinz | Physician, politician |
| Magnus Hirschfeld | Doctor, LGBT rights activist |
| Kate Hutton | Seismologist |
| Richard Isay | Author, psychiatrist |
| John Maynard Keynes | Economist |
| Alfred Kinsey | Biologist, human sexuality researcher |
| Gary Kinsman | Sociologist |
| Oswalt Kolle | Sexologist |
| Kerryn Phelps | Physician |
| James B. Pollack | Astrophysicist |
| William Thetford | Psychologist |
| Patrick Trevor-Roper | Doctor, LGBT rights activist |
| Bruce Voeller | HIV/AIDS researcher |
| Winston Wilde | Sexologist, author |