America's first woman in space blazed a trail for equality in the sciences thanks to her sex and her sexuality

Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly to space in 1983 NASA

My girlfriend was the one who pointed out to me that Sally Ride had a female partner.

I was a mess on Monday when I learned that Ride, who became the first American woman to fly in space in 1983, had died. I had no idea she was even sick – at her request, NASA had kept her 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer secret.

Ride was one of my childhood heroes. I dressed as her for Halloween when I was aged eight and my lifelong passion for space was first budding. Ride’s legacy is mostly one of inclusion: bringing more women into science, encouraging girls to think they can do anything. She was a living example of how to crush gender stereotypes, even as she dodged sexist questions from the media. Her first flight on the space shuttle Challenger was before I was born. Thanks to her, I grew up in a world where my sex was not a barrier to the stars.


It runs even deeper for me, as a science writer. When I found out she had double majored in physics and English in college, I felt an intense feeling of identification – she was like me. I too loved both science and words, and felt a bit of tension about it – but if the first American woman in space could cross that line, I could too.

And I felt that same sense of recognition when my girlfriend read me this line from Ride’s obituary, that she was “survived by her partner of 27 years, Tam O’Shaughnessy.” I was elated. Again, Sally Ride was someone like me.

This is why I think Ride’s sexuality matters. If her gender matters for diversity reasons, her sexuality matters too, for the same reason.

Role models only work if you see yourself reflected in them. When young people imagine their possible futures – what career to pursue, where to live, who to spend time with – one of the most important questions in deciding what path to take is, “Will I find people like me there?”

Psychologists call this “ambient belonging”, and it’s been shown to have an effect on things like college students’ choice of subjects. If you feel that your gender, race, sexuality or love of science fiction sets you apart, then seeing people like you in a certain field will make you more likely to go into it. And the reverse is also true.

Which makes things complicated when it comes to someone like Ride. She was neither out nor deeply in the closet, it seems. Ride doesn’t appear to have kept her partnership with O’Shaughnessy particularly secret. They worked together and wrote books together. Would they have legally married if they could? We may never know. But Ride’s sex was visible in a way that her sexuality wasn’t. She didn’t need to put much effort into hiding it for us to overlook it.

Even when you’re actively looking, it can be hard to find reflections of yourself in the world. I know that it’s not just me. The March meeting of the American Physical Society held the first-ever session on sexual and gender diversity issues in physics this year.

One of the organisers, Elena Long of Kent State University, had searched for resources for LGBT+ physicists – or even just evidence that others existed – and found nothing (LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, while the plus sign includes other sexual orientations or gender identities including intersexed, queer, questioning, asexual or pansexual).

One of the main conclusions of the meeting was that having role models who are open about their sexuality, and having a support network was necessary for LGBT+ physicists to feel safe and comfortable in their departments – and crucial to a successful career.

“I think showing successful academics who are out is an important way to dispel the notion that being out precludes or limits one’s professional opportunities,” wrote one anonymous attendee.

“There are other people like me who are further in their careers,” wrote another. “I know a number of queer students or allies that are students, but I have no visible, contemporary queer scientist role models.”

Now we have Sally Ride.