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Former astronaut Sally Ride chose privacy over gay causes


Written by USA TODAY | 10:30 AM, Jul 25, 2012


http://www.wtsp.com/news/national/article/265429/81/Sally-Ride-chose-privacy-over-gay-causes (http://www.wtsp.com/news/national/article/265429/81/Sally-Ride-chose-privacy-over-gay-causes)


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This is Nasa astronaut Dr. Sally Ride during one of missions here on the Challenger Space Shuttle


(USA TODAY) -- Sally Ride lived her life with integrity and by being true to herself, cultural analysts say, paving the unique way for how she wanted to let the public know about her sexuality.

In the Tuesday obituary for Ride, who died at age 61 following a short battle with pancreatic cancer, her female partner of 27 years, Tam O'Shaughnessy, is listed first as a survivor. Then the obituary mentions her mother and other family members. Ride had been married to a fellow astronaut for five years, from 1982 to 1987. The news about O'Shaughnessy came as a surprise to those who didn't know her and raised difficult-to-answer questions about the intensely complex and private issue of coming out and throwing your name behind gay causes.

"Could she have helped the cause? Maybe," says Fred Sainz, vice president of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. "For her not to have shared an incredibly important aspect of her life - being in a committed long-term relationship with a woman - meant many Americans did not get to see a dimension of her life that would have helped them understand us (gay people) and our contributions to society."

I can so understand that she chose privacy. Never mind being a celebrity - for anyone living in 'straight' settings/surroundings it is a never-ending-pain-in-the-neck to come out as anything other than being cis and straight.
One's sexual situation is best completely ignored, if only for peace of mind...
Sounds almost "Victorian" but it's really not given to everyone to become an activist/suffragette.

Peace to her soul,
Axélle

"Could she have helped the cause? Maybe," says Fred Sainz, vice president of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. "For her not to have shared an incredibly important aspect of her life - being in a committed long-term relationship with a woman - meant many Americans did not get to see a dimension of her life that would have helped them understand us (gay people) and our contributions to society."

None of his business.

It's always the person's choice if they want to "come out" or not. RIP Sally

  I didn't think it was anybody's business to know anyway.  RIP Sally, Ad Astra!
  Joelene

I get a bit fed up with people saying that we gay folks should be accepted because "look at their contribution to society!" - we should be accepted because people should just be accepted, not because we're good at stuff other people like (which somehow "makes up for" the stuff they don't like, like you know, us being gay...)

I know these activists mean well, but I don't think it helps.

It was a private matter, but the fact that it is out now should be a nice coda to a great life, and have more impact.

Quote from: Beth Andrea on July 27, 2012, 01:47:33 AM
It's always the person's choice if they want to "come out" or not. RIP Sally

Well said, may she Rest in Peace.

I'm... really conflicted on this thing. In the end, yes, it is absolutely everyone's personal choice to come out. But there is a counter-point:

Rick Mercer: Rant: Teen Suicide (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=J1OvtBa2FK8#)

Mostly, I'm just a little nauseous that it still is a thing that is kept private. That that is the world we live in. How many straight people do you know who keep their relationship of 27 years "private"? Any? Ever?

I think it's the person's choice to come out when/if they wanted. She probably could have come out in the 2000s. Though in the 1980s it was a very scandalous thing. I am pretty sure it would have been why her ex became her ex.

Also as a woman astronaut she went thru a lot of cr**. I don't know how many of you were actually young enough to remember the questions she got as opposed to a male astronaut. They would interview the guys and they'd ask "what do you plan to do in space, what are you most excited about, etc." and they'd ask her how she would put on make-up, are you scared, do you cry, all that bs. NASA was a huge misogynistic man's club with lots of stuff that I read about it in articles.In one interview they had her pulling the curtain around the shuttle toilet. I think Sally Ride really fought well to be taken seriously instead of just being a lady passenger.

I'm sorry I can't get worked up over this but she was already a pioneer. Leave it to others to be the first openly gay one.

BTW, I am kind of surprised she wasn't outed actually. This was someone who was very discrete and very private and probably not all that comfortable as an astronaut "celebrity".
She did a lot of great things for girls in science btw.


--Jay Jay

aleon515,
  My sisters had a hissy fit because she did not wear makeup during an interview back then!  I remember the original 7 astronaunts, the ones that got me into science.  Back then it was worse for the African-American candidates.  JKF sponsored one of them in the background.  As it was reported, the sponsor was assassinated on Friday, the Air Force transferred the black test pilot elsewhere on the following Monday during the funeral.  The black candidate served the rest of his commission and became a sculptor here in the Denver area.  The Denver Post had articles on him from time to time. 
  If you read the history on the early NASA test pilot program, they tested the female pilots as well as the males.  In a lot of the cases, the women outperformed the men.  It was the space race and the Cold War all in one.  So the men had to do it, besides our boosters were blowing up on the pad more often than not.  The Soviets did put a woman, Valentina Tereshkova, a civilian and amateur parachutist up in June, 1963 after the last US Mercury flight.  It was June, 1983, 20 years later when the next woman in space, Sally K. Ride became the first American in Space.  There was quite a time gap between #1 and #2, still a boys' club on both sides of the race. 
  Joelene

Quote from: Sarah7 on July 27, 2012, 12:18:27 PM
I'm... really conflicted on this thing. In the end, yes, it is absolutely everyone's personal choice to come out. But there is a counter-point:

Mostly, I'm just a little nauseous that it still is a thing that is kept private. That that is the world we live in. How many straight people do you know who keep their relationship of 27 years "private"? Any? Ever?

It's a bit much to hold Sally Ride personally responsible for teen  suicide rates. Or specifically the suicide of one gay kid.Why does one person have to carry the water for everything?


I'm sorry it is something that people keep private. OTOH, yes there are public straight people that keep there private lives VERY quiet. Or try anyway. I have the idea about her that she was that type of person.

@Joellen-- Yeah I know of the early hx of women astronauts. Ms magazine had a huge article about it. Yeah it was no doubt worse for African americans. I think I read a piece of their experience as well.  AFAIK, NASA is still a boy's (straight) club.

I trust someone will step to the plate on this one.


--Jay Jay

Quote from: aleon515 on July 28, 2012, 12:49:41 AM
It's a bit much to hold Sally Ride personally responsible for teen  suicide rates. Or specifically the suicide of one gay kid.Why does one person have to carry the water for everything?

Rick Mercer is talking about public people generally, and the responsibility to try to make the world a better/safer place for our youth by being more visible; he's hardly talking about Sally Ride specifically - that video was made last year (and it's about Canada regardless, 300 dead is far far far too low for the US of course). I think, as you said, Sally Ride did a hell of a lot already.