Making Astronomy more LGBTQ-friendly, by Jessica Mink, CfA EIJC, July 27, 2020

Making Astronomy more LGBTQ-friendly

By Jessica Mink
Center for Astrophysics Equity & Inclusion Journal Club, July 27, 2020

Science advances fastest when the best scientists are free to apply their intelligence and imagination to the exploration of the universe without limits and without fear. Sometimes, the best scientists are LGBT+. Institutions that are viewed as unfriendly to LGBT+ people quickly find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. When LGBT+ scientists leave our departments to work at other institutions, our students, our scholarly communities, and our own research suffer. A more inclusive workplace has advantages for all of us: greater flexibility to perform our work, greater support for work/life issues, and greater freedom to be ourselves.

To make Astronomy more LGBTQ-friendly, we are following two tracks: