What is "Queer"?

When creating this archive the authors went through a long process deciding who should be included in the archive. A lot of Queer Professionals in STEM have historically been erased or not documented at all. It would be impossible to catch every single Queer Professional in STEM that made additions to the STEM field. This archive was created as a starting point for awareness of these individuals, a place to foster community amongst people, and a way to create history by looking back at history. We aimed to include individuals from different STEM fields with different queer labels. We also know that queer labels and terms can change as time goes on, so we included labels that were current as of creation of the archive.

During our research, we came across of a lot of individuals that had made historical contribution to the STEM field and they had been theorizied to have had identified with a queer label. There were speculations and assumptions based off of actions individuals had taken, but there was never an confirmation that that person was queer. These people may have lived in a time when if they came out they would have been punished, prosectued, or in some cases, killed.

The authors of this archive decided that to be featured in this archive, there has to be some confirmation of a queer label. It is okay if the confirmation came after their death, but it must be a confirmation from a reputable source. We wish to be respectful to those who did not have the ability to come out when they were alive and the people who surounded them that may be affected by materials "outing" individuals. Additionally, we do not want to contribute to spectualtion about such a personal matter, especially if we may never get a confirmation.

Coming out is an extremely personal decision which individuals can choose to make. When we look into lives of queer people in the past, we sometimes see negative consequences of coming out as queer. If you find yourself in a similar situation, there are resources included below.

The Coming Out Handbook | The Trevor Project

Coming Out | Human Resource Campaign

LGBTQ Student Resources and Support

SAGE Advocacy & Services for LGBTQ Elders