Fri 4/4 @ 11:30AM
Astronaut Sally Ride was the first American woman in space (two Russians preceded her). She was also the youngest American astronaut in space when she took her 1983 journey at the age of 32. As a Stanford graduate with a PhD in physics, she joined NASA in 1978. Clearly no “DEI” hire, the abolition of “diversity, equality and inclusion” would institutionalize the type of roadblocks and arbitrary exclusion based on irrelevant traits and identities that she had to face back in the day. In addition to being a woman, Ride was a lesbian who had a 27-year relationship she largely hid.
The Cleveland International Film Festival is screen the film Sally, about the challenges she faces, on Saturday April 5. In conjunction with that screening, the City Club is hosting a forum on “Astronaut Sally Ride’s Legacy, LGBTQ+ Rights and Progress for Women in STEM,” asking “Are we destined to confront the same challenges as Sally did in the 1980s?” (Yes.)
Ken Schneck from Ohio LGBTQ+ newsroom The Buckeye Flame will lead a discussion featuring Amanda Cole, executive director of PLEXUS LGBT and Allied Chamber of Commerce, and Marcy Frumker, president of the International Women’s Air and Space Museum, based at Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport.
Get tickets here. The forum will also be livestreamed on the City Club’s website. Questions call be texted t to 330-541-5794.