The month of June is celebrated worldwide as pride month. I wanted to post this article yesterday, but decided against it as pride mustn’t just be celebrated during the month of June and forgotten for the rest of the year. We are going to dive into the depths and talk about a very unrecognised category in the society which is LGBTQ scientists. Let’s begin our discussion by introducing Lynn Conway.
“If you want to change the future, start living as if you were already there.”
-Lynn Conway
The inventor of generalised dynamic instruction handling, Lynn Conway is a computer scientist hailing from America. Her contributions made the possibility of creating a superscalar computer neck reality and even though she was ostracised, her contributions had huge impacts on her fieldwork. She won many awards and was also elected as a member of the National Academy and has worked at institutions such as MIT and IBM, but her journey to the peak was not easily acclaimed.
Born and raised as a boy, she suffered terribly as she had the brain sex and gender identity of a woman. Sadly during her youth, there was no knowledge or discussion about likewise topics. Some even considered talking about such subjects a taboo.
Dr Harry Benjamin MD in 1966, was the first to publish a book about genders called ‘ The Transsexual Phenomenon.’ Due to her circumstances, Lynn even with a strand of support lost her job at IBM. She was treated in an inhumane fashion by people around her and she lived in a constant state of alertness, anxiety and fear from society which at that time had people like her beaten, raped, murdered people and had suffered from all-around brutal treatment and people painted in hatred spewing poisonous phrases.
It takes such courage and determination for those who have suffered from the hatred, ignorance and stigma of society, to talk about their truth and share their experiences so others who have suffered through the same know they aren't alone in this oppression, in this fight and that they have comrades who will stand with them and support them no matter what.
She still waits for a day when gender transition is not something to be pitied about or considered shameful; with today’s advancements in science and technology, people who weren’t correctly gendered at birth have a chance towards a happy life.
Let’s all work towards a more progressive, less oppressive society where people of all cultures, genders and races can live together, openly and without any fear.
Through my eyes 