— written by Celia Du
Happy Pride in STEM Day! Also known as International Day of LGBTQIA+ people in STEM, this day aims to celebrate and highlight the work and barriers of LGBTQIA+ people in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Today marks the anniversary of American astronomer and gay activist Frank Kameny’s U.S. Supreme Court fight against workplace discrimination following his dismissal as an astronomer in the U.S. Army's Army Map Service because of his sexual orientation. Fights like Frank’s continue around the world today.
In support of Pride in STEM Day, here are seven amazing 2SLGBTQIA+ scientists from Canada throughout history.
1. People can’t stop raven about Alex Bond
Senior Curator in Charge of Birds at the Natural History Museum (Tring, UK) and co-chair of LGBTQ+ STEM, Dr. Alex Bond (he/him) hails from New Brunswick. It’s here that he fell in love with the outdoors and rugged field work, as well as careful lab work. As a conservation biologist with a focus on the marine environment and island biology, his particular interests include seabirds, marine debris, invasive species and globally threatened or extinct species. You can even check out where he’s done field work or where the data he’s analyzed is from on this handy map. Looking for a book for the young ones in your life? He’s written a cool book about birds called “Birds (A Day in the Life): What Do Flamingos, Owls, and Penguins Get Up To All Day?”
2. Farah Alibay is out of this world!
This French Canadian aerospace engineer explores space with robots! Born in Montreal to immigrants from Madagascar, Farah Alibay (she/they) grew up in a small town called Joliette, “where working at NASA was unheard of”. Now, she is a systems engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory who has worked on the InSight, Mars Cube One and Mars 2020 missions. They were even on the team behind Ingenuity, the very first powered flight on another planet back in April 2021! She also advocates for diversity and inclusion in STEM, driven by the challenges they've faced as an LGBTQ+ immigrant woman of color and the desire to “work in a diverse and inclusive environment where teams come together to make space exploration happen!” If you happen to be in Montreal, you may catch a glimpse of her as the star fairy in the upcoming Santa Claus Parade on November 25, 2023.
Get her autobiography, “My Martian Year,” (in French) here.
3. The unsung icon, Frieda Fraser
Canadian physician, scientist and academic, Frieda Fraser (30 August 1899 – 29 July 1994) worked in infectious disease, researching scarlet fever and tuberculosis, among others. She made important contributions in the pre-penicillin age through her work isolating strains of streptococci likely to lead to disease. By 1955, she worked her way up to full professor of microbiology at the University of Toronto. What seemed to be an important source of strength throughout her medical career was her life partner, Edith Williams, who was one of the first women in North America to graduate as a Veterinarian. They met in college around 1917 and their relationship lasted until Edith's death in 1979, exchanging many letters throughout their time together. These letters, which included “candid accounts of conflicts with male authority, challenges to ideas about sexuality, and the pervasiveness of prejudice, often reinforced by the scientific community,” are important for both medical history and the lesbian history of Canada.
4. The winner takes it all, James Makokis
“I went into medicine to help make a difference in the lives of people,” says Dr. James A. Makokis, a Nehiyô (Plains Cree) Two-Spirit Family Physician from the Saddle Lake Cree Nation. “Our Elders teach us that to do so, we have to act from a place of love and I do my best to remember this in my practice. Let’s bring the humanity back to medicine.” Dr. Makokis is a national and internationally recognized leader and author in the area of Indigenous health and transgender health. Recently named to “The Medical Post’s 2021 Power List,” Dr. Makokis believes that power should be shared, especially with those who have been disempowered. Teaming up with their husband, Anthony Johnson, they formed “Team Ahkameyimok” (“Never give up” in the Plains Cree language), the Season 7 winners of The Amazing Race Canada! They competed while wearing homemade red skirts with rainbow ribbons, which represented missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, as well as transgender and two-spirit people. Their T-shirts, emblazoned with "water is life," brought awareness to the ongoing water crisis in Indigenous communities.
Read more about Dr. Makokis here.
5. She’s so fly, Jessica Ware
A Canadian-American evolutionary biologist and entomologist, and associate curator of invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, Jessica Ware (she/her) researches the evolution of behavioral and physiological adaptations in insects. Her work focuses on dragonflies, damselflies, cockroaches and termites, with a few other insects thrown in for good measure. So it should come as no surprise that she is the current president of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association! Follow Dr. Ware on Twitter to see all her bug - mostly dragonfly - inspired fashion!
6. The math diva, Kyne Santos
World class drag queen and mathematics communicator, Kyne Santos (he/him), also known by their stage name Kyne (she/her), was born in Manila and grew up in Kitchener, Ontario. In high school, he started his YouTube channel “onlinekyne”, where he posted vlogs, makeup tutorials and musings. While he studied Mathematics at the University of Waterloo, Kyne began her drag career and became known for her YouTube drag tutorials. She even competed on the first season of Canada’s Drag Race! Kyne spreads her passion for math education, and brings STEM education to the queer community and queerness to STEM through her viral short-form math videos! All while dressed in high-glamour drag, she tells riddles, gives math lessons, and shares tips on how to spot misleading statistics in the media.
Learn more about Kyne and get her book, “Math in Drag” here.
7. Science is a drag with Shawn Hercules
Shawn Hercules is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. Their work involves developing novel ways to assess the risk of developing breast cancer. Born in the beautiful Caribbean Island of Barbados (where he and Rihanna - yes, THAT Rihanna - went to the same high school), Shawn was driven by his passion for advancing science and health and pursued a PhD in Cancer Biology and Epidemiology at McMaster University. Shawn is also one of the cofounders of Science is a Drag, an award-winning global phenomenon supported by RCIScience, and performs in drag as Rawbyn Diamonds, a stage name aptly inspired by Rihanna.