by Eliot Jane Walton, 15 July, 2023.

 

For this work QueersInScience (QiS) received grant funding from the Theo Murphy (Australia) Initiative administered by the Australian Academy of Science.

 

Scope: 

In this work, we consider an LGBTIQ+ person in STEMM to be a person of any diverse gender and/or sexuality who researched, studied, worked, practiced, participated, invented, developed, created or otherwise engaged with Science Technology Engineering Mathematics or Medicine.

 

Definitions:

Adapted from Willet, Graham., Bailey, Angela., Jones, Timothy W., and Rood, Sarah. A History of LGBTIQ+ Victoria in 100 Places and Objects. 1st ed. Parkville, Vic.: Australian Lesbian & Gay Archives, 2021.

Part of the complexity of LGBTIQ+ history is that the language used to refer to people, communities and categories vary greatly across time, space and culture. Part of this complexity arises from the difference between external and internal language i.e. the difference between what people outside the community use and what people inside the community use and part of it also arises from changing understandings of gender and sexuality which are reflected in both the creation of new language and the transition away from older language.

In general, over the past fifty years the terms: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, asexual/aromantic, gender diverse, pansexual, brotherboy and sistergirl (LGBTIQ+) have come to be considered the most respectful terms for gender and sexually diverse peoples. In earlier periods different language was used, and there are often periods were terms overlap, reflecting competing and contested understandings of language.

In this work, the following definitions for the aforementioned terms have been adopted with the understanding that language is flexible , evolves through usage and that usage should be the principle guide to how a term is understood.

 

Lesbian: an umbrella term for women and/or non-binary people sexually attracted to other women and/or non-binary people. Usage can be very general (i.e. a lesbian woman, a lesbian relationship, a non-binary lesbian, a bisexual lesbian).

Gay: has three general definitions:

  1. A LGBTIQ+ person
  2. A man and/or non-binary person sexually attracted to other men and/or non-binary people.
  3. A person attracted to the same gender as them (i.e. a gay woman).

Bisexual: a person attracted to two (or more) genders. Bi from the Latin for two, although a bisexual person may be attracted to more genders. The term “bisexual” has been used historically to denote people attract to more than one gender, and may be preferred because of that history.

Transgender: a person whose gender assignment at birth is inconsistent with their actual gender. Terms which are used to describe transgender people are:

  • Assigned Gender at Birth (AGAB): usually Assigned Male at Birth (AMAB) or Assigned Female at Birth (AFAB). These terms can be used to describe the incorrectly assigned gender at birth.
  • Trans woman: a woman who was AMAB.
  • Trans man: a man who was AFAB.
  • Other genders outside the strict man/woman binary are collective referred to as non-binary genders although a non-binary person may or may not consider themselves transgender.
  • The prefix trans is from Latin meaning across or on the other side of as in translate, transpose, transverse or transatlantic.
  • The antonym of trans is the prefix cis from Latin meaning adjacent or on the same side as as in cisalpine or cisatlantic.
  • A non-transgender person is therefore referred to as cisgender.

Intersex: a person whose anatomical, physiological, genetic and hormonal features cannot be described by the binary sex descriptors as either “female” or “male”. The features of a person with intersex variations are part of the natural variation of people. Find out more at https://ihra.org.au/.

Queer: a person who consistently expresses a subversive gender or sexuality with respect the context in which they exist. While queer is a generally accepted term within the community because it was used as a slur for many years, older members of the LGBTIQ+ community may not wish to have it used for themselves.

Questioning: a person who is experimenting with their gender and/or sexuality but has not labelled themselves.

Asexual: a person who does not experience sexual attraction. Asexual people may use a more specific label, such as demisexual to describe the way in which they experience sexual attraction. The prefix a is from Greek, and it negates the word to which it is affixed as in atonal, arrhythmic or atheist.

Aromantic: a person who does not experience romantic attraction. romantic people may use a more specific label, such as demiromantic to describe the way in which they experience romantic attraction. The prefix a is from Greek, and it negates the word to which it is affixed as in apolitical, amoral or asymptomatic.

Gender diverse: a broad term to encompass people whose gender expression/experience or otherwise is subversive and unconventional. Generally used alongside transgender as in “trans and gender diverse people” to encapsulate the spectrum of gender diversity without implying those people necessarily identify themselves as trans gender.

Pansexual: a person who is sexually attracted to people of all genders. The prefix pan is from Greek meaning all as in panEuropean, panhellenic or panarabic.

Brotherboy: ” is a term used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to describe gender diverse people that have a male spirit and take on male roles within the community. Brotherboys have a strong sense of their cultural identity.” From Trans Mob on Transhub.org.au. URL: https://www.transhub.org.au/trans-mob.

Sistergirl: “is a term used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to describe gender diverse people that have a female spirit and take on female roles within the community. Including looking after children and family. Many Sistergirls live a traditional lifestyle and have strong cultural backgrounds.” From Trans Mob on Transhub.org.au. URL: https://www.transhub.org.au/trans-mob.

 

(Note from Trans Mob):

“Note: How the words Sistergirl and Brotherboy are used can differ between locations, countries and nations. These terms may not specifically define who someone is, but might complement identity. Sistergirls and Brotherboys might be non-binary, female or male. ”

 

Historical Terms:

Graham Willet, Angela Bailey, Timothy W. Jones and Sarah Rood provide a readable and excellent summary of historical queer language and its development in A History of LGBTIQ+ Victoria in 100 Places and Objects. Their chronology is reproduced is reproduced in its entirety here and is used to inform the language of this study.

 

“In the nineteenth century, the words used to refer to LGBTIQ+ people were very limited. Same-sex attracted men were commonly described by others using terms derived from offences in Christian tradition or the criminal law: sodomy (sodomite) and buggery (bugger). Within the safety of their own social circles they may have referred to themselves as mollies and later as uranians (internationally) or queans/queens. People with intersex variations were called hermaphrodites, although this term was also used to describe many forms of gender and sexual diversity beyond what ‘intersex’ is used to designate today. Same-sex attracted women, transgender, gender diverse and asexual people had a lower public profile. Most often LGBTIQ+ people protected themselves from discrimination by living discreet lives. Seeking to ‘pass’ as heterosexual and cisgender, most LGBTIQ+ people hid in plain sight. They may not have used distinct labels for themselves. Those in same-sex relationships often used the language of friendship as a safe euphemism to acknowledge their emotional bonds.”

“From the late nineteenth century, when doctors and other scientists began to study sexual and gender diversity, new language came into public use. Psychiatrists and sexologists classified lesbian, gay and bisexual people as sexual inverts or perverts. By the mid-twentieth century, these terms were displaced by homosexual and bisexual. Hermaphrodite began to be replaced with intersexuality and intersex from the 1920s. Transvestite was used to refer to gender diverse people from 1910, as was the term transsexual from 1949, when gender transition was becoming more widely known. From the 1940s, gay men and perhaps other queer people in Australia described themselves as kamp, spelled in that period with a ‘k’. Reflecting their sexual roles and styles, some people began to refer to themselves as butch and femme (for women) and bitch and butch (for men). The language of drag, cross-dressing and gender impersonation and personation was used within the community to signal different types of gender non- conformity. These practices could include elements of using opposite-sex pronouns and cross-dressing for entertainment, and to affirm gender identity; elements that are not simple to disentangle today.”

“In the 1970s the language currently in use began to emerge. Transgender came into use from 1971 (although did not displace earlier terminology until the 1990s). In Australia camp (with a ‘c’) was briefly the most common label that lesbian women and gay men used to describe themselves, before gay became more prominent: used at that time by both homosexual women and men. In the later 1970s and 1980s, the term lesbian became popular in the liberation movements to promote female visibility, but many homosexual women continued to describe themselves as gay.”

 

“In the 1990s, many women reclaimed a former insult, dyke, as a way to self-identify. Similarly, people came to self-identify with the previously sexological category bisexual. Other LGBTIQ+ people reclaimed queer as an identity label that was critical of the gender and sexual norms emerging in mainstream LGBTIQ+ culture, or as a descriptor that embraced sexual and gender diversity but rejected the notion of a stable sexual or gender ‘identity’. In the 2000s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders promoted sistergirl and brotherboy as terms that drew on Indigenous traditions of sexual and gender diversity. Transgender people often identify more simply as trans, also using transman or transwoman, or as their affirmed gender without any further qualification. And other names on a spectrum of gender diversity became common, such as non-binary, gender-diverse, gender non-conforming, transmasc, or transfemme. Cis or cisgender has been applied to people whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth. Queer came to be used as an inclusive term to encompass the whole spectrum of LGBTIQ+ identities, that now also includes pansexual, ace, or asexual, and aromantic people.”

 

General Terms:

Australia: the colonial nation established through the occupying and theft of lands belong to about 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations. Find out more about these sovereign nations at: https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia.

Gender: a socially constructed state and is used for social organisation; a multifaceted state of being composed of social, psychological and cultural aspects.

Science: a collection of methods, institutions, ideas and values primarily concerned with the empirical exploration of the Universe and the use of the knowledge thereby acquired for development of technologies.

Sexuality: a discursively constructed state that is composed of an individual’s attraction, their relationship to that attraction and in the social and cultural context.

Sex: a medical and legal category referring to general anatomical, physiological, genetic and hormonal features; as well as legal entitlements and protections.

STEMM: an acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics and Medicine.

Traditional Knowledge: the knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders which  “includes ecological knowledge, medicinal knowledge, environmental management knowledge and cultural and spiritual knowledge. It includes technical knowledge and know-how, agricultural knowledge, and astronomy.” In this context, “Traditional” refers to act of intergenerational transmission, and does not imply that this knowledge is static and unchanging.

This definition was adapted from: The Aboriginal Heritage Council’s web page on “Traditional Knowledge” from the Taking Care of Culture Discussion paper (2021). URL: https://www.aboriginalheritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/taking-care-culture-discussion-paper/traditional-knowledge.

 

Find out more:

Terri Janke and Maiko Sentina, Indigenous Knowledge: Issues for Protection and Management, IP Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, 2018. URL: https://www.terrijanke.com.au/_files/ugd/7bf9b4_043109b224984e32aebf847b96509a24.pdf.

On the value of including Traditional Knowledge in Australian Science

https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2017/November/Indigenous_Knowledge_and_Science.

Taking Care of Culture discussion paper:

https://content.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-01/Taking%20Care%20of%20Culture%20Discussion%20Paper_04012021_2.pdf .

 

 

References:

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble. Second Edition. New York: Routledge, 1999.

Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality Volume 1: The Will to Knowledge. Translated by Robert Hurley. Penguin Classics, 2020.

Goss, W. M., and McGee, Richard X. Under the Radar: The First Women in Radio Astronomy: Ruby Payne-Scott. Vol. 363. Astrophysics and Space Science Library. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Nature, 2009. URL: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-03141-0.

Halleck, Rebecca . “Overlooked No More: Ruby Payne-Scott, Who Explored Space With Radio Waves”, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2018. URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/obituaries/ruby-payne-scott-overlooked.html.

Heffernan, Elizabeth. “Ruby Payne-Scott (1912-1981)”, Royal Australian Historical Society, 2 Feb. 2021. URL: https://www.rahs.org.au/ruby-payne-scott-1912-1981/.

Hewish, Antony. “Biographical”, The Nobel Prize in Physics 1974. URL: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1974/hewish/biographical/.

Kaplan, Sarah., and Frazan, Antonia Noori. “She made the discovery, but a man got the Nobel. A half-century later, she’s won a $3 million prize.” Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2018. URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/09/08/she-made-discovery-man-got-nobel-half-century-later-shes-won-million-prize/.

McCready, L. L., Pawsey, J. L., and Payne-Scott, R. “Solar radiation at radio frequencies and its relation to sunspots,” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences 190.1022 (1947): 357–375. URL: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspa.1947.0081

Murdoch, Wayne., Marshall, Daniel, Willett, Graham, and Carr, Adam. Secret Histories of Queer Melbourne. 1st ed. Parkville, Vic.: Australian Lesbian & Gay Archives, 2011.

Pawsey, J., Payne-Scott, R. and McCready, L. Radio-Frequency Energy from the Sun. Nature 157, 158–159 (1946). URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/157158a0.

Payne-Scott, R., Yabsley, D. and Bolton, J. Relative Times of Arrival of Bursts of Solar Noise on Different Radio Frequencies. Nature 160, 256–257 (1947). URL:  https://doi.org/10.1038/160256b0.

Ryle, Martin. “Biographical”, The Nobel Prize in Physics 1974. URL: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1974/ryle/biographical/.

Sullivan, Nikki. A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003.

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Turnbull, H. W., editor. The Correspondence of Isaac Newton: Volume III 1688-1694. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961.

Walsh, Louise. “Journeys of Discovery”, University of Cambridge. URL: https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/journeysofdiscovery-pulsars.

Walton, Eliot Jane., et al. A History of Queerness in STEMM. (Forthcoming).

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Willet, Graham., Bailey, Angela., Jones, Timothy W., and Rood, Sarah. A History of LGBTIQ+ Victoria in 100 Places and Objects. 1st ed. Parkville, Vic.: Australian Lesbian & Gay Archives, 2021.

 

Note: Martin Ryle wrote in 1952 “The relation between the magnitude of the varying component of power intercepted by an interferometer and the Fourier transform of the distribution across the source was first pointed out by McCready et al. (1947).”

From A New Radio Interferometer and its Application to the Observation of Weak Radio Stars, quoted in
Goss, W. M., and McGee, Richard X. Under the Radar: The First Women in Radio Astronomy: Ruby Payne-Scott. Vol. 363. Astrophysics and Space Science Library. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Nature, 2009. URL: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-03141-0.


Image Credits:

From left to right, top then bottom.

Photo of Private drag party in 1950s and 1960s.
Supplied by the Australian Gay and Lesbian Archives, reproduced from Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). “What a drag! exhibition celebrates Melbourne’s drag queen scene”, ABC, 18 Jan. 2015; updated 20. Jan. 2015. URL: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-18/what-a-drag-exhibition-celebrates-melbournes-drag-scene/6023626.

 

Letter 346, Newton to Fatio De Duillier, 10 October 1689. Photocopy. From Turnbull, H. W., editor. The Correspondence of Isaac Newton: Volume III 1688-1694. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961.

 

Letter 464, Fatio De Duillier to Newton, 11 April 1693. Photocopy. From Turnbull, H. W., editor. The Correspondence of Isaac Newton: Volume III 1688-1694. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961.

Anne Lister’s Diary
Lister, Anne. “20th August 1823”, Diary Archives, developed by Helen Natasha Moore, produced by Sherry Thomas. Diaries decoded by Helena Whitbread. URL: https://www.annelister.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/anne-lister-diary-archive-1823-08-20.jpg.

Fragments of Sappho’s Poetry:
Newitz, Annalee. “Software solves the mystery of a 2,500 year-old poem by Sappho”, arsTechnaica 15 May, 2016. URL: https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/05/software-solves-the-mystery-of-a-2500-year-old-poem-by-sappho/.

Copy of CISRO Memorandum:
Fig. 13.2.,  from Fig. 1. 1. From Goss, W. M., and McGee, Richard X. Under the Radar: The First Women in Radio Astronomy: Ruby Payne-Scott. Vol. 363. Astrophysics and Space Science Library. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Nature, 2009. URL: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-03141-0.

Photo of Ruby Payne-Scott:
Fig. 1. 1., rom Goss, W. M., and McGee, Richard X. Under the Radar: The First Women in Radio Astronomy: Ruby Payne-Scott. Vol. 363. Astrophysics and Space Science Library. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Nature, 2009. URL: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-03141-0.

Midsumma Carnival Coloured Bottles, 2020.
QueersInScience. “Photos from Our Past Events: Midsumma Carnival Coloured Bottles, 2020”, image, on queersinscience.org.au. URL: https://queersinscience.org.au/my-state/victoria/.

Image of Sydney Opera House
QueersInScience. “New South Wales”, image, on queersinscience.org.au. URL: https://queersinscience.org.au/my-state/new-south-wales/.