Closet Space

Two more weekends left of Pride and we (very much using the royal WE, since it’s just moi) here at Surrenders continues to highlight queer entertainers, artists and works because we only get 30 days per year and we’re going to make them as gay as fucking humanly possible. And it doesn’t get much gayer than perhaps the most famous queer actor of her generation playing the most famous female astronaut of any generation. Kristen Stewart has signed on to play Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman in space, in a new Amazon TV series.

Now, I am old enough to remember when Sally Ride went to space in 1983, and I am old enough to remember what a big, huge deal it was – particularly as a girl growing up in the 1980s. Keep in mind, us women had only earned the right to open a credit card in our own names less than 10 years before this (in 1974). So the first woman and arguably the most awesomely named astronaut in history was a Big Fucking Deal in my book.

But, and here is why we should never forget our history, it was inconceivable at the time to think Sally could have been celebrated as BOTH the first woman AND first gay person in space. Because that last part, yeah, that was definitely not something we celebrated back in 1983.

In fact, she didn’t feel comfortable coming out publicly at all until her death, in 2012, when she revealed her 27-year relationship with Tam O'Shaughnessy. And, if you’re thinking, gosh that’s awfully late to come out? Why was she still in the closet in 2012?

Well, the arc of moral history is long, but the arc of recent LGBTQ+ civil rights history has bent extraordinarily toward justice in the last dozen years. Think back. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell wasn’t repealed until 2010, just two years before Ride’s death. President Obama didn’t come out in support of of same-sex marriage until May 2012, just two months before her death. And of course same-sex marriage rights, perhaps our most high-profile legal victory, weren’t conferred on all Americans until 2015, two years after her death.

History isn’t terribly ancient, and the recent strides we’ve made in queer rights are continually in peril as the far-right backlash to, well, really everything good and progressive continues unabated. So I’m thrilled that Kristen is using her platform to both highlight queer elders and champion our history. Also, you just know K-Stew is gonna look good in that astronaut suit.