Sally Ride, 1st U.S. (Lesbian) Woman In Space, Dies

Sally Ride was a role model for millions of women for her pioneering
 role in literally going where no woman had gone before

Sally Ride, one of the United States' most famous female scientists for becoming the first American woman to go into space (twice), died on Monday after a long fight with pancreatic cancer.

Of interest to the LGBT community is this quote from Ride's official obituary:

In addition to Tam O’Shaughnessy, her partner of 27 years, Sally is survived by her mother, Joyce; her sister, Bear; her niece, Caitlin, and nephew, Whitney; her staff of 40 at Sally Ride Science; and many friends and colleagues around the country. 

Ride was married to another astronaut, Stephen Hawley from 1982 to 1987. Ride considered Tam O'Shaughnessy her life partner for over 27 years, and O'Shaughnessy serves as the CEO of the company Ride founded, SallyRideScience.com.


It will be interesting to see how many of the press reports that cover the death of Sally Ride as an icon for American woman will also include information about Ride being an icon for the LGBT community.