(This series of profiles from the California Academy of Sciences New Science exhibit tells first-person stories of LGBTQ+ women and gender minorities of color working in STEMM—science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine—professions.)
My former self, known as “Annie,” was someone my parents expected to be a graceful Vietnamese woman with long, black hair. Instead, I dug my hands in the earth, I wore men’s work clothes, and I dreamt of exploration through tropical jungles and uncovering new species.
In Vietnamese-American families, the term “conservation,” or Bảo tồn thiên nhiên, is a luxurious word, heavily laden with implications of something frivolous, only meant for Caucasian men with financial means. My first introduction to the concepts of environmental justice and biology drew from my time working at the local community farm. I kept this job a secret from my parents, making sure to scrub my nails clean every time I came home.
To me, being queer in STEMM means having to tell yourself that you deserve to be here, and having to figure out who’s safe and who’s not. But it also means finding a community with people who are changing the world through research, and changing science through being their brilliant, queer selves.
https://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/new-science-exhibit
Published on November 4, 2021
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