Okay, you are probably reading my headline going “Why is this under Green Living?”
But let me explain…
Astronaut Sally Ride died last Monday after a seventeen-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61.
However, she leaves behind a huge legacy. Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983 when she was a member of the Space Shuttle Challenger. She was also the first woman to use a robotic arm, which was then used to retrieve a satellite. Ride went up in the Challenger again in 1984 and all in all, she spent 343 hours in space.
As most of us remember, the Challenger met a tragic end in January 1986. Ride was named to the committee that investigated the accident then assigned to NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. She continued to make strides at NASA, including founding the Office of Exploration. She left in 1987 to work for the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford.
But, behind the scenes, Rid was groundbreaking as well. She was in a long-term, committed relationship that didn’t come to light, at least to the public, until after her death.
Ride and her partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy was together for 27 years, but never married. Why? Because Tam is a female. That’s right, America’s first female astronaut was also America’s first lesbian in space.
Ride and O’Shaughnessy had been friends since they were 12. O’Shaughnessy and Ride stayed in touch through the years, as Ride took off for the stars while O’Shaughnessy played professional tennis then earned a PhD in school psychology.
Ride was married once – to fellow astronaut Steven Hawley – for five years (1982-1987).
What I like about this story is how Ride led her private life as every should be able to – privately. She became in icon for young girls all over America who wanted to go into space, yet she herself was never allowed to marry her partner. Ride and Shaughnessy spent 27 years together and yet if one had become sick, the other may not have been able to visit her in the hospital. If one had died, the other’s family might have been able to come into their home and take whatever they wanted, with no respect whatsoever to the surviving longtime partner.
Now, I don’t know what Ride’s relationship was with her family – they may have accepted her relationship with O’Shaughnessy with open arms. But, all gay couples are not as lucky. And without gay marriage being legal, everything I mentioned above could easily happen.