Judy Shepard, who has dedicated her life to spreading acceptance after her son Matthew was murdered in an anti-gay hate crime, and Jane Rigby, senior project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope and a lesbian mom, on Friday received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.
Shepard is the co-founder, with her husband Dennis, of the Matthew Shephard Foundation, an organization created in honor of their son, murdered in a hate crime in 1998 at the age of 21. She served as its first executive director, from 1999 to 2009, and continues as board chair/president. Originally trained as a teacher, she now speaks to audiences across the country about what they can do as individuals and communities to erase hate and make the world a more accepting place.
Among her other achievements, she helped expand federal hate crime legislation to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
In response to the medal, she said in a statement:
This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful and more peaceful place for all. I am grateful to everyone for the love and support through the years. It has allowed our work to continue.
If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.
My experience is that absolutely I am a better astronomer because I’m queer.
Rigby is an astrophysicist in the Observational Cosmology Lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. She was a leader on the team that commissioned the Webb telescope; now as as senior project scientist for the Webb, “her job is to maximize the scientific return from the most powerful telescope ever built,” says a NASA biography. Her own research, in more than 150 refereed scientific papers, focuses on galactic evolution. She has been honored with NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal and the Robert H. Goddard Award for Exceptional Achievement for Science, and named Out to Innovate’s 2022 LGBTQ+ Scientist of the Year. She holds a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Arizona, and bachelor degrees in physics and in astronomy and astrophysics from Penn State University.
“Webb has become a symbol not only of technical excellence and scientific discovery, but also of how much humanity can accomplish when we all work together,” Rigby said in a press release. “I’m so proud and grateful to lead the amazing Webb team.”
She is being honored, however, not only for her scientific prowess, but also for being “a long-time advocate of inclusivity in the sciences,” as President Biden said in his remarks. Among other things, she was a founding member of the American Astronomical Society’s (AAS’s) Committee for Sexual-Orientation and Gender Minorities in Astronomy (SGMA), and has helped raise awareness about the contributions of astronomer and LGBTQ rights advocate Frank Kameny. (See her video presentation about him.)
My wife and I, with our baby, stood with the crowd at the steps of the Supreme Court when DOMA was struck down. We cried, and the baby napped.
She met her now-spouse, Andrea Leistra, an astronomer and data scientist, when they were both in graduate school. The two of them and their child are featured on a 2014 poster (PDF) that Rigby created for the AAS Working Group on LGBTIQ Equality about the impact of federal marriage equality on astronomers. Rigby explains on the poster that she is “no longer treated as a second-class employee,” but also charmingly relates, “My wife and I, with our baby, stood with the crowd at the steps of the Supreme Court when DOMA was struck down. We cried, and the baby napped.”
In an interview on the SGMA website (undated, but no earlier than 2015), she spoke of the challenges she faced as both an individual and a couple, and said “my own experience is that it has been much harder to be a queer person in science than a woman in science.” She explained:
The concerns of queer women have frequently been dismissed as unimportant, distracting, or de-legitimizing the concerns of white, straight, cisgender women on the tenure track. (The “real women”.) We would try to point out that an issue discriminated against queer women astronomer, for example a family leave policy that excluded non-bio moms or adoptive parents. Or even suggest nicely that we use the word “partner” instead of husband. Over and over, the response was that these were not the concerns of women in astronomy.
Do fabulous science, be fabulous, and be proud.
She added, however, that “My experience is that absolutely I am a better astronomer because I’m queer,” saying that it has helped her “think about science in terms of community-building,” allowed her to use leadership skills gained as an LGBTQ activist, and given her resilience.
She also felt there had been positive evolution in recent years, and advised young, queer astronomers to “Do fabulous science, be fabulous, and be proud.”
Rigby and Shepard each received their honors from President Biden at a White House ceremony along with 17 other recipients. Congratulations to them both on these well-deserved honors.