LGBTQ+ Pride Month: Documentary Recommendation: Sally

 Sally is a documentary currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+ about the first American woman astronaut in space: Sally Ride. 

There are spoilers in this blog post, so stop reading if you want to watch the documentary and not be spoiled. 

Sally was not only the first American woman in space, she was also gay. 

But she hid that part of her life from everyone except her very closest friends.

She gave her life partner of 27 years, Tam, permission to tell the world after she died. 

Sally died at the age of 61 of pancreatic cancer. 

She and Tam had known each other since they were kids. 

They were together for 27 years. 

So why did Sally choose to stay in the closet? 

A number of reasons. 

She grew up in a family that did not express their emotions. 

She worked in a male-dominated field.

She was friends with Billy Jean King and witnessed what she endured when she was outed. She was taken to court, lost many of her endorsements, and was dragged through the mud in the media. 

Sally became a celebrity when she was selected to be the first American woman astronaut. 

She became a hero to many, especially girls. 

She and Tam started a program to get more girls involved in STEM. 

She was scared that if she and Tam were outed, then the program would be discontinued. 

With celebrity status comes intense media scrutiny. 

She was trying so hard to fit into the male-dominated world of NASA, and then she had to field ridiculous misogynistic questions. 

When reporters referred to her as miss, she would rely, "You can call me Sally, or you can call me Doctor. Do not call me Miss."

It is very sad that Sally felt she could not live her live out in the open. 

Given her situation, it makes sense. But it doesn't make it any less sad, for her and for Tam. 

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