10 LGBTQIA+ tech pioneers that inspire us

Posted on: 22 July 2024 in Behind the Screen

This weekend, on 27 July 2024, Liverpool Pride will be holding their annual march. Pride is an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ people from across the world unite to celebrate their identity, community, and stories.

There have been a lot of people who had to fight to be heard throughout history, and the fighting isn’t over yet, but technology helps to amplify our voices and raise awareness better than ever before.

Here are some key members of the LGBTQIA+ communities who have shaped the way we use technology today. 

1. Alan Turing

If you've had a new £50 note in your hands recently, you would have seen the face of Alan Turing. Turing was highly influential in the development of computer science and played a key role in codebreaking methods at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. Following the war, he designed the Automatic Computer Engine, one of the first designs for a stored-program computer. Sadly, his pioneering work was overshadowed by his persecution for being a gay man. After accepting hormone treatment (effectively chemical castration) as an alternative to going to prison, he took his own life in 1954. He was posthumously pardoned in 2013, a controversial move which has been criticised due to a pardoning indicating that he committed a crime, when in fact, he did nothing but be himself.

2. Sally Ride

Sally Ride was the first American woman in space, the youngest American astronaut ever to travel to space, and the first LGBTQ astronaut. On a 1983 mission she was responsible for controlling a robotic arm and assisting with the launch of satellites. After she left NASA in 1987, she became an advocate for getting girls into STEM careers. Previously married to fellow astronaut, Stephen Hawley, she was in a long-term relationship with former Women’s Tennis Association player, Tam O’Shaughnessy, until her death in 2012.

3. Audrey Tang

Audrey Tang is a non-binary Taiwanese software programmer and politician. They describe themselves as “post-gender” and use any/all pronouns. An open-source hacker, they created a method which allowed protest videos to be shared across Taiwan, resulting in the Taiwanese Government offering them a job. Since becoming a Minister without Portfolio at age 36, they have implemented programmes that help young people recognise fake news.

4. Lynn Conway

Lynn Conway was an American computer scientist who passed away very recently on 9 June 2024. She played a key role in the design of microchips contributing to innovations which paved the way for computers and smartphones. A trans woman, Conway was dismissed from her job at IBM in the 1960s after advising them of her intention to transition. IBM apologised for firing her 52 years later. She told her story as part of her work to pursue equal opportunities for all transgender people, particularly in the technology industry.

5. Jon “Maddog” Hall

Jon “Maddog” Hall is the Board Chair of Linux International and an advocate for open-source software. He has over fifty years’ experience in the technology sector and owes his nickname to students when he was Department Head of Computer Science at Hartford State Technical College. He announced that he was gay in an open letter celebrating the anniversary of his hero Alan Turing’s birthday.

6. Edith Windsor

Edith “Edie” Windsor was a technology manager at IBM who revolutionised the rights of same-sex married couples following her wife Thea’s death when same-sex marriages were not recognised as spousal relationships under US law. She went to court and achieved increased rights for same-sex couples inheriting their late partners’ estates. Windsor worked primarily in systems architecture and the implementation of operating systems, and was particularly known for her “top-notch debugging skills”.

7. Dr Alan L. Hart

Dr Alan L. Hart was the first transgender man to have gender affirmation surgery in the USA. He played a key role in the fight against tuberculosis, one of the deadliest diseases in the world at the time, by using x-rays to detect early signs of the illness. His screening clinics prevented the spread of the disease and improved recovery rates. He experienced many struggles during his career due to his trans identity, including the closure of his clinic after being outed by former colleagues and students.

8. Tim Cook

Tim Cook is the CEO of Apple and the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He previously worked at IBM, Intelligent Electronics and Compaq and his outsourcing strategy played a key role in Apple regaining market share from Microsoft.

9. Nergis Mavalvala

Nergis Mavalvala was part of a team of scientists who first observed gravitational waves from the collision of two black holes, a previously unseen phenomena predicted by Einstein. This revolutionised the way we see the universe and led the first direct observation of dark matter. Mavalvala describes herself as an “out, queer person of colour”, and strongly advocates for LGBT people in STEM. Born in Pakistan, she moved to the USA to study at MIT, and has been awarded the MacArthur Genius Grant and LGBTQ Scientist of the Year 2014.

10. Sophie Wilson

Sophie Wilson is a computer scientist who designed the Acorn Micro-computer and created the programming architecture for the original ARM chip. This technology is still present in 60% of smartphones in use today. She is a trans woman and was awarded a CBE for services to computing in 2019.

We’d love to hear who your LGBTQIA+ inspirations in tech are: @livuniit