June is LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in the United States, where part of the Communications Biology team is based. However, we recognize that Pride Month is just one of many opportunities to celebrate the achievements of this community, and remain committed to using our platform as a journal to amplify and honor queer voices year-round.
For many, Pride Month is a time to celebrate the important contributions made by the LGBTQIA+ community to science and society. However, once Pride ends, LGTBQIA+ researchers will continue their fight for recognition and equality throughout the world, even without the extra stage offered by Pride celebrations. While Pride provides a vital spotlight on the LGBTQIA+ community, queer researchers deserve our support more than 30 days out of the year.
“Communications Biology is dedicated to providing a safe platform for queer researchers to share their scientific stories and personal experiences year-round”
As a journal, Communications Biology is dedicated to providing a safe platform for queer researchers to share their scientific stories and personal experiences year-round. We are proud to have been able to highlight LGBTQIA+ researchers at multiple career stages, as part of ongoing initiatives like Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31)1,2, LGBTQIA+ STEM Day (November 18)3,4, and our Q&A series5. We encourage our readers to explore these stories in more detail, through our blog series on LGBTQIA+ early-career researchers, as well as our new Q&A Collection highlighting scientists from diverse backgrounds and career stages.
Whenever possible, our editors will also continue to directly engage with the LGBTQIA+ community at larger-scale conferences like the Out in STEM annual meeting, or more local programs like Scientific QUEERies4. Even outside of these conferences or symposia, we are committed to provide training opportunities to LGBTQIA+ early-career researchers through peer review, or consult on publications and editorial career options. Moreover, we will continue to advocate and amplify vital programming from organizations like Trans in STEM5, Pride in STEM, and 500 Queer Scientists, all of which help promote LGBTQIA+ visibility in the sciences.
The LGBTQIA+ community deserves more than just the visibility provided through Pride, and, while small, we hope that our actions as a journal will help spark discussion (and, importantly, action) on how science as a whole can better support queer researchers.
References
Redefining success and finding community: an interview with Atom Lesiak and Zara Weinberg on the importance of building support networks for transgender scientists. Commun. Biol. 5, 296 (2022).
Transgender Day of Visibility 2022: an interview with Adam Armada-Moreira and Ave Bisesi on trans experiences in STEM. Commun. Biol. 5, 288 (2022).
LGBTQ+ STEM Day 2021: an interview with Hyun Youk and Kelsey Stilson on queer experiences in STEM. Commun. Biol. 4, 1300 (2021).
Scientific QUEERies: an interview with Scott Cocker and Kyle Shanebeck on improving LGBTQ2S+ visibility in STEM. Commun. Biol. 4, 1293 (2021).
“Be kind to yourself”: an interview with Sebastian Groh on being a transgender early career scientist during a global pandemic. Commun. Biol. 4, 844 (2021).
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Taking pride in biology. Commun Biol 5, 606 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03551-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03551-1
