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Purpose

I am a lesbian going into Mechanical Engineering. This blog is meant to do two things: a.) relieve the stress on myself from being closeted, and b.) to let people know that there are members of the LGBT community in engineering fields.

If you want to contact me, you can send an email to lgbt.engineer@gmail.com

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Recently Out celebrities

       In the past few weeks two notable people came out of the closet.  Micheal Sam and Ellen Page.  When Michael Sam came out, the general public took it surprisingly well.  Yet when the media interviewed a few teams that had originally wanted to draft him, they had changed their minds due to the fact that he is gay.  And yet some football teams were willing to hire other players who were actually considered for jail time for various crimes.  However his hometown Hitchcock Texas was extremely supportive of him.  For him he questioned his sexuality in his teens, only fully realizing that he was gay once he got to college.  (Source: NY Times interview)  He had told a few people that he could trust.
       In Ellen Page's case she said she was sick of lying by omission.  Exactly what I am doing right now.  That means that a person avoids mentioning their sexuality or doesn't object when someone says they are straight.  I haven't heard of any movie producers or directors say they won't hire her because she is gay.  But it may be too early to tell.  However, Hollywood is a more accepting place than the N.F.L is (at least in my mind.)
       In other news a judge in Virginia has overturned the ban on same-sex marriage that had existed in the state.  So things are slowly moving in the right direction.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Sochi Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony

       I can honestly say that since Vancouver four years ago I added going to the Winter Olympics on my bucket list.  I would love to go, the opening ceremonies are always spectacular.  Someday I will go, no matter where it is.  I would actually prefer if it was in another country so that way I could learn a lot, yet still have some familiar accents around.
      One thing I didn't like however is that the U.S. media tried to undermine Russia's hosting.  I understand quite well that our countries don't get along, however it's the Olympics it's time to put those things aside and have a good time.  There's the whole deal about how the final ring on the Olympic style snowflake failed to open up.  Everyone is acting like it's the most important part of the opening ceremony.  Don't they remember how Canada's Vancouver one of the arms for the torch lighting failed to operate?? Then they felt bad for Vancouver, but with Sochi there is only blame.
       How can I talk about the Russian Olympics without somehow mentioning the gay rights issue.  For those of you who don't know, Russia has banned all gay propaganda.  All I can think is that someday they (the people who made that decision) will realize the error of it.  All things need  to change is time (and arguably heat and pressure, but it would be better if they could come to that without the pressure from other countries).  I would even fly to Russia right now if someone paid for my flight and hotel.  I do feel sympathy for my fellow LGBT members there.
       Now for the next two weeks I will indulge in bobsledding, hockey, and my guiltiest of pleasures ice skating.  As well as work in homework and exams (I recently got my first exam back, and I did better than I expected!!!).