Pride 2025 Celebrates the Fabric of Freedom

By: France-Elvie Banda
Thursday, June 12, 2025
WorldPride’s 2025 theme, "The Fabric of Freedom," calls for global reflection on unity and action in support of the LGBTQIA+ community. With increased anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiments, led by anti-trans executive orders, from bills targeting gender-affirming care to restrictions on inclusive education and the censorship of queer voices, the gains of past decades are under threat. Research environments, medical institutions, and academic spaces play a crucial role in shaping public discourse, policymaking, and societal norms. With anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric increasingly promoting pseudo-science and misinformation, it is important for the scientific community to correct these misconceptions. 

As we celebrate queer joy and resilience, it’s essential to acknowledge the pressures faced by LGBTQ+ scientists and scholars working in hostile environments. Throughout the history of this country, members of the LGBTQ+ community have played vital roles in advancing innovation and discovery in fields such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and healthcare, often while facing adversity and fighting for fairness and security. 

The following individuals are a small sample of those who have secured their place in U.S. history: 

• Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, PhD: An Associate Professor of Physics and Core Faculty Member in Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of New Hampshire and a theorist of Black feminist science studies. 2021 recipient of the American Physical Society Edward A. Bouchet Award. 
• Carolyn Bertozzi, PhD: The Baker Family Director of Sarafan ChEM-H, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology and Radiology at Stanford University, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Shared the Nobel Prize for chemistry with Morten Meldal, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, and Scripps Research professor and 1968 Stanford alum K. Barry Sharpless in 2022, for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry. 
• Bruce Voeller, PhD (1934-1994): A biologist and gay rights activist who coined the term acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which replaced the previous stigmatizing term gay-related immune deficiency disorder.