St. Albert residents can take Pride in science later this month as a regional science centre goes Beyond the Rainbow.
About 700 Edmonton-area science fans will be at the Telus World of Science Edmonton this June 22 for the Dark Matters: Beyond the Rainbow event, an adult-only invitation for people to explore scientific topics alongside drinks and entertainment, paintball art and a drag show.
The 2SLGBTQ+ community has historically been excluded or under-represented in scientific studies, said Marie McConnell, staff scientist at the Telus World of Science Edmonton. Alan Turing did revolutionary work in codebreaking and computing, for example, but was later prosecuted because he was gay. As June is Pride Month, the science centre has decided to highlight the achievements of 2SLGBTQ+ researchers this month.
McConnell said the event's Pride-related activities explore the science of rainbows and sex and gender diversity in the animal kingdom. Each activity is linked to a famous 2SLGBTQ+ scientist, such as Amita Kuttner, a non-binary astrophysicist from BC who studies black holes, and Alison Criscitiello, a queer ice core scientist whose work is featured in the science centre’s Arctic Journey exhibit.
The Edmonton Queer History Project will be at Dark Matters to talk about its ongoing efforts to document the history of the 2SLGBTQ+ community in the Edmonton region, said spokesperson and St. Albert resident Kristopher Wells.
“Without a past, you don’t have a future,” Wells said, and much of that history has been either erased or left untold.
Wells said the Queer History Project aims to collect this history and publicize it through walking tours, podcasts, and a crowd-sourced interactive map. St. Albert Public Schools has shown leadership on this front with its recent approval of a course on 2SLGBTQ+ history and perspectives.
Rainbow science?
2SLGBTQ+ people have always existed and have been found in every culture and nation, said Wells, who holds the Canada Research Chair for the public understanding of sexual and gender minority youth at MacEwan University. While researchers once thought this could be tied to a specific factor — a “gay gene” — most now suspect sexual and gender diversity have many causes, and no longer see being gay or trans as a pathology.
“It’s not something we should change or fix, but enhance and celebrate,” Wells said.
Researchers have observed same-sex behaviour in more than 1,000 species, including monkeys, penguins, and beetles, notes the Imperial College London. Why this behaviour is so widespread is unclear. One theory suggests bisexuality could improve reproductive chances. Others suggest homosexuality could encourage co-parenting and improve the odds a relative’s offspring survives.
There are also many species that are hermaphrodites or have more than one sex, McConnell said. Hyena females have pseudo-penises and can be considered intersex, for example, while flatworms determine sex with a genital fencing match — whomever stabs and impregnates the other with their penis first gets to be the male.
“A clownfish can change genders,” McConnell said, with males transforming into females as needed. (Martin, the father fish in Finding Nemo, should have done this following the loss of his mate, she noted.)
Tickets to Dark Matters are $24. Visit telusworldofscienceedmonton.ca for details.
