Physics Climate as Experienced by LGBT+ Physicists

In 2009, Elena Long created the LGBT+ Physicists website (http://lgbtphysicists.x10hosting.com) as a warehouse for resources useful for sexual and gender minorities working in physics. This resource has grown to include networking resources, lists of LGBT-friendly universities and localities, recommendations for enacting positive change in physics communities, and out-reach to other STEM-oriented LGBT organizations. This has been possible in large part by the dynamic community of LGBT+ physicists and allies looking to make physics more welcoming towards our community. In 2011, Elena used hir position as Member at Large on the executive committee of the Forum of Graduate Student Affairs (FGSA) to conduct a climate survey that included, among other things, the first serious look at LGBT+ demographics in physics. The survey focused particularly on issues of language heard and harassment experienced by physicists and was broken down into categories based on race, physical and mental ability, gender, and sexuality. Furthermore, it examined the outcomes of experienced harassment and the reasons for when harassment was not reported. Due to the nature of the study, overlapping demographics, especially ``multiple minorities,'' were also explored. This talk will give a brief history of the LGBT+ Physicists resource as well as an overview of the FGSA study.