Mackenzie Calle
The Gay Space Agency
Around 600 people have been in space as astronauts so far, but none of them have been openly LGBTQIA+ people. Since its foundation in 1958, NASA actively rejected prospective employees and astronauts on the basis of their sexuality. To ensure the heterosexuality of their workforce, NASA implemented the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule ranking system, which tested the sexual preferences of aspiring astronauts.
Albeit creating a dedicated LGBTQIA+ Special Emphasis Program in 2016, which intended to encourage inclusivity in the workforce, no openly LGBTQIA+ astronaut has yet achieved spaceflight.
The series The Gay Space Agency confronts the American Space program’s historical exclusion of LGBTQIA+ astronauts. In doing so, the project uses archival images, current images of the space program, collage and manipulated photography to reimagine a history which celebrates LGBTQIA+ role models and ask what it means to have the “right stuff.”
A humorous yet critical photography series that raises an invaluable question for all of us; How open and safe are our own workspaces?
