It's OK, Sally. RIP

Sally Ride and her choice to live a closeted gay life reminds me of so many lesbians I've known of her generation. If you wanted a career and were very ambitious as a woman in the 1960s to the 2000s, most professional middle-class lesbians did not come out publicly. They channeled their energies into their work because that was enough of an uphill fight. Their personal life (if they had one) they kept on the low-down. Only those of us who chose to be political and cultural activists came out publicly. In the last decade everyone is coming out, and the sheer numbers of out people supports those who are now out. There wasn't such strength in numbers in the 1970s to the 1990s. So staying in the closet wasn't a matter of cowardice but of sheer survival.

I hope we can be kind to Sally Ride for staying in the closet. Her mission was to reach for the stars. It's a shame that her time and society couldn't also accept her love for a woman.