Spectra is a professional association of

LGBTQIA+ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

mathematicians. It arose from a need for recognition and community for Gender and Sexual Minority mathematicians.

History

Spectra has its roots in meetups arranged at the

Joint Mathematics Meetings The Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) is a mathematics conference hosted annually in early January by the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Frequently, several other national mathematics organizations also participate. The meeting is the largest ...

(JMM) and a mailing list organized by

Ron Buckmire Ron Buckmire (born 1968) is a Grenadian-born mathematician, former chess champion of Barbados and LGBT activist. He is the past chair of the Occidental College Department of Mathematics. Starting in August 2018, he served as the Associate Dean ...

. It arose in reaction to the JMM being scheduled to occur in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

in 1995 when the state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

voters approved the anti-gay 1992 Colorado Amendment 2. The association's name was coined by Robert Bryant and Mike Hill and references the mathematical concept of a

spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of color ...

as well as the

rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. The LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is the most recognized ...

. Its first official activity was a panel at the 2015 JMM with the title "Out in Mathematics: LGBTQ Mathematicians in the Workplace."

Out and Ally Lists

Spectra maintains a list of mathematicians who are

out Out may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 * ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander * ''Out'' (2002 film), a Japanese film ba ...

in the LGBTQIA+ community as well as a list of

allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

for the community. The goal of the list is to serve as support for mathematicians at various places on their own LGBTQ+ journeys and also as a resource for people looking to learn more about the climate at various universities. Each mathematician on the list has a profile with, e.g., name, position, location, pronouns, and contact preferences. Any identity words or pronouns listed were given by the person being profiled when they completed an online form to be listed.

Activism and Engagement

Given that Spectra's origins are steeped in activism, it makes sense that the organization continues to advocate on behalf of LGBTQIA+ mathematicians. For instance, the association is working with scholarly publishers around transgender mathematicians and their names in published works. Spectra continues to also work toward increased visibility of LGBTQIA+ mathematicians, through conferences, workshops, panel discussions, and designated lectures.

Board

The Spectra board includes many prominent mathematicians, including Bryant, Buckmire, Moon Duchin, Hill, Doug Lind, and

Emily Riehl Emily Riehl is an American mathematician who has contributed to higher category theory and homotopy theory. Much of her work, including her PhD thesis, concerns model structures and more recently the foundations of infinity-categories. She is th ...

References

Professional associations based in the United States Mathematical societies LGBT organizations in the United States LGBT mathematicians Organizations for LGBT science {{LGBT-org-stub