Joan Roughgarden Oral History

Joan Roughgarden was born on March 13, 1946 in Peterson, New Jersey, but also lived in the Philippines and Indonesia because her father was a missionary. Joan earned her PhD in biology from Harvard University and then started a professorship at Stanford University in 1972. When Joan first came out as transgender and publicly transitioned, she moved to San Francisco. There, she joined a predominantly queer congregation for a support system through her coming out process. Joan’s books, Evolution’s Rainbow and Genial Gene, challenged prevailing theories about the biology of gender and sexuality. Looking back on her research and career, Joan shows us that she contributed to LGBTQ+ activism by doing what she does best: scientific research. She reformed the science that has historically been used to pathologize queer identities, paving the way for scientists across gender and sexual minorities.

Item Actions

View At: https://theoutwordsarchive.org/interview/joan-roughgarden/
Share
Citation: Cite

Item Information:

Identifier: x059c7728
Collection: Audio and Video Clips and Transcripts
Institution: OUTWORDS
Creator(s): Roughgarden, Joan
Funk, Mason
Contributor(s): Lucero, Vince Keala
Date Created: Aug. 30, 2021
Dates Covered: 1972
Genre: Oral Histories
Subject(s): Joan Roughgarden
Places: California > San Francisco County > San Francisco
Topic(s): Evolution (Biology)
Gender studies
LGBTQ+ religious people
Trans women
Transgender authors
Transitioning (Gender)
Resource Type: Moving image
Language: English
Rights: Copyright undetermined
For more information on copyright, please read our policies