The Gay Space Agency

An astronaut from the fictional Gay Space Agency. Staged photograph taken at Obsidian Dome in Mono County, California, United States. 

The gravesite of Franklin Kameny at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington D.C. In 1957, Kameny was fired from his job as an astronomer working for the Army Map Service “because of his homosexuality.” He had hoped to one day go into space, but instead he was one of thousands of LGBTQI+ federal employees fired during the Lavender Scare, an anti-LGBTQI+ policy in which 5,000 to 10,000 employees were removed from the United States federal government and the military. 

Digital representations of Rorschach inkblot tests, which were one of two ‘heterosexuality tests’ that astronauts in NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs were required to take. Participants were expected to identify female anatomy in these images as evidence of their heterosexuality. 

A manipulated NASA image of the Mercury Seven astronauts being welcomed to Texas, United States, at the Sam Houston Coliseum on July 4, 1962. The seven selected were all US military test pilots. To date, NASA astronauts train in Texas and launch from Florida, two states with historically strong anti-LGBTQI+ sentiments. 

Answer choices from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) overlaid on a surreal landscape image of Mono Lake, California, United States. EPPS was a psychological test used to evaluate astronaut candidates in NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. The test ranked 15 psychological criteria, including heterosexuality. 

The cover of a 1950 US Senate investigation that incited the Lavender Scare, an anti-LGBTQI+ policy in which 5,000 to 10,000 employees were removed from the federal government and the military. The cover is overlaid on a surreal image of mud pots at the Salton Sea, California, United States. 

A manipulated image of a conference room at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, United States, home to NASA's astronaut training program. The image is mirrored to reference the Rorschach inkblot test, one of two ‘heterosexuality tests’ that astronauts in NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs were required to take. The overlaid text is from the Homosexual Homonyms test given to Air Force trainees. NASA’s early Astronaut Corps, a NASA training unit for space missions, was almost entirely made up of military test pilots, and to date, the majority of astronauts come from the armed services. 

A staged image of two astronauts from the fictional Gay Space Agency saying goodbye in their home in Oliphant, Ontario, Canada.

Text excerpted from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) overlaid on a grid of photos of NASA astronaut family homes and portraits. EPPS was a psychological test used to evaluate astronaut candidates in NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. Most of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts lived in the El Lago neighborhood of Houston, Texas, United States, near the Johnson Space Center. Two astronauts and their families are shown: Deke Slayton (left column), Apollo-Soyuz astronaut and the first Chief of the Astronaut Office, and Alan Shephard (left column), the first American in space.

A staged recreation of the original Mercury Seven crew from 1960 photographed in New York City, United States. In this version, the astronauts are portrayed by seven LGBTQI+ people. This image is overlaid on a NASA photo from the Apollo 11 ticker tape parade in New York on 13 August 1969. 

Archival images of the crew members of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project visiting Moscow, Russia in November 1973 (left) and Disney World in Florida, United States in February 1975 (right). The joint operation signaled the end of the space race and marked the beginning of a partnership between the United States and the former Soviet Union, a nation with historically anti-LGBTQI+ views. The background image is a digital negative of stars.

A manipulated NASA archival image of Dr. Sally Ride’s STS-7 mission launch from Kennedy Space Center in June 1983, the first space flight with a known LGBTQI+ person, although this was only revealed after her death. There have been over 600 astronauts trained around the world. The 43 inverted squares are out of a grid of 600, representing the demographic proportion of members of the LGBTQI+ community in the general population.

A printed and rephotographed NASA image of Dr. Sally Ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger during mission STS-7 in June 1983. In 1983, Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. Today, she is also recognized as the first known LGBTQI+ astronaut. However, this fact only became public after her death in 2012, when her obituary revealed that Ride was survived by her partner of 27 years, Dr. Tam O'Shaughnessy.

A hand drawn astronaut flowchart found in Dr. Sally Ride’s archive at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC, United States.  Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. Today, she is also recognized as the first known LGBTQI+ astronaut. However, this fact only became public after her death in 2012, when her obituary revealed that Ride was survived by her partner of 27 years, Dr. Tam O'Shaughnessy. The background is an aerial image of the western United States. 

A grid of NASA archival images of Soyuz MS-11 landing in Kazakhstan with a crew of three astronauts, including Anne McClain. McClain was outed months later by the media. The three overlaid images are the three astronauts whose sexualities have been made public after going into space: Dr. Sally Ride (top), Wendy Lawrence (middle), and Anne McClaine (bottom).

The background image is a staged press conference for the fictional Gay Space Agency (GSA). The overlaid images are portraits of the first fictional GSA crew, Dr. Brandy Nunez and Isaac Charles Anderson. Each of the 64 overlaid portraits represents one year that a LGBTQI+ astronaut has not been selected by NASA since 1959. Dr. Nunez and Anderson are real-life LGBTQI+ aspiring astronauts participating in civilian astronaut training with the non-profit Out Astronaut. 

Fictional astronaut candidates for the Gay Space Agency were given the Rorschach inkblot test as part of the GSA astronaut selection process. They were asked what they saw in the inkblots; these are some of their fictional responses.

Dr. Brandy Nunez, represented here as an astronaut from the fictional Gay Space Agency, during ‘space suit tests’ in Brooklyn, New York, United States. This image is overlaid with photographs of LGBTQI+ aspiring astronauts Nunez and Isaac Charles Anderson’s real-life isolation tests later that day, part of their training to become astronauts for the Gay Space Agency. 

Isaac Charles Anderson, represented here as an fictional astronaut from the Gay Space Agency, during ‘space suit tests’ in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Anderson is a real-life LGBTQI+ aspiring astronaut.

The astronaut training room for the fictional Gay Space Agency, captured at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in the room where real-life NASA astronauts train on simulated spaceflights.

Dr. Brandy Nunez and Issac Charles Anderson, the first crew of the fictional Gay Space Agency, signing autographs in New York, United States. Dr. Nunez and Anderson are real-life LGBTQI+ aspiring astronauts, participating in civilian astronaut training with the nonprofit, Out Astronaut.

(Left) Isaac Charles Anderson during his fitting in Brooklyn, New York, United States for the space suit he will wear on the moon as an astronaut for the fictional Gay Space Agency. (Right) Long exposure of a lunar eclipse over Brooklyn, New York. 

Brian Murphy, an astronaut for the fictional Gay Space Agency, poses for a portrait after donning a space suit for the first time in Melbourne, Florida, United States. Murphy is a real-life LGBTQI+ aspiring astronaut participating in civilian astronaut training with the nonprofit, Out Astronaut.

The night sky from Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, United States, just before the fictional Gay Space Agency launches its mission to the moon. The photograph was actually taken at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center before the launch of SpaceX Crew-3 to the International Space Station.

A manipulated NASA archival image of a film screening at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, United States. The screen has been replaced with an image of two women kissing. 

Gay Space Agency fictional astronaut Brian Murphy during flight simulations in Melbourne, Florida, United States. Murphy is a real-life LGBTQI+ aspiring astronaut participating in civilian astronaut training with the nonprofit, Out Astronaut.

The photographer reimagines the American flag that Buzz Aldrin flew to the moon on Apollo 11 in 1969 as a flag taken instead by the fictional Gay Space Agency.

A fictional Gay Space Agency astronaut on the moon. The image is mirrored and warped to evoke the Rorschach inkblot test, one of two ‘heterosexuality tests’ that astronauts in NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs were required to take. Obsidian Dome, Mono County, California.

North and Central America,Honorable Mention

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