Session C13: Sexual and Gender Diversity Issues in Physics – C-LGBT Ad Hoc Committee Report

Report of the APS Ad-Hoc Committee on LGBT Issues – Presentation of Findings and Recommendations

In 2014 the Executive Officer of the American Physical Society (APS), Kate Kirby, created an Ad-Hoc Committee on LGBT Issues (C-LGBT) charged with reporting on the obstacles to inclusion of LGBT physicists, a term which for the purpose of this report refers to persons who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, or asexual, as well as other sexual and gender minorities. The full charge was as follows: “The committee will advise the APS on the current status of LGBT issues in physics, provide recommendations for greater inclusion, and engage physicists in laying the foundation for a more inclusive physics community. ?More specifically, the committee will investigate LGBT representation in physics, assess the educational and professional climate in physics, recommend changes in policies and practices that impact LGBT physicists, and address other issues that affect inclusion.” We will present the findings and recommendations of the C-LGBT final report, and a panel discussion will be held following the presentation to discuss the future of APS efforts toward LGBT inclusion in physics.