Nuclear Pride Social at ANS 2014, Reno

Next week at the American Nuclear Society winter  conference in Reno, NV, Nuclear Pride will gather with members of the nuclear engineering community for fun, discussion, beverages, and community.

Please share this announcement with friends!

On Tuesday night, June 17th, at 8pm we’ll meet at The Reserve in the Grand Sierra. The reserve is a ‘self-serve’ wine bar in the Grand Sierra, on the Casino Floor. The bar does have a limited snack food menu, but the focus will be wine, so fuel yourself accordingly!

It should be easy to find, as it is in the conference resort complex. However, please do let us know if you have any questions or need help getting there. Respond to this post or tweet @nuclearpride for the swiftest response. You can also send us an email at nuclearpride-exec@googlegroups.com.

We’ll be there at least until 10pm. In addition to connecting with a community of LGBTQ scientists and allies, we hope to share with you the initiatives we’ve been pursuing and want to get interested folks on board for additional plans! In particular, we’ll welcome feedback on the Member Needs Assessment Survey.

Nuclear Pride Social at ANS Winter 2013

Join us for a social hour at Nellie’s in DC!

Next week at the American Nuclear Society winter  conference in Washington, DC, Nuclear Pride will gather with members of the nuclear engineering community for fun, discussion, beverages, food, and community.

Here’s a flyer to share with friends !

On Wednesday night, November 13th, at 7pm we’ll meet at Nellie’s Sports Bar. Nellie’s is an LGBT+ friendly place with food and beverages. Reportedly, there’s sometimes trivia on Wednesdays, so sharpen those minds!

Nellie’s is located at 900 U St NW. It should take about 15 minutes to travel there from the Omni Shoreham on the 90 or 96 bus line. If you’d like to travel to the venue with us, we’ll meet in the lobby of the Omni Shoreham at 6:45pm. Let us know if you have any questions or need help getting there. Respond to this post or tweet @nuclearpride for the swiftest response. You can also send us an email at nuclearpride-exec@googlegroups.com.

We’ll be there at least until 9pm. In addition to connecting with a community of LGBTQ scientists and allies, we hope to share with you the initiatives we’ve been pursuing and want to get interested folks on board for additional plans!

Nuclear Pride Social, ANS Atlanta Edition

Next week at the American Nuclear Society conference in Atlanta, GA, Nuclear Pride will gather with members of the nuclear engineering community for drinks and chatting.

Here’s a flyer to share with friends !

On Tuesday night, June 18th, at 8pm we’ll meet at Blakes on the Park. Blake’s is a family bar with food and music, suggested to us by a local Atlanta Nuclear Pride member! Reportedly, there’s sometimes karaoke on Tuesdays, so divas will want to practice their Donna Summer voices, just in case.

It should take 15 minutes to travel there from the conference location, as it’s at 227 10th St. NE in Midtown, just three stops north of the Peachtree Station on the gold MARTA line. If you’d like to travel to the venue with us, we’ll meet at the conference registration desk at 7:40pm. Let us know if you have any questions or need help getting there. Respond to this post or tweet @nuclearpride for the swiftest response. You can also send us an email at nuclearpride.contact@gmail.com.

We’ll be there for at least an hour. In addition to connecting with a community of LGBTQ scientists and allies, we hope to share with you the initiatives we’ve been pursuing and want to get interested folks on board for additional plans!

Social Hour in Phoenix AZ!

Tonight,  Nuclear pride will meet up with members of the waste management community for drinks and chatting in Phoenix, Arizona! At 8pm, we’ll meet at at Amsterdam,  a club at 718 N.  Central Avenue, just north of the Phoenix Conference Center. The special tonight at Amsterdam is $5 martinis, so don’t forget to bring a couple  of Abe Lincolns along! We’ll be there for at least an hour.

If you’d like to walk to the venue with us,  we’ll meet at the starbucks at 7:45.

See you tonight!

How Does Marriage Affect the Gay Nuclear Career ?

Illinois is a nuclear state. It houses 11 nuclear reactors, many power utilities, Argonne National Lab, Fermilab, the NRC Region III office, and the American Nuclear Society headquarters, among other things. Today, the Illinois State Senate passed marriage equality legislation. Though passing this bill through the House of Representatives will be a challenge, this is a step toward marriage equality. For many nuclear engineers with careers in Illinois,  it is a step toward career equality as well.

Nuclear engineering careers are particularly sensitive to marriage issues. We are often in nomadic careers like the Navy, academia, or the national laboratories. Since the spousal hire negotiations in these situations become vastly simpler with a marriage certificate to staple to the agreement, unmarried couples (or at least their careers) suffer.

Furthermore, some of us are folks with security clearances. Since 1975, it’s no longer the case that you can explicitly be denied a security clearance based on sexuality, but security clearances can still be denied if there is some suspicion that the subject is not completely “out.” A marriage certificate would be an undeniable proof of “outness” and could do away with security clearance discrimination for good.

However you feel about the meaning of marriage, it is a pervasive legal institution in our society. Legal ramifications of marriage or non-marriage include everything from gym membership fees to hospital visitation rights to adoption eligibility to estate taxes. For the nuclear engineer, it affects all of those things and more.

Perhaps this discussion merely demonstrates that the government shouldn’t have anything to do with marriage. Perhaps the legal marriage institution breaks the separation of church and state. Whatever your opinion, the government has chosen to be in the business of marriage. If it wants to be involved in categorizing the personal lives of US citizens, it had best do so fairly.

As early as late March, the US Supreme Court might declare DOMA unconstitutional and federally recognize same-sex marriage. These are not decisions that will fully clear the path of queer nuclear engineers. But, they’re a good place to start.

Listening : Macklemore – Same Love 

Nuclear Pride Happy Hour

NuclearPride is happy to invite you to our happy hour in San Diego during the ANS Winter Meeting this November. If you will be attending the ANS Winter Conference in San Diego, we warmly invite you to attend our Happy Hour on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012. Joining us will be members of QuEST, based in San Diego, to share experiences about being an LGBT organization in a technical community.

What: Nuclear Pride & QuEST Happy Hour

Why: To start creating a community for LGBT nuclear engineers and Allies to socialize, network, and support each other

Where: Gossip Grill, 1440 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92103 (in the Hillcrest neighborhood)

When: Monday, Nov. 12, 2012, at 8:00 pm

Who: All are welcome!

Here is our super cool flyer:

Warm regards,

Denia, Josh, Katy, and Sam

nuclearpride.contact@gmail.com