Celebrating Pride Month: Laurel Hubbard, first openly transgender Olympic athlete

Laurel Hubbard, born February 9, 1978 in Auckland, New Zealand, became the first openly transgender athlete selected to compete the Olympic Games. 

Prior to her transition, Laurel set junior records in weightlifting in 1998, but stated she had ceased lifting in 2001 saying it became to much to bear, trying to fit into a world that wasn't set up for transgendered people.

She transitioned to female in 2012 and in 2017 competed in international weightlifting for the first time at the Australian International & Australian Open, winning the gold medal in the heaviest +90 kg category.  She was the first trans woman to win an international weightlifting title for New Zealand.

In 2019, she won two gold medals at the Pacific Games in Samoa.  In 2020, she won the gold medal in the women's +87 kg even at the Roma 2020 World Cup.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) set the requirements for transgender weightlifters to compete at the Olympics.  On June 21, 2021, the New Zealand Olympic Committee determined Hubbard met all the requirements and selected her to be the first open transgender athlete to compete in the 2020 Olympic Games, set for Tokyo in 2021.  

Unfortunately, she was also the oldest weightlifter at 43, to compete at the Olympics and she placed last in her group.

Japan's first gay pride parade 1994

Japan held its first gay pride parade August 28, 1994.  I can't find much information on it, but I found a clip from this year's Japan pride parade in Tokyo April 2022.

Happy birthday, JAXA Astronaut Norishige Kanai!

Dr. Norishige Kanai, born December 5, 1976 in Tokyo, Japan, went into space aboard Soyuz MS-07 to the International Space Station in December 2015.  He was part of the crews for Expeditions 54 and 55.  In July 2015, he participated as an aquanaut in the Aquarius underwater laboratory as part of the NEEMO 20 crew.

Happy birthday, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide!

Akihiko Hoshide, born December 28, 1968 in Tokyo, Japan, has flown on the Space Shuttle and Soyuz to the International Space Station.  He is the third Japanese astronaut to conduct an EVA. 

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-124) May-June 2008 as a mission specialist.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-05M, launched in July 2012 to the ISS as part of Expeditions 32 and 33. It was during this time he performed EVAs with Suni Williams.

In 2014, he commanded NEEMO 18, an undersea exploration mission at NASA's Aquarius underwater laboratory.