Noah Whiteman, a biology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, is reflecting on the meaning of LGBTQ Pride Month. With roots in rural Minnesota and a career marked by notable achievements such as being a Guggenheim Fellow and receiving the Genetics Society of America Medal, Whiteman emphasizes the complexity and diversity of human identity.

“Each of us is more than the sum of our parts,” says Whiteman. “I’m a human being — complicated and unknowable, like everybody else.”

Whiteman has been part of UC Berkeley's faculty since 2018, focusing on integrative biology and molecular cell biology. He values diversity in his lab and classes, drawing from his own experiences as an undergraduate at Saint John’s University in Minnesota.

“I love Berkeley because I can be myself here,” he says, “which allows me to do my science and mentor students and fulfill my potential.”

Pride Month for Whiteman is about radical inclusion and resilience. He recalls how President Bill Clinton named June "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month" in 1999 while highlighting that pride began with the Stonewall riots' spirit of rebellion against societal norms.

“We must remember the importance of civil disobedience in all civil rights movements,” he says, “and how the waves set in motion thereby have ripple effects that end up benefiting humanity."

Whiteman stresses that institutions should honor this authentic spirit rather than dilute contributions into sanitized celebrations. In light of recent legislative actions against LGBTQ rights in the U.S., he draws parallels to past persecutions during McCarthyism when LGBTQ individuals were targeted under national security pretenses.

“The same playbook is being used now,” he says. “LGBTQ people and supposed ‘Marxists’ are being linked as twin threats, with professors as the boogeymen."

He advocates for speaking out against these challenges to ensure future protections: “The only way this will happen is if people speak up and out, like our forebears did to pave the way for the gains we have achieved.”

For Whiteman, pride embodies "the freedom to be fully human," echoing foundational principles akin to those upon which America was built.