Lynn Ann Conway January 2, 1938 – June 9, 2024   Prepared by Dallas Denny, June 10, 2024   An Obituary Lynn Ann Conway was an electrical engineer, computer scientist, and an activist on behalf of transgender people. She died in Jackson, Michigan on Sunday, June 9, 2024 of heart trouble. Lynn was born in Mount Vernon, New York on January 2, 1938. She was a reserved but exceptionally bright student who attended MIT but did not graduate due a difficult and ultimately unsuccessful gender transition. Conway continued education at Columbia University, where she earned B.S. and M.S.E.E. degrees in 1962 and 1963, respectively. In 1964, Conway accepted a position as a researcher at IBM’s facility in Yorktown Heights, New York. There, Conway worked with others on an advanced supercomputer project. Conway was fired in 1968 when it became known that she intended to transition. IBM later apologized for that action. That same year, Lynn consulted Dr. Harry Benjamin and became a patient. She completed her gender transition, also in 1968. In a divorce, she was denied the right to visit with her minor children. Using her new name, Lynn continued work as a computer research scientist, working at Computer Applications, Inc., Memorex, and, Xerox PARC, and DARPA. In 1985, she became a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan and, simultaneously, Associate Dean of Engineering. Lynn’s post-transition accomplishments were foundational in the develop of computers, but her pre-transition work was not credited to her until 1998, when a researcher who was examining IBM’s three-decades old supercomputer project discovered that a scientist he had been unable to identify had become known as Lynn Conway. For Lynn, this resulted in a difficult decision to come out as transgender. She has since been hailed not only for her myriad post-transition accomplishments, but for her earlier work. She is famous for, among many other things, launching the Mead-Conway VLSI chip design revolution.   Lynn was well-known in transgender circles for her accomplishments and for her website, on which she told her personal story and worked to advance the rights of transgender people. She is perhaps best known in this regard for her criticism of Ray Blanchard’s theory of autogynephilia and a failed lawsuit, with Dierdre McCloskey, against J. Michael Bailey author of The Man Who Would be Queen. In 2002, Lynn married her long-time boyfriend Charles Rogers. They lived on a 24-acre wooded property in rural Michigan. Sandra Samons, a therapist in Ann Arbor and a long-time friend of Lynn’s, asked me tonight to share the following information:    Lynn Conway died yesterday, June 9, 2024   +++++++++++++++++++++++++++   I too had chatted with her on one or two occasions on line and felt the true fulfilled humanity of being Trans and free to be.   

So last week was another week of new outings. I posted about my uncle, but I completely obviated the idea that my cousin (a Catholic priest) would show up to our yearly pilgrimage to my mother’s resting place. She died five years ago of pancreatic cancer. It took her so very quickly from us, she found out just before Christmas and succumbed after a brief but valiant fight in June.   Firstly, there is this unresolved—never to be resolved—thought of what my mother would make of me. It was the first time visiting her grave presenting as my realized self and an unrecognized Jeep pulled up. I was already emotional and there’s my priest cousin, who hasn’t seen me in at least a year. Less to say, little was said. There were looks, stares, muttered conversation and tangential discussion over the dinner that followed about adherence to religion. Nothing so pointed as to call me out, but they were topics I quietly avoided. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it wasn’t pleasant. I don’t count my cousin, or my uncle, as likely allies so I do not worry too much about what they think. I won’t lose any sleep if they are perturbed.    I did have a nice chat with my cousin, my uncle’s younger daughter, since I’m sure the spectacle of me would make it back out to Maryland and I figured I’d read her in myself. She and her husband are good people and supportive. I do miss her, she’s pretty great, but living half way across the country—and so to be living completely across the country—makes ours a passing relationship. Her husband texted me offering real estate assistance for our move and asked about my desired name and pronouns which was nice.    I’ve been leaning harder into she/her and using Maeve/Mae consistently. I’ve really started to bristle at the use of my old male nickname (Mike), I hates it Preciouses! I also know I cannot control what others use, though I’ve made no stink over it yet. At least my cousin’s husband used my given name and not its shortening…   In other news, I’m awaiting my volunteer assignments for Pride. I’ve signed up for the final three weekends of June with a group that helps families with trans children, but haven’t gotten any word. I’ve even spruced up my nails for the occasion (see attached)!   I can’t believe how long it’s taken the polish to set, I’ve had to redo nails three and four times due to them getting screwed up! I started them at 9AM and I still have one more to redo!

I appreciate all you do to keep this site up and running efficiently.  Hiccups happen, but when they do, they seem to get fixed quickly here.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thankyou all for your warm welcome.       Delcina yes I think some sort of therapy would really help me -I know an lgbtq organisation I can approach in my town. Lovely name by the way (my auto typing got it wrong three times!)

And you also could wear a print of Van Gogh's Starry Night in celebration of all the wonderful astrophotography you've done!!   

That is darkly humorous since if not Animus per se, seven pages of synonyms fit rather snugly to that word.

Of course it was.      Yes!

This is the decision we've been waiting for since December (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-says-desantis-spread-false-information-while-pushing-trans-health-care-restrictions). I kinda want a tee-shirt with an image of Judge Hinkle on it. His record on protecting LGBTQIA+ people from the forces of ignorance has been remarkable.   “Transgender opponents are of course free to hold their beliefs,” Hinkle wrote. “But they are not free to discriminate against transgender individuals just for being transgender. In time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished. To paraphrase a civil-rights advocate from an earlier time, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”   The "civil-rights advocate from an earlier time" is Dr. King. 

Falls under Common Law Assault which Is "To put someone in reasonable fear of harmful or offensive bodily contact" and we can go back to before King Henry I for Tort law (English Civil for damages) on that one. Goes back just a few centuries.  Criminal law requires another element for assaults to get you jail time.  Go ahead and try for the defense of Excited Utterance (or have a licensed attorney do it for you) if you have threatened someone, but you are going to have to prove that issue. 

Thank you @Piperand Cat for the quick recovery.   Mindy🌈🐛🏳️‍⚧️🦋

This place is a Team Effort, and we have the right players in the right positions. 

Oh don't thank me @Davie all I could do was point Piper at it and stand back and wait.

Prayers for you both . . . love needs no denomination.

There is no tartan for my surname, even though I am Scottish on my father's side.  But I can wear MacCallum thanks to my grandmother, Stewart by marriage, RCAF because of my military service, Nova Scotia because of where I live, and Pride because of who I am.

Thank you, Petra Jane.

Well, according to our police department, threatening words are still a form of assault, punishable by law.

Good news! Now if the judge could just repair their evil hearts . . . Hah, that's too much to ask.

Thank you!

Your work is appreciated!

All's well that ends well. Thank you all for your patience while this blip was being fixed.