Gay pilot association

Home / gay topics / Gay pilot association

Members might also ask NGPA leaders to contact the business to open a dialog about the behavior.

The NGPA also puts on an aviation inclusion summit where they use educational videos to help the leadership at various companies and organizations recognize issues in the workplace.

This year, NGPA established NGPA Care, a confidential phone line where a person can talk to a volunteer who has had specialized training and can provide moral support.

They have been together for 28 years and were officially married in October 2013, when gay marriage was legalized in Washington state.

One of the benefits of NGPA is that it provides a safe space for some individuals who are coming to terms with their gender identity and feel isolated. As the membership increased so did the funds available.

“In 1998, we gave out $4,000.

The organization has also contracted with a service that provides licensed mental health professionals who will listen free of charge.

“Pilot mental health is something most pilots avoid talking about, and we felt that we had to do something,” says Gambino. As we all know, the organization structure has been dominated by ‘professional’ career oriented pilots for some years.

Scholarships are available for various levels of flight training and other aviation-related higher education, aiming to eliminate financial barriers and foster a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive industry.

More information about NGPA and the scholarship program may be found here.

Amy Wilder

Amy Wilder fell in love with airplanes at age 8 when her brother-in-law took her up in a Cessna 172.

gay pilot association

New Round of Scholarships Offered for LGBTQ Aspiring Aviators

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Plane & Pilot.

On June 1, the National Gay Pilots Association (NGPA) announced the commencement of the most generous scholarship cycle in its history. It is celebrated in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, New York, which was a turning point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.

When FLYING caught up with Gambino, he had just returned from the inaugural Pride celebration in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“We were invited by CR Pride.

This takes things full circle…your statement now clearly states you are for professionals and not folks like me and my friends who fly because we love flying. However, all applicants are required to provide evidence of their contributions to the LGBTQ+ community. Get over yourselves.

8
Most relevant is selected, so some comments may have been filtered out.

A Welcoming Association for a Rainbow of Pilots

Do you remember learning to write?

It was an opportunity to step out and meet people who were like you.”

Warfield served as chairman of the NGPA Education Fund, then served as co-chair of the main organization for several years. It is vitally important to have emotional support during this time, she says.

Warfield, who was raised on a ranch in rural Montana, says she was very lucky to have been born into a supportive family.

Professional pilots are fortunate to have NGPA. For example, as we emerged out of COVID, we gave out a scholarship to someone who went to EMT training on a scholarship because they had to shift out of aviation.”

You do not have to identify as LGBTQ+ to qualify for a scholarship, says Gambino, you just have to be a member of the organization and meet the scholarship criteria, which often includes doing volunteer work in the applicant’s community. 

NGPA Provides a Safe Space 

Warfield, who is in her 60s, is known as Mama Bear in the aviation world because of her protective nature.

Visitors were encouraged to get up close to the aircraft and ask questions.

“We had an education zone for the kids, seminars for wannabe pilots; we had people who talked about charter operations, how to get into the airline industry. The establishment of an educational fund was one of the first actions of the group in its early days.

Now she's working on her private pilot certificate and ready to be a lifelong student of the art of flying. On top of that, the fact that you are left-handed is the only thing people remember about you.