[1][2] Each year, Out to Innovate gives the Walt Westman Award to members who helped make significant contributions to the association's mission.
The foundation of the organization was in response to issues such as gay scientists not being able to get visas to immigrate to the United States or security clearances to work in government laboratories, the lack of research on LGBT health issues, and loss of productivity due to the stress of stigmatization.
In the 1990s, it focused on encouraging corporations to adopt nondiscrimination policies and assisted in a 1995 Government Accounting Office report that recommended that LGBT status should not be considered a vulnerability to blackmail in security clearance investigations.
[3] The goal of the partnership, according to a press release from OAP, is to "provide opportunities for LGBTQ persons to become actively involved in space-related research.
"[4] The goals of OAP, beyond sending the first LGBTQIA+ astronaut into space includes providing a robust presence in STEM fields for LGBTQIA+ individuals "by highlighting the contributions of LGBTQ members currently working in science and space while providing grants to promising LGBTQ students.