The Queer in Robotics event at ICRA aims to build an inclusive community for queer students, researchers and practitioners. Queer in AI’s demographic survey reveals that most queer scientists in the robotics community do not feel completely welcome in conferences and their work environments, with the main reasons being a lack of queer community and a lack of role models. Organizations like Queer in AI and Queer in Robotics have worked towards creating inclusive and welcoming environments for queer researchers, yet the voices of marginalized queer communities—especially transgender, non-binary, and queer BIPOC folks—have been neglected in the broader research community. The purpose of Queer in Robotics’s event at ICRA 2025 is to create a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQIA+ researchers in robotics to promote their research. We aim to foster connections between queer researchers to facilitate the academic development of the queer research community, who face unique barriers to both entry and success in robotics research. This workshop will produce a usable set of guidelines for robotics conferences to better include queer researchers in robotics. IEEE’s mission to foster technological innovation and excellence to benefit humanity requires the talents and perspectives of people with many disciplinary backgrounds.
