(US Mint / Getty) Astronaut Sally Ride will become the first LGBT + person to appear in US currency, as part of the new American Women Quarters Program. According to the United States Mint, the first five limited edition coins from the American Women Quarters Program will be released next year. The coins honor Ride, as well as Maya Angelou, Asian-American actress Anna May Wong, Cherokee Nation leader Wilma Mankiller, and suffragette Nina Otero-Warren. Ride, an engineer, physicist, and astronaut, was the first American woman to travel to space.