🏳️🌈 Pride & Planet
A look at the intersection of the LGBTQ+ and environmental justice movements
Greetings, Climatescape community! We’re excited to bring you a new series that profiles emerging solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
In this inaugural edition, we highlight the work being done at the intersection of the LGBTQ+ and environmental movements. Read on to learn more about the challenges that people in the LGBTQ+ community face as a result of climate change, the individuals and organizations developing solutions, and a collection of curated learning resources to dig deeper.
We are actively seeking input from the community on our next topic: geothermal energy. Get in touch if you’d like to suggest a company, expert, or learning resource for us to consider in our research.
Environmentalism and the LGBTQ+ Community
This article is by Climatescape Contributor Hannah Bercovici, a writer based in Phoenix, Arizona. She/they writes about a variety of topics, from environmental justice to problem-solving technologies.
From the institution of National Parks that displaced Native Americans, to the lack of response to dangerous pollutants harming poor communities in places like Flint, Michigan, the environmental movement is interwoven with social justice issues. While actors in the modern climate movement have increasingly begun to address important issues surrounding environmental justice, the specific injustices faced by the queer1 community receive little attention.
Socioeconomic disadvantages strongly influence the LGBTQ+ community, and wealth in turn affects one’s susceptibility to climate change. For example, LGBTQ+ people are 120% more likely to be without stable housing and up to 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ+. Wealth disparity makes LGBTQ+ people (especially queer people of color) particularly vulnerable to the increasing frequency of natural disasters due to climate change.
The LGBTQ+ community also faces environmental issues in their homes and neighborhoods, though those effects are poorly studied. According to a 2017 study, average environmentally-derived cancer and respiratory risks are, respectively, 12.3% and 23.8% greater for same-sex than straight couples. A troubling disparity if further studies confirm the findings.
Despite the impact of pollution and climate change on the LGBTQ+ community, queer people have been historically excluded from both the environmental movement and natural spaces. Because these spaces have been (and are) dominated by cisgender, straight, white, and male voices, many LGBTQ+ people report feeling disconnected with them.
Yet, the environmental and LGBTQ+ rights movements intersect on a fundamental level. The environmental movement comes from the perspective that nature needs to be respected in order for humans to thrive, while the LGBTQ+ rights movement works to find equity for all people, especially empowering queer voices. We must consider oppressed communities when finding solutions to climate change.
LGBTQ+ Environmental Justice Groups
A variety of environmental organizations have stepped in to respond to the unique challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community. We’re proud to highlight a few that each approach the problem in a different way.
🌪 OUT 4 Sustainability have made it their mission to prepare LGBTQ+ people for natural disasters, as queer people are more likely to be isolated and harassed in post-disaster settings. OUT 4 Sustainability focuses on “the needs of queer and trans Black and Indigenous people of color (QTBIPOC)” during natural disasters.
👬🏽 Queer Nature designs and facilitates nature-based workshops for the LGBTQ+ community in their area. They use workshop spaces to “create new narratives of belonging for folks who have often been made to feel that they biologically, socially, or culturally don’t belong.” During the workshops, participants learn more about their environment and gain place-based skills, like tracking and foraging.
🥾 The Venture Out Project leads outdoor trips for LGBTQ+ kids and adults to promote empowerment and climate stewardship. They lead backpacking trips and day hikes for people of all outdoor experience. The Venture Out Project also leads transgender inclusion workshops for educators, adventure guides, summer camp employees, and more.
🌱 Urban Creators transformed a two-acre plot of land into an urban farm in North Philadelphia. They teach sustainable growing practices to those typically excluded from urban agricultural spaces in their community.
These groups all have the same underlying goal; to interweave LGBTQ+ and environmental justice. The recognition of the intersectionality in all movements will bring us closer to a more just and equitable Earth.
LGBTQ+ Environmental Activists
Queer activists are also having a significant impact by engaging the LGBTQ+ community via social media activism and education.
@pattiegonia is an environmental activist, drag queen, and community builder working to diversity the outdoors and spread awareness around environmental issues. They also manage the only environmental job board specifically for queer people!
@queerbrownvegan is a queer environmental educator promoting environmental justice and sustainability through education, community building, and self-care.
@queernature teaches ancestral tools for interacting with nature, critical natural history, and interspecies relations.
@jamie_s_margolin is a young queer activist, author, filmmaker, director, and organizer. She recently published the book Youth to Power and founded Zero Hour, an intersectional movement of youth climate activists.
@toritsui_ is a climate justice activist who speaks on climate change, racial justice, and the need for intersectionality.
LGBTQ+ Learning Resources
📚 The Venture Out Project and Queer Nature provide an abundance of resources about LGBTQ+ environmentalism. These resources include articles and books about environmental justice and queer theory, LGBTQ+ glossaries, vocab lists, and lessons.
📚 Here is a list of books (both fiction and nonfiction) by queer authors that explore place, nature and the environment.
📽️ Fire & Flood: Queer Resilience in the Era of Climate Change is a docuseries about the effect of climate change on the LGBTQ+ community and empowering solutions.
🎙️ The New Haven Arts Council had a one-hour panel called, “Why is Environmental Advocacy Queer Advocacy?” They discuss how to promote queer leadership in environmental spaces to create a more inclusive and equitable future.
How to Get Involved
Like other justice issues, the specific ways climate change and emerging solutions affect the LGBTQ+ community are complex and intersectional. We have made an effort to present a diverse set of relevant issues, educators, and activists around the world, but this is by no means a comprehensive study. We warmly encourage anyone with feedback to connect with us in the comments.
Drop us a line if you’d like to make a suggestion for the upcoming geothermal energy edition of this series.
Vote on what we’ll cover next and suggest more topics for us to look into.
That’s all, folks!
The LGBTQ+ community has increasingly adopted the term “queer” to be an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual and/or not cisgender.
This post is great! Such an under-explored nexus.
Can you please spread the word for an event I'm organizing next month for queers in climate?
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/queers-in-climate-event-for-lgbtq-professionals-working-in-climate-tickets-401476626397