Key Take-Away:
· Queerness and environmentalism are inextricably tied
· LGBT struggles often parallel struggles within the environmental crisis
· Queerness changes and so must our approach to the environmental crisis
As I’m writing this, I realize that it is Earth Week, and this post will be shared on Earth Day so what better time to talk about environmentalism and its connection to queerness? These two issues may not always seem connected but really they are inseparable.
One of the first things that comes to mind when discussing queer liberation is equal rights, but also equal respect when compared to more “normative” counterparts. This is the same situation needed for environmental justice as quoted in the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991.
Queer liberation, racial justice, Indigenous sovereignty, disability justice, and climate justice are deeply connected because, “The people who are going to be most impacted by climate change are [these] people.” An example of this is how rapidly changing weather patterns are affecting low-income communities all over the world. The people that most often inhabit these communities due to systemic oppression are LGBT, people of color, Indigenous folks, and disabled individuals. This is especially prevalent on reservations in the United States.
The Connection Deepens
The problems that LGBT people face in western society are the same as how western society oppresses nature. The best way I have been able to explain this came from an environmental course I took at Ithaca College, supported by sustained kitchen - dualism.
Dualism are comparisons that make the subjects being compared black and white or right and wrong with no in-between. This is the case with man versus nature where man triumphs over nature making nature the “bad” force to be controlled. Similarly, queerness versus heterosexuality puts queerness in the same category as nature - something that needs to be conquered and controlled.
Queerness is also considered unnatural when in reality it is very natural. Queerness does not just refer to LGBT folks, it also relates to oddities or abnormal occurrences, which the natural world and all that inhabit it are full of. In terms of queerness relating to gender and sexuality, nature has it covered there too because same-sex interactions are a natural occurrence across a variety of species for different reasons. “Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation” by Olivia Judson describes all queer aspects of nature in a fun and conversational way.
Growing up LGBT also gives most LGBT individuals a deeper understanding or more empathy to others who are oppressed. In some cases, people have said that the silence they feel when closeted gives them a better understanding of the silence the planet faces because it cannot verbally tell people what to do or what to stop. Those who find themselves closeted can often face this same lack of verbal agency.
Where do we go from here?
In the same way that the concept of queerness is constantly changing, so must our approach to environmental justice and the climate crisis. We understand and accept that ‘continuing as normal’ is not a viable path forward.
Something I often hear and read in conversations and books on environmental justice is the relationship that Indigenous cultures have to the environment. It is also important to remain open to change because if everyone was unwilling to change their behavior to help protect, conserve and restore the environment then the situation would be exponentially worse than it currently is.
Listening to scientists, and not pseudo-scientists funded by fuel companies or people with stocks in non-renewable energy, is the first step to becoming more aware of the crisis as it stands. The second is to recognize and change behaviors that are unsustainable where it can be afforded. Lastly, listen to and uplift those who are directly affected by environmental crises who, again, are often marginalized groups.
The unbreakable ties that marginalized communities have to the climate crisis make both social and environmental justice go hand-in-hand with one another and need to have an approach of openness, respect, and change.