Yes, Climate Change is an LGBTQIA Issue

Despite the LGBTQIA community's rich history of environmental activism, our contributions remain largely overlooked. This Pride Month, I'm spotlighting how climate change intersects with LGBTQIA rights and celebrating the champions driving us toward a zero-carbon future for all.

The fight against climate change and the fight for LGBTQIA rights share a common challenge: both have historically faced skepticism and denial, many even outright deny their existence. Yet they both urgently need our attention. With 2023 marked as the hottest year ever recorded, and a historical year for anti-LGBTQIA legislation around the world, it’s clear that we have a lot of educating to do to protect our most vulnerable before it’s too late.

Many consider these issues to be only slightly related, if at all. But the queer community has a long track record of environmental activism focused not only on the challenges we face, but also those facing people of color, those with low incomes, those who are unhoused, those with disabilities, and others. This broad, intersectional approach to environmental activism is not surprising given that queer people are everywhere. And let me make this clear: we will always be here, fighting for solutions for our community, regardless of whether or not you “believe in" supporting us.

So let’s dive into the vital connections between climate change and LGBTQIA rights, and highlight activists and organizations who are working to address both issues.

How Climate Change Affects The Queer Community

On a global scale, the United Nations Human Rights Office reports that LGBTQIA communities are among the world’s most vulnerable, experiencing higher rates of poverty, homelessness, and discrimination, struggles exacerbated by natural disasters and the impacts of extreme climate change. To be sure, documenting the impact of natural disasters on queer populations is difficult not least because these populations are often the least researched, the last to be assessed and considered as a direct result of discrimination. Yet the evidence is growing. 

In the aftermath of 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, for example, the Aravanis — a distinct group of stigmatized people in India who do not identify as either male or female — “were excluded from the relief process, temporary shelters, and official death records… thus rendering this population invisible in many of the relief and reconstruction agendas,” according to Lori Hunter and Emmanuel David in their working paper Climate Change and Migration: Considering the Gender Dimensions.  

In November of 2023, the US Global Climate Research Program — a federal interagency initiative responsible for coordinating climate change research and investments — published its Fifth National Climate Assessment. For the first time, it included a section highlighting how social, economic, and health disparities among LGBTQIA individuals, particularly those facing multiple intersecting forms of marginalization, may create unique vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change. The assessment found that “Indigenous Sexual and Gender Minorities (SGMs) face heightened health disparities as climate change continues to impact lifeways and economies.”  

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the former United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, emphasizes, “Colonial legislation and mores lie at the origin of violence and discrimination perpetrated against LGBTQIA persons. Countries that were subjected to colonialism must reevaluate their legal systems to reconcile them with International Human Rights Law.” 

Many who live in the western world criticize the homophobia present in many emerging economies without acknowledging that discrimination and violence is alive and well in industrialized countries. For example, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a transgender person was jailed for showering in a women’s restroom after being permitted to do so by a volunteer. And, at the time of this writing, 516 anti-LGBTQIA bills have been proposed across the United States, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

This exclusion has spurred many LGBTQIA individuals to develop their own solutions for a clean energy future. When queer individuals have been turned away by their families, they have created chosen families. Now, as many face exclusion from their governments, they are ready to create their own solutions.

Out of Closet, Out of Doors

The history of LGBTQIA activism has often intertwined with environmental advocacy. The rainbow flag — a powerful symbol of the LGBTQIA community — includes a green stripe representing nature. Gilbert Baker, the activist who designed the flag in the late 1970s, intended it to proclaim power and unity. The inclusion of green underscores the natural place of LGBTQIA individuals within the world, countering the frequent claims of “unnaturalness.” 

In recent years, this shared commitment has become even more pronounced. LGBTQIA communities have taken a leading role in the fight against climate change. In fact, 2011 research by Harris Poll revealed that LGBTQIA individuals, on average, demonstrate a stronger commitment to environmental issues than their heterosexual counterparts. This can be attributed to the unique challenges that queer people often face, including the lack of inclusive policies that can exclude these communities from disaster planning and recovery efforts.  

Isaias Hernandez , the creator of the environmental platform Queer Brown Vegan, stated, "Tackling the climate crisis is part of LGBTQ liberation, and efforts to improve the situation must involve creating a 'just' system for marginalized people. The idea of ‘queering’ a system doesn’t just come from putting a rainbow on it, it’s putting justice on it.” 

A Clean Future for all Demands Equity

Across the globe, LGBTQIA individuals continue to face escalating discrimination and abandonment. These marginalized communities are subjected to systemic injustices that strip away our dignity and basic human rights.

How can we expect the very policymakers, or even organizations, who perpetuate this discrimination to act justly in developing climate solutions that serve "all" people? The truth is, they cannot be relied upon to champion the needs of those they marginalize, at least not until major changes take place.

The fight for a zero-carbon future for all must also be a fight for human rights, demanding that all voices, especially those of the most vulnerable, are heard and respected in the creation of sustainable and inclusive policies.

It is time for a global shift, where equality and justice form the foundation of our response to the climate crisis. Only then can we aspire to a future where every individual, regardless of their identity, contributes to and benefits from a clean, prosperous, and sustainable world.

For more: Please check out and uplift these select queer organizations that also focus on environmental issues. 👇

OUT for Sustainability: Focuses on the intersection of LGBTQ identity and environmental sustainability. 

The Audre Lorde Project: A community organizing center for LGBTQ people of color, involved in various justice initiatives, including environmental justice. 

Out in the Open: Works at the intersection of rural LGBTQ lives and environmental sustainability. 

GAYa NUSANTARA: An LGBTQ organization in Indonesia that also addresses environmental issues. 

Queer Nature: A Colorado-based organization focused on nature education and ecological awareness for the LGBTQ community. 

Queer Ecojustice Project: Explores the intersections of queer liberation and ecological justice. 

WE ACT for Environmental Justice: An organization that addresses environmental issues affecting people of color, including LGBTQ communities. 

Intersectional Environmentalist: Focuses on environmental justice through an intersectional lens, including LGBTQ perspectives.