LGBTQIA2S+ justice
This page contains knowledge shared by people present at the HUB's learning circle on LGBTQIA2S+ issues and climate justice.
Defining 'Queer'
Queer is “a multi-faceted word that is used in different ways and means different things to different people such as; 1) Attraction to people of multiple genders, 2) Does not conform to cultural norms regarding gender and/or sexuality, 3) General term for all non-heterosexual people. Some people in the community may feel the word has been used against them in a hateful way for too long, and therefore do not prefer to use it. [1]
What makes a group LGBTQIA2S+ friendly?
- Meet the accessibility and space needs of queer people. See our wiki page on making your activism accessible for more.
- Educate yourself about the issue of intersectionality
- Effort to build trusting relationships between people, especially other queer people
- Have a culture of listening to the needs of others
Environments still have work to do to become welcoming to queer people. The queer people who are part of it experience a great mental and emotional burden from having to do educational work relating to the issues they are experiencing. It can lead to burnout. Some activists may choose to organize as a queer-based group to mobilize without having to do educational labour while fitting into larger movements such as climate justice.
Learning from queer environments
Question for learning circle participants: What have queer circles taught you / are teaching you?
Check-in with one another
| Present moment check |
At the start of the meeting, practice asking yourself what state of mind you are in to better understand each other. |
| Communication of sensitive topics |
When there are sensitive topics to discuss, include these points:
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| Self-consciousness |
Self-awareness in the space shared with others, such as balancing speaking time. |
| Open mindedness |
Encourage a culture of learning and growing together, and practice giving and receiving feedback. This means challenging perfectionism and defensiveness. |
| Sharing capacities |
Challenge the gender roles and values of capitalism pushing us towards overworking. Prioritize primary needs (i.e. nutrition, sleep etc.) before working, studying or being an activist. Regularly remind one another to avoid falling into the culture of burnout and hyper-productivity. “There are a lot of activists with disabilities or illnesses who still get involved. Sometimes you have to check in with these people often to [make sure] they don't take too much on their shoulders. We have to do check-ins with our communities." |
LGBTQIA2S+ identities as a factor of marginalization and vulnerability in the context of the climate crisis
Government attitude
Familialism is the tendency to emphasize the importance of the family in society. [2] There is concern about the familialism attitudes of governments adopted during crises. In particular, trans BIPOC people would be more vulnerable if they leave their towns of origin to move to big cities.
Migration
With natural disasters, more and more people will have to move from their places of residence. Queer people (and other marginalized groups) will be particularly affected by these realities which will affect issues of jobs, government services, access to housing. It is of great importance to create networks of solidarity with groups that fight in particular for migration justice. E.g: a migrant will have to wait several years to be recognized in the gender with which he identifies.
Erasure of queer struggles
Tolerating attacks on the dignity of minority groups because we have to focus on climate is very dangerous. If we do not listen to the voices of vulnerable groups, marginalization will become more severe (e.g. access to housing). We must listen to people and act on the social realities of the climate crisis. This is why anti-oppression education is imperative. When we talk about the climate emergency, we have to talk about climate justice and how we can support the people who are most vulnerable to this crisis.
Delays in care and services
Deadlines for having identification papers in the gender with which a person identifies will be lengthened by the climate crisis.
Resources
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Disposability discourse |
Much discussion around the severity of COVID was lessened by expressing how it mainly sickens and kills elderly, chronically ill, and disabled people. This discourse suggests these groups are seen disposable. |
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Loosened restrictions too early |
When governments loosened COVID restrictions in response to business demands, political pressure, and public impatience, rather than scientific evidence, high risk populations (the chronically ill, disabled and elderly) were subsequently told they are disposable yet again. |
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Working through illness |
Regulations around how many sick days should be required when someone falls ill with COVID also demonstrated ableism. In relation to these regulations, and in favour of profit above health, many politicians including US President Joe Biden, praised themselves for working through COVID, instead of encouraging people to rest and recover if they'd fallen ill. |
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Individualism |
Individuals have been encouraged to make 'personal' choices on vaccines (without legitimate health restrictions), masks and gatherings. "There is no individual safety without collective safety and collective safety requires that no one is safe unless everyone is safe." - Mia Mingus [3] |
If you have any suggested revisions or additional resources to share related to the above content, please email them to kenzie@lehub.ca.
