Love, Life, and the Environment
Love, Life, and the Environment
If you don't have anything good to say--you get it.
I skipped writing you for a few weeks because I didn’t want to add to the negativity to all the negativity that was already out there. I wasn’t in a place to come at you with optimism. There are so many awful things happening and I refuse to mention them without a solution. Or at least–without a glimmer of hope.
I want to share how my house mother Renee Imperato and I had a good cry on TDOR at the Cowgirl NYC Hall of Fame—a lesbian cowgirl-themed family restaurant and bar. This was right before getting into cosplay to see the finale of The Walking Dead at the IFC Theater. I had only seen the first two seasons so the night before I had to watch a 30-minute recap on youtube. (I prefer the comics but don’t tell Renee).
We laughed, we cried, and we were confused about how certain people got bitten by zombies and other people didn’t. In the end, we won a raffle! A poster signed by the entire cast! We walked to the Washington Square Diner and complained about how no one else cosplayed over soggy fries and lukewarm coffee. We cried again. But this time it was different. There was a different energy. We were heartbroken but we were happy in each other’s company. Thankful for one another.
We’d lost so many people in our community for no reason at all. Just for existing in this broken world. But we knew we were doing a special thing that queer people sometimes do. We were not only existing. We were having fun and we were in love with each other. Not the corny cis-het love you see on network television. We were actively loving each other with no expectation of anything in return. It exists somewhere beyond familial or romantic. We have no obligations or desires. We just actively love each other.
This is the answer. To love. To lead by example and show the world what it means to live freely. Maybe this is why they keep trying to erase us. It’s scary to be free.
What Does COP27 Mean For LGBTQ People?
Written in collaboration with a trans writer who wishes to be anonymous.
LGBTQ people in almost all communities face greater than average economic and health challenges. As Climate Change continues to grow worse and poses a more extreme threat to areas in which people of diverse sexualities and genders are already in trouble–like food security, housing, and access to health care–we will have even bigger problems if we don’t take steps immediately.
The issue is that LGBTQ people tend to be dispersed throughout the larger population. Therefore, the consequences of Climate Change on the LGBTQ community can be difficult to fully understand or imagine. Climate change is a global issue that requires the cooperation of communities and nations around the world to address. There is a fear that by connecting gay and trans people’s needs to climate policy there is a risk it could generate controversy. With more conservative cultures and nations part of the conversation–it could hinder the necessary collaboration on climate policy.
In Egypt which hosted COP this year, homosexuality is illegal and gay activists are at risk of being tortured by police, and in the UAE which is hosting COP28 next year homosexuality is punishable by death. Their laws against homosexuality threaten their populations who are perceived to be gay with extreme violence and abuse and cause LGBTQ activists not to participate in these pivotal climate conferences. Avoiding talking about our community’s needs cannot be the price of climate action.
This might seem like a minor concern but look at the UN Climate Conference COP27 which recently took place in Egypt. I can find no gay or trans-focused content or discussion. November 14 was “Gender Day” at COP27, but despite the gender-related programming, there was nothing about LGBTQ communities. If gay, queer, and trans lives are going to be affected by the climate, we need to be thinking about what this means for us, and we need to have a seat at the table for that our community is not left behind and climate mitigation and adaptation plans are made that will guide our society for the next several decades.
So what do we do? I think LGBTQ people need to try to be more conscious of the climate crisis and how it affects us. We need to identify where we are at risk and raise our voices about it. Research published this year in the Lancet medical journal shows extreme health risks associated with climate change. How does that affect LGBTQ people? Research from the Council on Foreign Relations shows that climate change contributes to political instability. Let's think about how that climate-related instability particularly drives violence again our community. According to research published in the journal Conflict and Health, political conflict-related violence against people of diverse sexual and gender identities is a serious issue that needs greater attention, so what’s going to happen as the climate crisis worsens? LGBTQ people, especially youth, face homelessness at hugely disproportionate rates, the McKinsey consulting firm has research that suggests housing will be even more limited by climate change.
These and other threats are real and need to be addressed by our community. It is a daunting task but we are strong and capable. Just look at how the LGBTQ community beat all expectations in our response to the monkey-pox crisis, we are capable of wise policy choices that save lives. Over the next year let’s work to figure out how gay, trans, and queer people can take action to save our climate and ourselves. Let’s make sure LGBTQ people have a seat at the table at COP28.