Pride Month — Community Voices

Climate Policies Must Include, and Learn From, the LGBTQI+ Community

Despite significant achievements in recent years for the protection and provision of equal rights for LGBTQI+ people, there are still significant barriers to full inclusion in society. Around the world, LGBTQI+ issues are often co-opted by political parties and used to stoke anxieties about national or cultural identity, Western influence or other social, economic or political challenges. LGBTQI+ individuals also face barriers to housing, education, medical care and other critical services, while social stigma serves to isolate them from their family and community. In the United States alone, LGBTQI+ individuals, particularly youth and transgender people, are estimated to make up nearly 40% of those experiencing homelessness, making them even more vulnerable to things like substance abuse, depression or anxiety and assault.

Queer(ing) Environmentalism

Recent Fletcher grad Katy Constantinides discusses how queer liberation is intrinsically tied with environmental justice in the first blog post of CIERP’s 2022 Pride Month Blog Series.

Lessons from the LGBTQ+ Movement for Climate Change

Rishikesh Bhandary discusses how Pride Month gives us an opportunity to reflect on how the wider struggle for LGBTQ+ equality may inform our work on climate change. There are some striking parallels that I discuss below including the acceptance of the reality of climate change, the need for broad coalitions, and the zig-zag trajectory of progress.

Community VoicesClimate Policy LabJuly 1, 2021Author - Rishikesh Bhandary, Pride MonthComment

Queering Nature for a More Just and Sustainable Future

Fletcher MALD student Katy Constantinides discusses how queer ecology can assist us in creating a more sustainable future in the second post of CIERP and CPL’s Pride Month series.

Community VoicesClimate Policy LabJune 16, 2021Author - Katy Constantinides, Pride MonthComment