When disaster strikes: 4 ways the climate crisis impacts LGBTQI+ people
Although the impact of the climate crisis will be universal, its effects will not be felt equally. While research shows that these communities are disproportionately impacted by climate change, LGBTQI+ subjectivities have been routinely invisible in mainstream discussions about those worst affected by climate disasters. Here are four examples of how LGBTQI+ people are more vulnerable to climate change.
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Discrimination of LGBTQI+ people in disaster relief
Research on the impact of disasters on LGBTQI+ people in the United States found that they experience barriers to proper healthcare, difficulty accessing food and water rations, and securing emergency shelters after being displaced by environmental disasters.
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Retributive religious violence
Religious persecution puts LGBTQI+ communities at risk of violence and death in the aftermath of environmental catastrophes. After earthquakes and hurricanes in New Zealand, Malaysia, the US, Israel, and Haiti, religious leaders told followers that these disasters were punishments from God for the prevalence of queer and trans people in society.
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Barriers to safe migration routes
While LGBTQI+ people have reported experiencing violence and harassment on journeys to refugee camps after disaster, this is not the only way communities are disproportionately impacted. Although there is hope we are close to formally recognising climate refugees under international law, observers have detected a homogenising understanding of these groups in key international bodies that puts LGBTQI+ climate refugees at risk of further harm.
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Widening inequalities
Due to their position at the margins of society, LGBTQI+ people are especially vulnerable to widening inequalities. Global trends show that LGBTQIA people are more likely to experience homelessness and insecure housing, alcohol and substance dependency, social and family violence, job insecurity and poverty. Concentrations of populations in poor urban areas means communities are exposed to greater risks of harm from air pollution, food and water insecurity, and rising urban temperatures.
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