Queering Environmental Justice

This workshop is for individuals of all identities

As a queer youth, I often found myself drawn to environmental justice (ej),
and would often see many other queers at ej events. While the link between queer
and environments, health, class, and access to space seemed somewhat obvious to
me, I found it difficult to find discussions making these connections, or a vocabulary
with which to vocalize these sentiments. This workshop will work to develop this
vocabulary, as well as occupy specifically queer space within an ej context.
In this workshop I would like to obscure biology as the core of environmental
justice, and centralize queer identity. As ej recognizes the connections between all
forms of oppression, I would like to emphasize the relationships between queer and
environmental justice movements.

The intersection of queerness and experiences of lived environments
(both social and geographical) deserves more attention, not less, in order to continue
the engagement of anti-oppression struggles within environmental justice
movements. The primary goal of this workshop is to 'queer environmental justice' –
that is, to discuss ej through a uniquely queer lens. Moreover, the workshop will
function to build bridges between communities of resistance, as well as challenge
straight, cisgendered privilege within ej spaces. I am also interested in engaging
with, and hearing the various experiences of, queer and trans- folks that are typically
obscured or overlooked within ej spaces.

Most of this workshop will be facilitated, but is also intended to be interactive
and engaging, including some open discussion throughout. The language of this
workshop will, at times, be highly theoretical. However, it is my hope that the
discussion of theoretical concepts are grounded in examples of organizational
histories and activism. This being said, I am much more interested in the organic
exchange of ideas and thoughts than the policing of (proper, academic, inaccessible)
language. Obviously, no homo- or trans- phobia will be tolerated in this workshop,
and both hetero- and cis- normativity will be kept in check.