'Queerifying' the Climate Discourse

Queer poverty

Queer poverty is inextricably linked to queer social exclusion and discrimination. They are denied employment regardless of their educational qualifications. Discrimination prevents them from accessing proper housing and basic health services, further leading the queer community into poverty.

India’s LGBTQIA+ Community was hit especially hard by the imposition of the COVID-19 Lockdown—where in the process of containing the virus, the community was invisibilized by policymakers. The queer community mostly depends on odd jobs to sustain themselves, which were either shut down or not allowed to run for a few months, thus stripping them of their basic access to necessities.

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Poverty and Climate Change

Climate change disproportionally affects the community—a good chunk of which is living below the poverty line. Living in slums and other polluted areas makes the LGBTQIA+ community more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Poverty elevates climate risk by forcing the poor to depend entirely on natural resources for survival, hence they unconsciously exploit the environment and the behaviour continues for generations to come. 

Queer discrimination at workspaces leads to unemployment among the LGBTQIA+ community, hence making it hard to pay off rents and access necessities. About 92% of transgenders in India are deprived of equal economic opportunities and denied the right to participate in economic activities.

“...[W]ith the upcoming monsoons, there will be heavy rains in Chennai and my house will also be flooded, because of which I can’t even invite any of my friends from the community to my home. It’s very difficult for a transgender person to get a house in the city, to make the house-owners understand. Hence, whatever be the issue, I’ll stick with my current house because there’s some understanding with its owner.”

— A transwoman from Chennai during an interview with the International Commission of Jurists

These housing issues force them to resort to living in slums or similar areas, where they are disproportionately exposed to a polluted environment and face various health hazards like Asthma, Cancer, and Malaria. Lack of access to proper healthcare services leads further prevents any diagnosis of incurable diseases like HIV, especially in the case of queer people who do sex work for minimum wages.

Apart from anti-queer laws, the climate impact is also forcing the LGBTQIA+ Community to migrate to safer countries. Around the globe, around 70 nations criminalize homosexuality. However, immigration laws in many of these ‘safer nations’ are a hurdle for the queer community, leaving them stuck where they are. Even those who have successfully migrated find themselves stranded in poor housing, low wages, and capitalist exploitation—rendering them vulnerable to natural calamities like wildfires and floods.

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Under-representation of the queer community in India

As a consequence of the prevalent anti-queer environment in India, there are little to no major queer collectives in India that can represent the desi queer struggle on a global level. We also witness the LGBTQIA+ Community and their vows and concerns not being covered by the media.

We also see this in the way queer people are denied leadership positions and are otherwise fetishized by the heteronormative society.  Indian queer experiences essentially get muffled under social stigma and exclusion, getting fetishized and having no media representation. This denial of inclusion is also seen in climate spaces where the queer narrative is marginalized and the intersectionality of queer liberation and climate justice is ignored.

The younger strata of the climate movement are, however, transforming the space. They're not only more cognizant of the need to reflect queer voices in the climate movement but are connecting the dots between queerness and activism, with queer youth actively engaging in the climate movement. The pride flags at climate rallies are just one of the many ways in which this transformation is manifesting itself. Queer people are fusing the demands for climate justice with the demands for social justice.

To quote the Atmos magazine, the queer experience is rooted in expression and acceptance—a celebration of all the unique and individual natures that make up the whole of nature, a rich tapestry woven by biodiversity.

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