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Queering Environmental Justice Through an Intersectional Lens Greta Gaard, PhD

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Greta Gaard is with the English and Women/Gender/Sexuality Studies Departments, University of Wisconsin, River Falls.

See also Levy and Hern�andez, p. 48, and Goldsmith and Bell, p. 79.

Bell and Goldsmith’s research(p. 79) establishes a new intersec- tional field of queer environmental jus-

tice through the feminist practice of

“asking different questions” and investi-

gating queer populations and their

health outcomes as exacerbated by

environmental exposures, along with

“social institutions and entrenched dis-

crimination that affect many aspects of

LGBTQ1 [lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-

gender, queer or questioning, and

other] lives, such as education, health

care, and access to resources during

an environmental disaster” (p. 86). They

define environmental exposures in

terms of “where LGBTQ1 people live,”

a decision influenced not only by race,

class, income, and availability of federal

loan programs, but also by local,

regional, state, and national contexts of

institutionalized and interpersonal

homophobia and discrimination.

During the period of data collection

for their article, domestic partnership

registries seemed to be the primary

data source for determining residence

locations for same-sex and queer

domestic partners. Future research

building on this article can be updated

to show the influence of the Supreme

Court’s decision to legalize same-sex

marriage1 and the potential shifts in

residence for same-sex spouses and

their families. This legal protection may

promote greater accessibility to healthy

housing environments, a view that the

2020 Census data—for the first time in

US history—can be used to assess.

Queering environmental justice can

be further developed through the inter-

sectional feminist lenses of gender,

age, ability, and species.2

Bell and Goldsmith identify intersec-

tions between physical and mental

health, noting the ways that “institutional

and social-based discrimination and

stigma” manifest psychologically,

prompting LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisex-

ual, transgender, queer or questioning,

and intersex) persons to conceal iden-

tity, internalize oppression, and live in

fear of identity-based rejection, with

transgender persons facing even more

mental health burdens (40%) than cis-

gendered LGB persons. At the same

time, even cisgendered lesbian and

bisexual queer women experience the

intersections of environmental

sexism and ageism in addition to envi-

ronmental homophobia, producing

intensified relations of dominance

enforced via sexual assault, harassment,

bullying, exploitation, and hate crimes.3

Bringing forward intersections with age,

gender, and sexuality makes visible the

high percentage of sex work performed

by outcast and runaway queer, trans,

and cisgendered youth.4 Because of the

nexus of sexism, heterosexism, ageism,

and racism, the environments of queer

and trans sex workers are inherently

unjust and unhealthy—both physically

and mentally—carrying increased risks

of HIV transmission, alcoholism, drug

use, and environmental toxins.5

Intersections of gender, sexuality,

and environments also play a role in

queer women’s higher rates of obesity6

and their tendencies to avoid breast

and pelvic exams7 at rates comparable

to those of transmen, who also tend to

avoid screenings for cervical cancers.8

Both physical and sexual health exams

carry the risk of homophobic and trans-

phobic harassment or ignorance in

medical work environments. It remains

a well-known tragedy that transgender

author, labor activist, and human rights

activist Leslie Feinberg died in 2014

from the untreated outcomes of Lyme

disease and other tick-borne infections.

Queer disability author Piepzna-

Samarasinha9 argues that genuine

social and environmental justice must

include age and disability justice. Envi-

ronmental disasters such as Hurricane

Katrina support this claim; although

age and disability often co-occur,

impairments of hearing, vision, cogni-

tion, speech, and mobility can affect

people of all ages, making it difficult for

them to seek protection in climate

crises. For elderly people, these impair-

ments are more likely and more chal-

lenging, and for queer and disabled

people, seeking appropriate aid in envi-

ronmental disasters can be triply chal-

lenging. Young people are at greater

risk; given the disproportionate racial

impact of asthma among urban and

lower-income children of color, the abil-

ity of children to breathe while fleeing

Editorial Gaard 57

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or surviving climate disasters is an envi-

ronmental justice issue, compounded

by homophobia if their parents, siblings,

or extended family are queer or trans.

In addition, the intersections of envi-

ronmental justice, queer justice, and

species justice are entangled in the

lives of multispecies families. Species-

ism obscures the ways that human lives

are lived in relationship with other spe-

cies as well as environments; nearly

half of those who stayed behind during

Katrina refused rescue helicopters and

boats that offered safety only to

humans, and stayed because of their

companion animals. During the

COVID-19 pandemic, queer families

maintained well-being and mental

health through adoption and relation-

ships with companion animals.10 For

older LGBTQ1 adults, both single and

partnered, companion animals are

“lifesaving in every way,” from greater

mental and physical health to enriched

social networks.11 In sum, leading envi-

ronmental justice scholars have recog-

nized that their analytical frameworks

will miss important data unless they

include multispecies lives.12

CORRESPONDENCE Correspondence should be sent to Greta Gaard, Department of English, 256 KFA, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, 410 S. Third St, River Falls, WI 54022 (e-mail: [email protected]). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the “Reprints” link.

PUBLICATION INFORMATION Full Citation: Gaard G. Queering environmental justice through an intersectional lens. Am J Public Health. 2022;112(1):57–58.

Acceptance Date: July 28, 2021.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306489

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to Katie Poe, associate production editor for AJPH, for her patient guidance in helping to format this response in accordance with AJPH guidelines.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.

REFERENCES

1. Obergefell v Hodges, 576 US 644 (2015).

2. Gaard GC. Feminism and environmental justice. In: Holifield R, Chakraborty J, Walker G, eds. The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Justice. New York, NY: Routledge; 2018:74–88.

3. McKay T, Misra S, Lindquist C. Violence and LGBTQ1 Communities: What Do We Know, and What Do We Need to Know? Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International; 2017.

4. Wilson EC, Garofalo R, Harris RD, et al. Transgen- der female youth and sex work: HIV risk and a comparison of life factors related to engagement in sex work. AIDS Behav. 2009;13(5):902–913. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-008-9508-8

5. Glick JL, Lim S, Beckham SW, Tomko C, Park JN, Sherman SG. Structural vulnerabilities and HIV risk among sexual minority female sex workers (SM-FSW) by identity and behavior in Baltimore, MD. Harm Reduct J. 2020;17(1):43. https://doi.org/ 10.1186/s12954-020-00383-2

6. Boehmer U, Bowen DJ, Bauer GR. Overweight and obesity in sexual-minority women: evidence from population-based data. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(6):1134–1140. https://doi.org/10.2105/ AJPH.2006.088419

7. Cochran SD, Mays VM, Bowen DJ, et al. Cancer- related risk indicators and preventive screening behaviors among lesbians and bisexual women. Am J Public Health. 2001;91(4):591–597. https:// doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.91.4.591

8. Bernstein IM. “There Is No Manly Speculum”: The Gender and Power Dynamics of Cervical Cancer Screening for Transmasculine Patients [doctoral dissertation]. Boston, MA: Harvard Medical School; 2017.

9. Piepzna-Samarasinha LL. Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice. Chico, CA: AK Press; 2018.

10. Matijczak A, McDonald SE, Tomlinson CA, Murphy JL, O’Connor K. The moderating effect of comfort from companion animals and social support on the relationship between microaggressions and mental health in LGBTQ1 emerging adults. Behav Sci (Basel) 2020;11(1):1. https://doi.org/10. 3390/bs11010001

11. Muraco A, Putney J, Shiu C, Fredriksen-Goldsen K. Lifesaving in every way: the role of companion animals in the lives of older lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults age 50 and over. Res Aging. 2018;40(9):859–882. https://doi.org/10. 1177/0164027517752149

12. Pellow DN. Total Liberation: The Power and Prom- ise of Animal Rights and the Radical Earth Move- ment. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press; 2014. https://doi.org/10.5749/minnesota/ 9780816687763.001.0001

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