Sexuality and the environment may seem unrelated at first, but Alex Anderson, a member of 麻豆小蝌蚪传媒鈥檚 gardening club, relates both to cultural inequalities.
"(Environmentalism and LGBTQIA+ issues) tend to naturally go together,鈥� Anderson, a second-year arts education student, said. "The society that we live in both doesn鈥檛 value our environment and doesn鈥檛 value LGBTQ+ people.鈥�
Access to food can contribute to this inequality. Much of the Midlands are considered to be food deserts, or areas without ready access to fresh foods or grocery stores, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC).
Anderson said gardening could be a tool to combat a lack of produce in stores.
鈥淪eeds at Walmart are not that expensive, you know,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淚f oppressed people control their access to food, that鈥檚 just one more thing that props us up.鈥�
Similarly to growing healthy food when none is made available, coming into one's own sexual or gender identity is an 鈥渁ct of rebellion,鈥� Anderson said.
鈥淨ueer people live that truth and then work together to create power for ourselves, instead of, not even stealing it from the people in power,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淲e are capable of creating our own power.鈥�
What that power looks like, though, can be tricky to define. Queer environmental issues exist against the backdrop of intersectional environmentalism as a whole, an area of interest for 麻豆小蝌蚪传媒 philosophy department chair Matt Kisner.
Intersectional movements, he said, focus on a wide range of people, including those of different races, sexualities and socioeconomic statuses. For example, establishing a garden, although perhaps empowering, requires more than seeds 鈥� it requires space, time and physical ability.
鈥淵ou see how there are certain kinds of common structures or patterns that overlap between issues,鈥� Kisner said. 鈥淚ntersectionality is about studying those similarities and structural connections.鈥�
One example of an environmentally intersectional issue is a communities鈥� location relative to toxic waste.
Nationwide, communities near toxic waste dumping and storage facilities are comprised of roughly 45% people of color. However, people of color make up less than 30% of communities that are distanced from such waste facilities.
This issue is intersectional, Kisner said. It affects many types of people 鈥� Black, Latino and immigrant communities. Understanding and solving these disparities requires bringing these stakeholders to the table, Kisner said.
鈥淵ou need to have the people who are affected by these harms, and they need to be represented, they need to be part of the people who are speaking out about the experiences that they're having,鈥� Kisner said.
It can be difficult to involve individuals from oppressed communities in these discussions, though. Those who are economically unable to move out of a flood zone, for example, have more immediate concerns than legislation, Kisner said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard in any community to get people involved in that kind of civic participation, but it's particularly demanding on people who are working multiple jobs and are struggling with childcare issues,鈥� Kisner said.
It鈥檚 also more difficult to address LGBTQIA+ concerns via community involvement because of geographic distribution. Because so many marginalized communities are centered around toxic waste disposal sites, they鈥檙e affected 鈥渄isproportionately,鈥� Kisner said. 鈥淏ut the LGBTQ population isn鈥檛 鈥� centralized in quite the same way.鈥�
Anderson said that these hazards are similar in effect to hazards faced by the LGBTQIA+ community.
鈥淲hen people are destroying the planet for profit 鈥� it takes away people鈥檚 opportunity, and so I feel like because of how impacted LGBTQ people are by our prejudiced society, that is definitely a way that LGBTQ and environmentalism overlap,鈥� Anderson said.
Jory Fleming, an adjunct faculty member in the geography department, explored these overlaps in a class through a collection of poems by Brian Teare called 鈥淒oomstead Days.鈥�
鈥�(Teare) went out and walked basically in different locations 鈥� He combined his own experience directly in nature with his experiences from both as a gay man, and he also interacts with chronic illnesses,鈥� Fleming said.
Fleming said he uses this poetry to showcase the power of people鈥檚 unique perspectives on the environment. He considers these perspectives a type of data, alongside traditional scientific data like United Nations鈥� climate change report. He talks about individual power in a similar way to Anderson.
鈥淭here's just as much power in somebody saying 鈥榦h, my garden which I've cared for all my life is changing ... These are just as valid of ways of understanding and acknowledging climate change as an IPCC report that uses a climate model,鈥� Fleming said.