As the calendar flips to June and organizations big and small roll out their rainbow logos to wish my community a “Happy Pride Month,” I am filled with a simultaneous joy and sadness. I look forward to celebrating Pride with my friends, dressing up in my wildest outfits, and holding hands in public without worrying about who is giving my boyfriend and I a second glance. I think about how far I have come personally since my first Pride, and the progress my community has made since before I was even born. In this, there is joy.
Progress continues, but each step forward is hard won.
Pride in 2023 comes after a record year of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being introduced and passed in states across the country. My heart breaks for friends in my home state of Missouri and other states where queer and trans people are being targeted and attacked by their elected officials. It is more important than ever for queer people to be visible and speak directly about their experiences, while simultaneously it is increasingly dangerous for them to do so. In this, there is sadness.
Queer liberation is a climate issue, because queer and trans people deserve a place in a society post-fossil fuels, and because queer and trans people have knowledge and experience on how to get us there. When politicians seek to erase queer people from the past and the present through “Don’t Say Gay” bills or drag bans, we are losing the voices of a community rich with diverse perspectives on a wide range of issues.
At the same time that states are proposing legislation to ban discussions of LGBTQ+ issues in the classroom, they are also passing bills that ban teaching about the history of racism in America and scientifically accurate climate change education. Schools and educators are today’s victims of large scale mis- and dis-information campaigns, and students — especially queer, trans, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students — are on the receiving end of the most harm.
Today’s young people, who will experience the worst climate impacts in their lifetimes, are more likely to identify as queer or trans, and queer people are also more likely to experience homelessness, which puts them on the front lines of climate impacts today. These are the people who will be tomorrow’s teachers, scientists, artists, and visionaries, and they are being forced to pick up their lives and move states for their own safety — alongside migrants leaving their communities due to increasing extreme weather.
States like Florida, Tennessee, and Texas are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and are already experiencing rising sea levels, hotter summers, and more frequent hurricanes and weather anomalies. All the while, state leaders are focused on pushing queer people out of their communities, triggering a migration of trans people moving to safer cities that are not targeting their access to healthcare or their safety.
When queer and trans people can safely be their full selves at home, work, and school, they can be leaders and powerful voices of justice in their workplaces and schools.
When queer and trans people don’t have to worry about their safety in public, they can wholly contribute to social and environmental justice movements in their community. LGBTQ+ people exist in rural and urban communities; they are members of all races and ethnicities; they are rich and poor; they exist on the frontlines of the climate crisis; they are Indigenous; they live in every nation on this earth; they have the experience needed to instigate social change. We are as different as we are similar, and only together can we overcome the monumental, collective climate crisis we face.
This Pride Month, I am celebrating. I am celebrating a world where queer and trans people feel safe being themselves in any city. I am celebrating a world where communities uplift one another, sharing food and art and stories. I am celebrating a world where everyone feels free to bring their inner self out. I am celebrating a world where politicians and people with power take quick and decisive climate action to protect frontline communities. I am celebrating a world where everyone has the chance to give and receive love.
This Pride, I am celebrating with my chosen family, but I am also working to create a world that is worth our celebration.
Trevor Cobb is the Communications Coordinator for Climate Generation. When he was young, he wanted to be a marine biologist, but after discovering he was more of an arts kid rather than a science kid, he decided that communicating with others about protecting the world and its oceans would be a better path. He studied Writing, Spanish, and Graphic Design at Drury University, a small liberal arts college in Missouri, before moving to Minnesota to enjoy snowy winters and (he hoped) mild summers. In Trevor’s free time, he can be found riding public transportation to an art fair or brewery, probably reading a book from the public library. In all of Trevor’s work, he strives to find creative ways to tell the truth. Whether through writing, design, illustration, or conversations online and offline, he seeks to communicate honestly about the climate crisis facing the global community.