Queers Hug Trees

This week we discuss the amazing queer environmentalists who have built the movement we see today. From historical figures like Rachel Carson to present-day activists like Pattiegonia, there is no shortage of eco-queers in the fight for environmental justice. Listen now to learn from the stories of scientists, drag queens, and politicians who brought their queerness to the environmental movement and transformed their sphere of influence.

This week, we interview Meghan Burns (a.k.a Morgan Mercury) on art and activism, and specifically, how they are exploring masculinity and femininity through drag. We discuss how drag allows us to connect with the personal and the political, and why it's important to bring joy and fun into activism. Meghan draws on their own experience as a drag king, Morgan Mercury, and how they have explored other queer spaces through drag in Ottawa. 

Go check them out on instagram at @themorganmercury and find their queer history tours of Ottawa at @fairycowboytours!

Hey guys, this is a REALLY IMPORTANT episode!

We are joined by Nora AVK, a phenomenal reproductive justice advocate. They are President of UofT Students for Choice, a member on the Board of the Directors of both the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada and the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Hubs, and a trained abortion doula. We get into a discussion about how both queer justice and climate change are related to reproductive justice. We hear about barriers that many trans, non-binary, two-spirit, and genderqueer folks face in accessing reproductive health services. We also get to learn from Nora about the enormous reproductive violence being perpetrated during the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

It's an incredible episode, please enjoy!

Check out Nora’s work here:

• Nora’s Instagram 
• UofT Students for Choice
• Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada
• Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Hubs

Key resources we discuss: 

[2:55] Sister Song’s Definition of Reproductive Justice

[4:40] ’Intersectionality’, a term coined by Kimberly Crenshaw

[9:05] Testimony in Out Magazine about barriers in queer access to abortions

[11:30] Study about inequalities in access to healthcare for 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Canada

[23:00] Reproductive Justice’s links with climate justice: Human Rights Watch, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

[39:10] Links between anti-choice and anti-2SLGBTQIA hate: Guardian article, New York Magazine article

Additional info from the National LGBTQ Task Force in the US

Carbon footprint calculators have become a popular way of measuring an individual's impact on the climate. If you were in elementary school within the past two decades, carbon footprint calculators probably even made it into your curriculum. But did you know these calculators were actually invented by British Petroleum in the early 2000s?
 
This week, we are diving into the discourse around individual climate action and how the fossil fuel industry has manufactured concepts like our 'carbon footprint'.  We engage with queer perspectives that can deconstruct this thinking around capitalist individualism. Amalie talks about the popularization of BP's carbon footprint calculator, and dives into the importance of collective action. Allegra clarifies what we mean by individualism and how this thinking negatively affects the climate movement, in light of the recent Carbon Majors report.  Tune in for more info and to hear Allegra struggle to say 'individualism' at multiple points throughout the episode!

Resources cited throughout the episode:

[3:15] Article by Bryan Turner on Individualistic Capitalism
[7:30] Article from the Guardian by Martin Lukacs
[9:00] Article in the Guardian written by Rebecca Solnit
[14:15, 17:30] Article by Geoffrey Supran and Maomi Oreskes on ExxonMobil
[16:00] Drilled by Amy Westervelt
[19:30, 21:45] Carbon Majors Report
[24:45] Joshua Russell’s book Queer Ecopedagogies
[25:30] Inside Climate News Article and quote from Adwoa Addae
[26:30] Thesis by Mo Fox

Today, we delve into organizing tactics in social movements, taking a look at the past and potential futures of climate activism. With input from two fellow climate activists, we ask questions like: What is direct action? When is it useful? How should the climate movement be shifting its focus and tactics to better address climate breakdown?

While the mainstream climate movement has seen some progress with legal actions like climate strikes, we are exploring what is missing. Can climate justice learn a few things from queer liberation's tradition of disruption and defiance?

We are joined by two incredible climate activists, Ash and Lilah, who speak to their experiences in the climate justice movement and whether climate activists are "doing disruption right". Our profound thanks to them for their work.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

We refer to the following resources throughout the episode:

[5:30] Q&A with Dana Fisher (2024)
[4:10, 5:55]  Colin Davis on Just Stop Oil (2022)
[6:55, 12:25] Article by Laura Thomas-Walters and Kevin A. Young (2024)
[9:20, 35:30] Never Going Back, book by Tom Warner (2002)
[15:30] Article by Joseph Nicolas DeFilippis and Ben Anderson-Nathe (2017)
[16:50] Brian Duignan's commentary on Green is the New Red, book by Will Potter
  [17:50] Article by the Intercept on the Green Scare (2019)
[18:00] US Senate hearing on the ELF and ALF (2005)
[19:55] Ted Talks interview with Will Potter (2014)
[25:20] Queer Political Performance and Protest, book by Benjamin Sheperd (2010)

Greenwashing, Rainbow-washing, Redwashing

What do these terms mean? What do they have in common?

This week, we delve into the similarities between greenwashing and rainbow-washing (pinkwashing) by corporations and governments. We ask what red-washing can tell us about the institutional logics driving greenwashing and rainbow-washing.

Allegra shares info about the corporate co-optation of Pride and pinkwashing by the Israeli government. Amalie brings examples of greenwashing by oil and other companies. We discuss how these dynamics are connected through neoliberalism, colonialism, and more!

We bring up the following resources:

Greenwashing:

[11:00] Guardian article about the FIFA World Cup (2023)

[12:09] Toronto Star article about greenwashing by the Pathways Alliance (2023)

[12:53, 15:27] Guardian article about carbon offsets (2023)

[14:42] UN Report by Catherine McKenna & others (2022)

[33:38] Guardian article about Earth Day (2019)

Rainbow-washing (pinkwashing):

[4:38, 18:18] Master's Thesis by William Sipe (2018), Ball State University

[8:18] Tweet by the U.S. Marines

[8:43] Study about sexual harassment and assault in the military (2020)

[26:55] Article about Israel’s pinkwashing by Ghadir Shafie (2016)

[28:37] Photo Essay by Lihi Ben Shitrit (2016)

[29:18] Instagram of Queers 4 Palestine TO

[30:45] Al Jazeera article about Israel’s pinkwashing (2014)

Redwashing:

[19:55, 24:30] Report from the Yellowhead institute by Robert Houle (2022)

[22:28] Report from Climate Justice U of T (2024)

[23:49] Articles about RCMP violence against Wet'suwet'en land defenders:

• The Guardian (2019)
• Inside Climate News (2024)

[25:50] Article by Drilled Media quoting Chief Na’Moks (2023)

Climate change exacerbates existing social issues, and homelessness in Canada is one of them. This week, we delve into the intersection between queer youth, housing vulnerability, and climate change. Allegra shares studies which show queer and trans youth are more likely to become homeless, but face more barriers to accessing shelter. Amalie brings to light the ways in which we can engage in direct actions to challenge these patterns of gender policing, which are not only threatening homeless people's access to safety, but seeping into Canadian legislation.

To find out more about queer homelessnes in Canada, read Dr. Alex Abramovich's chapter titled No Fixed Address: Young, Queer, and Restless , Lyon et al.'s (2016) study on Trans and Two-Spirit Access to Housing, or visit the Homeless Hub.

Find out more about RainCity Housing, a Vancouver-based hub for homeless youth.

Join the movement, follow the work of Students for Queer Liberation!

Contact us!
Email: [email protected]
IG: @qhtpod

Hello folks! 

We made this emergency episode in response to something really terrifying and really pressing; the trend of anti-trans and anti-queer legislation appearing in Canadian provinces. In particular...

On January 31, 2024, the Premier of Alberta (Danielle Smith) posted a 7m28s video on social media entitled “preserving choice for children and youth.” In it, she proposed a sweeping, draconian suite of anti-trans policies for Alberta. The proposal includes restrictions spanning from participation in sports to sex education, from access to life-saving gender-affirming healthcare to name and pronoun use in schools.

Learn about these policies, why they are so egregious, and how you might be able to take action in this episode!

Links:

• Petition by Catie Jones: https://www.change.org/p/safeguard-transgender-children-s-rights-to-self-identity-and-bodily-autonomy-in-alberta 
• Article about the proposed Alberta policies by two Mount Royal University professors:  https://theconversation.com/albertas-new-policies-are-not-only-anti-trans-they-are-anti-evidence-222579 
• Ontario Minister of Education's remarks: https://globalnews.ca/news/9931770/lgbtq-canada-gender-identity-school-policy-change/ 
• Policies in Saskatchewan: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/saskatchewan-says-parental-consent-needed-for-name-pronoun-change-of-students-1.6530242
• Policies in New Brunswick: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/gender-identity-policy-713-pronouns-school-1.6954807#:~:text=This%20summer%2C%20Education%20Minister%20Bill,and%20that%20hasn%27t%20changed

This episode, we ask, "is nature queer?" Queer ecology can help us reimagine environmental politics and open an understanding of queerness in nature. In this episode, we dive into the background of queer ecology, speaking to its history, its place in queer activism, and the research that has been done on queer animals around the world. We also engage in an important discussion on the human-nature binary society has built, and how queer ecology disrupts it.  

Amalie dives into multiple studies that document animals being gay, bi, gender queer, and more! Allegra get excited about orcas being matriarchs. 

We're excited to hear your thoughts!

Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @qhtpod

With this year's COP held in Dubai, we need to be having conversations about whose voices are  actively excluded from climate spaces. In this episode, we begin the conversation in looking at trans activists' exclusion from COP28, and what this means for a broader politics of inclusion and the reinforcing of cisnormativity. Allegra brings in a case study of trans access to climate relief after Pakistan's floods, and what trans rights activists like Miss Major can teach the climate movement about solidarity. Amalie speaks to their own experience being queer at COP28, and what the future for inclusion at these conferences should look like. 

We're excited to hear your thoughts!

Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @qhtpod