Day 25. Climate Justice is Queer Justice.

The fight for climate justice is not separate from the fight for queer and Indigenous liberation. Both demand survival in the face of systems that devalue our lives and our lands. To protect Earth is to protect ourselves, our communities, our futures, and our capacity to thrive.

Across the globe, Indigenous and queer activists are leading climate movements that connect ecological survival with human dignity. From the Two Spirit Camp at Standing Rock, to queer youth leading Fridays For Future strikes, to trans activists organizing against environmental racism in the Global South, these movements insist that resistance is ecological.

Queer survival has always been about resilience in hostile environments. Climate justice movements echo this truth by teaching us that liberation requires restoring balance with Earth as much as with each other. To heal the planet, we must also dismantle the systems of colonization, capitalism, and heteropatriarchy that harm both people and ecosystems.

As Indigenous climate activist and hip-hop artist, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez affirms:

“Climate change isn’t just an environmental issue, it’s a human rights issue, a queer issue, an Indigenous issue. We are all bound together in this fight… The biggest issue we face is shifting human consciousness, not saving the planet. The planet does not need saving, we do.”

When queer and Indigenous voices lead climate justice, they remind us that protecting land and protecting love are the same sacred act.

Learn More

Book: As Long as Grass Grows by Dina Gilio-Whitaker
Article: Queering Climate Justice – What Climate Justice Can Learn From Queer Groups – International Institute for Environment and Development (iied)
Organization: Queers4ClimateJustice – Queer Eco-Justice projects including Queer Mapping, Publishing, and multi-media campaigns.
Organization: Earth Island – founded by activist and artist Xiuhtezcatl and their mother to inspire and train diverse youth to be effective leaders in the environmental, climate and social justice movements. Through the power of art, music, storytelling, civic engagement, and legal action.
Organization: Fridays For Future – Collective Global Actions and campaign messaging resources to advocate for policy change worldwide.
Watch: Activist and Hip-hop Artist, @Xiuhtezcatl has also delivered speeches at the United Nations in English, Spanish, and Nahuatl and provided music to assist with deliberations.