Disaster Response Must Help Protect LGBTQ+ Communities
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Provided by: Issues in Science and Technology|Published on: May 23, 2023
Articles/Websites
Scientist Reviewed
1112AP
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This article examines why LGBTQ+ individuals are especially impacted by natural disasters, the attempts at making emergency management more inclusive, and the broader historical context of disaster relief in the United States.
- Students will learn about the struggles of LGBTQ+ communities during natural disasters because of discrimination, and the inequities in emergency management and disaster relief in the United States.

Subjects: Science, Civics, English Language Arts, Health
Authors: Leo Goldsmith, Michael Méndez, Vanessa Raditz
Region: North America, United States
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This article examines issues of race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status.
- This article is written by three members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should have a basic understanding of what LGBTQ+ stands for and how that community may experience discrimination.
Differentiation
- This article could supplement a lesson on how climate change leads to more natural disasters and how these disasters influence different communities.
- This article could enhance a classroom discussion on how bigotry seeps into many aspects of existence.
- For ELLs, it may be useful to define some words before these students dive into the reading.
- This article could be part of a lesson on how the socioeconomic, cultural, and physical aspects of an environment can impact one's personal health.
This article discusses the extra challenges, discrimination, and vulnerabilities LGBTQ+ communities face during and after natural disasters. The article details what these challenges are, why the current systems are biased and do not protect LGBT+ communities, and makes recommendations about what the government can do to start to protect these communities. The article does briefly discuss how this study was performed and some limitations. The article is a great one for discussions of climate justice. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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