6 LGBTQ Environmental Activists to Celebrate Every Day Of the Year

Every June, people around the world observe Pride Month! And because celebrating the LGBTQ+ community year-round is beyond crucial, we've decided to highlight a handful of environmental activists from the queer community.

The activists below tirelessly work to fight climate change as well as for LGBTQ+ rights, and it's extremely important to learn about and celebrate their never-ending missions to better the planet.

Dean Jackson of @qtpocfarmer is a Black, queer, trans, and non-binary farmer who created an organization called Hilltop Urban Gardens (HUG) in Tacoma, Wa. over a decade ago. According to Social Justice Fund, the organization works with surrounding communities to garden and grow fresh produce, while encouraging local youth and neighbors to organize for social justice matters involving access to fresh fruits and vegetables, economic turmoil, systemic oppression, and other important causes of the like.

Rikki Weber is a queer BIPOC activist who hails from California. She works as the Legal Practice Manager at Earthjustice, an organization that provides legal aid to protect people and the planet. There, she created an LGBTQ group to recognize fellow queer employees, as well as LGBTQ environmentalists from surrounding communities, and also worked to engage fellow colleagues for the organization's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team.

Ceci Pineda has organized for the Audre Lorde Project, working specifically to draw attention to how climate change disproportionately affects the BIPOC community. They also founded the organization RADIKO, which is an organization that encourages marginalized communities to join the fight against climate change, putting on climate justice workshops for queer communities across the country.

Jeaninne Kayembe is a Black, queer artist who serves as Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of North Philadelphia's LifeDoGrow Urban Farm. In addition to being an urban farm, LDG is also a green space that educates youth on the importance of sustainability, as well as a local marketplace, a musical arts venue, and a co-working space for local artists and organizers. Her life mission is to get her community involved with environmental justice, and to promote equality through access to healthy food and art.

Tori Tsui is an intersectional climate activist and mental health advocate who hails from Hong Kong and New Zealand. She hosts Bad Activist Podcast, which speaks on feminist issues, intersectionality, global warming, and racial justice. She was featured as a climate activist in Stella McCartney's Fall/Winter campaign, and was sponsored by the company to partake in Sail to the COP, in which she took a sail boat to the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP25 to advocate for sustainable travel.

Paul Getsos is a gay New York-based activist who has worked for decades on leading and encouraging marginalized communities to participate in the climate movement. He wrote the book Tools for a Radical Democracy, which is a guide for grassroots organizers, and he is a national coordinator for Peoples Climate Movement. He also co-founded Community Voices Heard, which runs various programs that improve education and training for welfare recipients, so they can more easily get hired for jobs.

This article, originally published on June 8, 2021, has been updated.