Apparently, there is just not enough 2SLGBTQIA+ activity at the University of Minnesota. Who knew?
The College Fix reports:
Recruit more queer, trans scholars to help environment: UMinn reportA new University of Minnesota report advocates for more “2SLGBTQIA+” individuals in environmental work, arguing their communities are disproportionately harmed by pollution and natural disasters.Published in the university’s Gender Policy Report, the article “Environmental Justice for Queer and Transgender Communities” says queer and transgender communities tend to be left out of environmental health policies and planning even though they “experience discrimination leading to social, economic, and health disparities that place them at an increased risk for environmental injustices.”Michelle Bell, one of the authors of the report and an environmental health professor at Yale University, told The College Fix getting different perspectives is important.“In general, science benefits from a wide range of perspectives and insights, which is particularly important for study of differential risks by population,” Bell said in a recent email.Bell told The Fix the inclusion of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals also “can help build trust” between communities and decision-makers.“Simply put, the best science to aid society will come from all voices behind heard,” Bell said.The article states discrimination “often” is “perpetuated by institutions that center non-2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and create barriers to access.”One of the ways they “experience disproportionate environmental burdens” involves health care, according to the article. It cites a study based on Census data that found “neighborhoods with a higher proportion of same-sex couples have a higher amount of hazardous air pollutants.”Among the authors’ recommended solutions are the inclusion of “2SLGBTQIA+ communities, especially those with multiple marginalized identities, in planning and policymaking” and “a direct effort to recruit more 2SLGBTQIA+ academics and researchers in this field.”
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