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.
Teaching Tips
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.
Scientist Notes
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.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
HS-ESS3-1 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Civics
D2.Civ.5.9-12 Evaluate citizens' and institutions' effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: History/Social Studies (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
National Health Education Standards
Standard 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.
1.12.3 Analyze how environment and personal health are interrelated.
