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5 - Strangers on the Land? Rural LGBTQs and Queer Sustainabilities

from Part II - Embodied Environmental Sociology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2020

By
Julie C. Keller
Edited by
Katharine Legun ,
Julie C. Keller ,
Michael Carolan  and
Michael M. Bell
Katharine Legun
Affiliation:
Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands
Julie C. Keller
Affiliation:
University of Rhode Island
Michael Carolan
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
Michael M. Bell
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Summary

This chapter focuses on strengthening the analytical lens used to examine the sexuality–environment connection. Using the case of LGBTQ farmers and queer rural folks more generally, I argue for more theoretical and empirical work within environmental sociology that focuses on queer issues. I highlight the politics behind the exclusion of LGBTQs from rural spaces and review the rich scholarship documenting the lives of rural queers. I discuss recent efforts by the US Department of Agriculture to include rural LGBTQs in its programming, then turn to the scholarship on LGBTQ farmers and queers working in sustainable agriculture. I highlight emerging “eco-queer movements” grounded in LGBTQ rights and environmentalism, particularly land projects and alternative food spaces. The intersectional approaches used by practitioners on the ground have much to offer to the field. I conclude with a discussion of the importance of integrating sexuality as an important dimension of environmental justice and environmental sociology.

Keywords

sexualityLGBTQrural queereco-queer movementsqueer environmental justice
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology , pp. 87 - 102
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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