Queer vulnerability & resilience to natural disasters

So-called “natural disasters” have devastating impacts on society, and the increase in the frequency and intensity of these disasters due to climate change means the impact of these are an increasingly salient concern to all. However, previous research has shown the disproportionate impacts of said disasters on marginalised populations, including the queer community, who are vulnerable to these impacts before, during and after. Through the framework of social constructionism, this paper explores how we as a society create inequity for queer people, respond to disasters without inclusion and recover from them with exclusion is what makes them a disaster, and an unnatural one at that. The paper also looks to the queer community and their acts of resilience as a lever to recast them from the role of victim, whilst acknowledging the limitations and sometimes harmful impact of expecting individuals and groups to be resilient in the face of such disasters.