05/04/22: Queering Environmental Justice: Unequal Environmental Health Burden on the LGBTQ+ Community

Queering Environmental Justice: Unequal Environmental Health Burden on the LGBTQ+ Community

About the webinar:

Social determinants of health may negatively and disproportionately affect the LGBTQ+ population and reduce their capacity to respond to environmental harm. This presentation will explore examples of environmental exposures, health risks that have been linked to environmental exposures, and social institutions that could affect resilience to environmental stressors for the LGBTQ+ population.

Learning Objectives

At the completion of this activity, the learner will be able to:

  • Identify social determinants of health within LGBTQ+ communities
  • Describe how environmental exposures may disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ communities
  • Recognize how social institutions could affect resilience to environmental stressors within LGBTQ+ communities

Speaker: Leo Goldsmith, MEM

Leo Goldsmith has worked on projects such as consulting on an environmental/climate justice mapping tool for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, provided logistical support for various stakeholders for the sustainable Upper Harbor Terminal Project in Minneapolis, and ecological restoration and community engagement projects at the New York Restoration Project. Additionally, His research focuses on how climate change disproportionately impacts the health of the LGBTQ+ population, primarily those with intersecting marginalized identities. His interests stem from his own personal identities as a queer, transgender Latino and his passion for intersectional climate justice. Leo holds a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment and a B.A. in environmental studies from Oberlin College. He is currently a Climate and Health Specialist at ICF, and he coordinates the Interagency Crosscutting Group on Climate Change and Human Health (CCHHG) at the US Global Change Research Program.