I鈥檓 a MENV student studying Sustainable Food Systems, I have what has been described as an 鈥渦nhealthy obsession鈥� with Taylor Swift, and I just adopted a puppy named Mia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia. She wears a rainbow collar and looks just smashing in it.
I still remember how nervous I was to attend my first New York Pride. The memory is almost funny to me now: stomach in knots, deep breathing on the Megabus of all places, newly out and trying to convince myself that I had a right to be there. I think it makes me laugh because now, six years later, being queer is so central to who I am that I sometimes joke it鈥檚 the most interesting thing about me. I don鈥檛 know if I could have reached this point of confidence and security within myself without that first Pride, or any Pride month that followed. June has become my favorite month because it reminds me how lucky I am to be part of a community where I鈥檓 not only accepted, but celebrated, valued, and validated.
And it鈥檚 a community I鈥檝e learned a lot from. It鈥檚 made me a better and more empathetic listener. It constantly reminds me what a colossal waste of time it is to make assumptions, particularly about other people. It鈥檚 shown me how people of different backgrounds and identities can come together to support one another. And while we鈥檙e on the subject - friendly reminder that it costs zero dollars to respect someone鈥檚 pronouns.
I鈥檓 still figuring out exactly what I want to be when I grow up, but I鈥檓 grateful that being part of this community has put intersectionality at the center of the work I hope to do in food systems and sustainability. Until I came to MENV and learned about environmental justice, I didn鈥檛 know that homophobia is rooted in colonialism, which has everything to do with the way we treat the environment today. I also don鈥檛 think a lot of people realize that LGBTQ+ kids are more likely to experience hunger and homelessness. An environmental issue is a women鈥檚 issue is an LGBTQ+ issue is a BIPOC issue, because the structures that uphold them are too intertwined to separate. So I think in that sense, the LGBTQ+ community has shown me that if we aren鈥檛 including everyone鈥攖rans women of color, nonbinary kids, queer homeless teens, and so on鈥攚e aren鈥檛 really doing the work.