Executive Summary
Climate change represents a global challenge, but it also exacerbates existing disparities among individuals and communities. LGBT people face discrimination and exclusion, creating unique vulnerabilities that compound and heighten their exposure to climate-related harms. This report provides some of the first empirical documentation as to how LGBT people differentially experience the negative effects of climate change compared to non-LGBT people. Using U.S. Census data and climate risk assessment data from NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), we conducted a geographic analysis to assess the climate risk impacting same-sex couples.
Key Findings
- LGBT people in same-sex couples are at greater risk of exposure to the negative effects of climate change compared to straight couples.
- LGBT people in same-sex couples are disproportionately located in coastal areas and cities. Among the 15 counties with the highest proportions of same-sex couples, all are coastal or urban.
- In the United States, same-sex couples disproportionately live in counties with greater risks due to climate change.
- A 1 percentage point increase in the proportion of same-sex couples by county is associated with a 17.17 percentile increase in the NASA composite risk score, which focuses on meteorological changes such as extreme cold, heat waves, excessive precipitation, and dry conditions.
- A 1 percentage point increase in the proportion of same-sex couples by county is associated with a 6.13 percentile increase in the FEMA risk projection score, which focuses on natural hazards and disasters such as flooding, tornadoes, wildfires, hail, and lightning.
- Same-sex couples are more likely to reside in communities with poorer infrastructure and less access to resources. They are, therefore, less prepared to respond and adapt to natural hazards and other climate disruptions.
- A 1 percentage point increase in the county-level proportion of same-sex couples relative to opposite-sex couples is associated with a 15.27 percentile increase in the NASA exposure risk projections.
- This indicates that LGBT people in same-sex couples are more likely to be located in places with large impervious surface areas, high housing density, and low-lying infrastructure.
- Washington, D.C., a county equivalent, has the highest proportion of same-sex couples of any county in the United States. It scores high for a variety of climate risks, including heat waves (97th percentile), flooding (95th percentile), and dangerously strong winds (98th percentile).
Recommendations
Given the disproportionate impact of climate change on LGBT populations and the degree to which LGBT populations face additional disparities in housing, health care, income, and access to food, climate change action plans at federal, state, and local levels, including disaster preparedness, response, and recovery plans, must be inclusive and address the specific needs and vulnerabilities facing LGBT people.
- Policymakers and service providers must ensure that disaster relief is accessible and administered without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, including safe shelters, access to medication such as HIV treatment, and financial support for displaced LGBT individuals and families.
- Given that LGBT populations are more likely to live in areas with poor infrastructure, worse-built environments, and fewer resources to respond to climate change, development plans, and zoning policies, particularly in urban areas, should prioritize expanding green space and enhancing structural resilience. Policies that mitigate discriminatory housing practices and provide economic relief to LGBT people will bolster the resilience of these communities to climate events.
- Future research should examine how disparities across housing, employment, and healthcare among LGBT people, particularly transgender individuals and LGBT people of color, compound the geographic vulnerabilities to the effects of climate change.
- Federal and state surveys, including the U.S. Census, should include measures of sexual orientation and gender identity to increase the scope and granularity of information available on LGBT people, including assessments of climate risk.
- NASA and FEMA risk assessments, as well as other measures of climate risk, should include LGBT people among social groups with elevated vulnerability to climate change when assigning social vulnerability scores.