Out Takes

24 Apr 2023

Queer Environmental Activism

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To acknowledge Earth Day 2023, we took a look at a new Australian documentary and U.S. produced docu-series that deal with environmental issues from a queer perspective and the impact they have on our community.

First up we spoke with Rachel Antony, one of the co-directors of ‘The Giants’, a wonderful hybrid documentary that explores the intertwined fates of trees and humans in a poetic portrait of environmentalist Bob Brown and the Forest. From a seedling to forest elder: the film draws on Bob’s 50 years of inspiring environmental activism and his very public experience as Australia’s first openly gay member of Parliament. Told in Bob’s own words, his story is interwoven with the extraordinary life cycle of Australia’s giant trees, bought to the screen with stunning cinematography and immersive animated forest landscapes.

Our second film and guest were related to ‘Fire and Flood’, a grassroots documentary that explores the vulnerability of LGBTQ communities to climate disasters and also lifts up queer and trans strategies for resilience, transition, and survival. We spoke to the U.S. based creator and director of the project, Vanessa Raditz, to find out more about the project, the movement behind it and how you can get involved. We also encourage you to find out more about Vanessa’s other project ‘Can’t Stop Change’ which continues their work exploring the anti-change culture wars and climate change in Florida