Booking Now: Spring 2016 New England Tour

March 28-April 22, 2016 I will tour New England universities, schools, Quaker meetings, churches, and community centers with my original presentations. Half the tour is booked, and I am currently looking for more venues to host my presentations. Perhaps you are interested in bringing me to your community or you want to introduce me to someone who might be interested. Here is information about me and the original storytelling that I do.

I am a queer performance artist and activist using storytelling and comedy to explore the intersections of diverse aspects of our lives and passions with climate change. I see global warming as a human rights issue, an LGBTQ issue, a Black Lives Matter issue, and one of those issues that requires creative communication. I create spaces free of fear and shame then focus on justice, hope, resiliency, and collective action.

My own personal story is bizarre. I was one of those people who for years was a victim of gay conversion therapy, desperately believing I would be more valuable as a gender normative heterosexual. After 17 years and over $30,000 trying to “de-gay” myself, I came to my senses and came out gay. I created the one-person play, Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House, helped produce the award winning documentary film, This is What Love in Action Looks Like, and contributed to the Lambda Award winning anthology, Gender Outlaws–The Next Generation.

In April 2016 I will tour New England> I would like to talk about opportunities to contribute to the conversations you are having in your community about gender, LGBTQ issues, environmental justice, climate change, and our roles on a new planet.

Below are some links for you and colleagues to get a sense of my offbeat approach to climate change. Funny, grounded in science, and infused with justice. These are some of the characters and monologues I have created and use as a jumping off point for discussion with students.

Public RADIO FEATURE: WITF profile on Quirky Queer Quaker Performance Artist on Climate Change and More

VIDEO

Marvin and Polar Bears

AUDIO
–An LGBTQ response to extinction and extermination

–Black Lives Matter and Climate Change
–From Homo No Mo to Climate Action–How I got tangled up in climate change

Want to learn about how you can book a presentation or introduce me to someone who might be interested in booking a show? Send me a quick note.

A Bisexual Response to Climate Change?

When a problem is complex, confusing, and overwhelming, I find that applying different lenses to it helps bring it into focus. Over on my radio show, Climate Stew, I constantly try to look at the tricky problem of global warming from a variety of perspectives, ones that people would not usually consider. Looking at queer responses to climate change has opened up my understanding of queer family values and our unique role in this time in history. Here is a short clip from the show (transcript below.) It is actually a broadcast from the future (150 years in the future to be exact). It looks at a series of events that led to one bisexual approach to climate change. There are plenty more that need to be discovered and explored. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts.

That Day in Climate History: Bisexual approach to climate change?

@p2son A bisexual approach to climate action might be not seeing solutions in terms of binary choices. 😉

— Ashley Wilcox (@ashleymwilcox) September 28, 2015

I am Timothy Meadows. It is Monday, October 14th in the year 2165 and time for That Day in Climate history. 150 years ago today groups of people, large and small gathered throughout North America for the People’s Climate Movement Day of Action. In addition to protests, teach-ins, demonstrations, and massive public art projects, many discussions took place that led to creative and powerful climate action.

What is a bisexual response to climate change?

One such discussion occurred in the little town of Sunbury, Pennsylvania. A small gathering of friends and family spent the day discussing climate change. One question led to an idea that led to an organization that led to effective climate action.

Unable to attend the gathering, writer James Fenimore popped in via videoconferencing. He asked a strange and provocative question: What is a bisexual response to climate change? He explained that as someone attracted to people of all genders he did not view the world in simple binary terms. So much climate action falls on a binary—liberal /conservative, pro-business/anti-capitalism, etc. A bisexual approach to climate action might be not seeing solutions in terms of binary choices.

This question, What is a bisexual response to climate change? inspired Marin Toscano, one of the people present that day. She later wrote about it in an academic paper. A student in Tomsø Norway, Anna Jørgenson, read the paper, shared it with friends, and then founded the group Bifile for en bedre jord or Bisexuals for a Better World.

This group broke away from the notion of polar opposites and focused instead on shared values and shared experiences. Bifile for en bedre jord created a successful discussion model that they first used in Norway and then throughout Europe and North America. This discussion approach helped bridge the gaps between groups that struggled to work together. It assisted individuals and groups in breaking away from a set of presupposed beliefs based on identities to instead embrace more complex ways of viewing the world and climate action. Coalitions formed that worked towards justice-minded market-driven approaches to reducing pollution. Groups successfully lobbied governments to enact fact-based initiatives that operated on harm-reduction models when considering the many different types of energy available. Real changes occurred. We benefit from those changes today. A question asked of a small group in a rural village echoed around the world. It contributed to bringing about climate action. On this day in 2165, we remember that day in climate history.

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Not Our First Rodeo. LGBTQ people have lessons from history to share

I remember when I first came out and began to read about LGBTQ people in history and literature. It struck me that we are a people with a history who have made a mark on the world. I think every marginalize group finds that empowering, especially when pushed down by the mainstream.

In looking at LGBTQ recent history, it is hard to avoid the HIV/AIDS Crisis. It affected more than just gay men, but so many trans women, queer youth, people of color both in the USA and on the African Continent and the Caribbean. Our ancestors faced a plague in the midst of a government that refused to acknowledge the problem, let alone act. So LGBTQ people acted up.

This week I interview Rev. Nancy Wilson who was on the front lines of the HIV/AIDS Crisis (originally called GRID–Gay Related Immune Deficiency) in Los Angeles. Her short powerful interview reveals much about our resiliency and the lessons we have to share today.

Enjoy: Episode 24 Not Our First Rodeo–HIV/AIDS and Climate Change

Queer folks getting wet for Climate Change

Oscar Lopez of Queers for the Climate takes on the It Gets Wetter challenge. I love how wet he gets at the end.

Oscar Lopez just got wetter!

You can see my #ItGetsWetter video here and check out the LGBTQ climate manifesto HERE. And see us in NYC for the Peoples Climate March and for a Queer Response to Climate Change.

Out for Sustainability Summit in Seattle September 13

Starting in 2008 a group of LGBTQ folks in the Seattle area began to meet in hopes of making the planet fabulous. Later this month they will hold a summit with an impressive list of speakers. Shame I am on the wrong coast! If you are in the Pacific Northwest, check them out!

OUT for Sustainability invites you to the first LGBTQ-focused summit on the intersection of environment, society and identities. Fab Planet is a half-day conference containing a series of panels, workshops and networking ending with a celebration reception to mark a day of exciting conversation and future action. Our intention is to spark connection among LGBTQ sustainability leaders and give visibility and language to the intersections of our diverse values.

Fab Planet Summit

September 13, 2014

SATURDAY FROM 1-7PM

220 & Change, Pioneer Square in Seattle, WA

220 SECOND AVENUE SOUTH SEATTLE, WA 98104

Loren Othon, one of many great speakers at Fab Planet Summit

#ItGetsWetter Queers for the Climate Video Campaign

We’re here. We’re queer. And we are taking a sassy approach to climate action!

This week Queers for the Climate announced the launch of the #ItGetsWetter video campaign.

It gets wetter. Seriously. Well it gets drier too, depending on where you are. But mostly, especially on the coasts, it gets wetter. In fact a brand new UN report on climate change says sea levels could rise of over 20 feet if we don’t give our climate a chill pill.

Holy shit! That’s REALLY bad for places like New York, London, Rio, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Shanghai, Mumbai, Cape Town, Miami, New Orleans, and a whole lot of other vibrant cities and coastal communities. And it’s bad for the queers, since we tend to like living in those big, bustling, creative hubs. And visiting them too. Goodbye Provincetown and Fire Island.

So here’s the thinking. Lately people have been dumping buckets of ice water on their head for a great cause, so there’s reason to believe that a video about getting wetter for a cause will grab attention. That’s why Queers for the Climate is launching the #ItGetsWetter challenge, to spread awareness about the climate crisis, spread the word about the upcoming fabulous People’s Climate March, and basically have some fun in the process.

It’s simple and fun. I made mine while hopped up on muscle relaxers after two weeks camping (no, that’s not a lisp you hear–its slurred speech.) Check out the #ItGetsWetter video campaign and make your own!

People’s Climate March Posters

Have you heard about the People’s Climate March in NYC on September 21th, 2014? Are you going??? It’s gonna be big–a massive mobilization of people demanding climate action. On their blog, organizers have lots of information. I’m happy to see that they rely heavily on art to communicate their message. They have designed beautiful and engaging posters that I am featuring here on my blog. Click on the photos to get the full view.

I plan on being at the March in September as part of an LGBTQ contingent, Queers for the Climate. We recently wrote a manifesto: It’s Our Fight Too: An LGBTQ Response to Climate Change, and I am thrilled to have my name on it along with Rev. Nancy Wilson of the Metropolitan Community Church, and artists like Alan Cumming, Justin Vivian Bond, and Lady Bunny. Even if you cannot attend the March, you can sign the manifesto and get the word out.

The Homosexual Agenda vs. the Fossil Fuel Lifestyle

We have been distracted from reality these past 30 years. Conservatives and Liberals have been caught up in skirmishes about what happens in the bedroom and who has the legal right to be there together. We have fought on the front lines over identity, having to stand up to protect what hold dear. For Conservative Christians it’s been the fear that something valuable and traditional might be lost bringing about horrible consequences. For LGBTQ people its been real loses over and over. As a result we demanded that our basics need be met, the rights to be full citizens with the same legal rights as everyone else, to live openly as who we are with the one we love without retaliation in our homes and families, on our jobs, or in the streets. Fear breeds conflict, and for over 30 years we have lived in a whirlwind of fear soaked cultural wars.

All the while, as we have attacked and counterattacked and strategized and raised money, the planet has changed under our feet. LGBTQ Rights are important, no doubt. People need safety, security, and the same rights as everyone else. We need to continue the fight for transgender rights and consider the urgent needs of LGBTQ teens and seniors as we also take part in the global struggle for LGBTQ human rights. But in light of Global Warming, we also need to work together, laying down our arms against each other–Conservatives, Liberals, Radicals, Heterosexuals, Cisgender, and LGBTQ folks, to address the current and growing climate crisis. We all come to the table with lots of skills and experience, some of which we developed as we fought against each other. Now we have to come together to face a common foe, one of our own making. We got ourselves into this mess, and we are going to have to work together to to get ourselves out of it.

It’s Our Fight Too: An LGBTQ Response to Climate Change

As a member of the Queers for the Climate group I will take an active role in the upcoming People’s Climate March on September 21, 2014. This past week I had the privilege to work with a group of others on creating a manifesto which serves as a call to action. Through a consensus process, we developed the following statement. Please consider getting involved over at the Queers for the Climate Facebook page, sign onto the manifesto (details below) and please share this manifesto on your own blog and through your social networks.

It’s Our Fight Too: An LGBTQ Response to Climate Change

We are LGBTQ people and we’re standing up to face climate change as the single biggest threat to humanity.

Progress on LGBTQ equality has demonstrated to the world that all people deserve dignity and respect. We must build on our successes to include future generations and those already suffering the impacts of climate changes.

Catastrophic climate change has the potential to further destabilize already stressed societies.Queer people, like many minority or marginalized communities around the world, will be especially vulnerable. We believe that LGBTQ movements have a responsibility to address the climate crisis now, before our community is placed at further risk.

We’ve trained for this fight. We have faced persecution because of who we are and stood up to those who denied our existence. Our communities faced near extinction throughout the early HIV/AIDS crisis. Today we are all facing the grave threat of an unstable climate.

While governments and corporations refused to acknowledge the severity of the AIDS crisis — an eerie parallel to the response to date on climate change — we educated the masses, told our stories, harnessed the media, raised money, and in a very short time moved nations and industries to act on behalf of people living with HIV around the world.

We’ve also made same-sex marriage, once unimaginable, a reality on almost every continent — now we must build on our successes by tackling our generation’s greatest challenge. We’ve already moved mountains, and we will do it again.

Lastly, we recognize that LGBTQ communities share a rich tradition of creative, fun, thought-provoking action. We build powerful alliances across classes, races, gender identities, and nationalities.

This moment is our opportunity to reignite these talents and our shared experiences toward a cause that benefits all people and the planet as a whole.

As a signatory to this letter*, I will do one or more of the below:

*To add your name or your organization to this letter, please email: queers-for-the-climate (at) googlegroups.com or joseph (at) avaaz.org

· I will join the People’s Climate March on September 21st in New York City, and show my support by marching with the LGBTQ block

· I will spread the word to my constituents, my business partners, my friends, family and community about the People’s Climate March

· I will use social media, email blasts and other digital tools to rally support for the march in the weeks leading up to September 21st

Andy Bichlbaum, the Yes Men
Queers for the Climate

Now for some Queer Climate Change Memes

I have gotten involved with a new group, Queers for the Climate, which is organizing to take part in the big People’s Climate March on September 20 and 21 in New York City. While lots of LGBTQ people have shown real concern for environmental issues, recycling, and buying eco-friendly products, when it comes to Global Warming, I find that many of my queer peers seem to live on another planet, one that does not see the possible extinction of humans along with a bunch of other species. That is changing, and it is a good thing because we come to the table with lots of experience and skills to help us address Climate Change as the world’s biggest threat to human rights.

We can be funny, irreverent, edgy, and creative in our climate activism. We can also look beyond ourselves to consider the wider world and the intersection of LGBTQ lives affected by the climate change crisis that is upon us.

Here are some memes I created on the theme of Queer Climate Action. Enjoy and share. Yo, Global Warming activism, it’s not just for heterosexuals anymore.

Tag: Climate Queer

That Day in Climate History: Bisexual approach to climate change?

Advert:

Fab Planet Summit

September 13, 2014

SATURDAY FROM 1-7PM

220 & Change, Pioneer Square in Seattle, WA

220 SECOND AVENUE SOUTH SEATTLE, WA 98104

It’s Our Fight Too: An LGBTQ Response to Climate Change