This article considers the ways social and cultural values impact experiences of LGBT people in the wake of natural disasters. The article specifically looks at houses as homes, and the site of intersections between exclusionary social and cultural values and environmental disasters: when homes are lost in natural disasters, LGBT people often lose on of the only physically safe spaces they may have had. This section also discusses the inequities within the LGBT community, noting that power and privilege and not homogeneous across the group.
The report then looks at the concerns of LGBT people in temporary shelter and housing following natural disasters, including feelings of insecurity and feat that often accompany entering into temporary shelters with strangers or discriminatory community members/family. This section presents some findings around coping mechanisms.
The article concludes with final points around the ways in which natural disasters are environmental disasters the experiences of which are shaped by social constructs; and the specific vulnerability LGBT people face as a result of exclusionary and discriminatory policies and norms. Therefore, government, non-government, emergency management, and information and communication organisations must consider LGBT populations when developing disaster response policies.
