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Queer Feminist Climate Activism: Green Anti-Capitalist Front
Queer Feminist Climate Activism: Green Anti-Capitalist Front
FEMINIST
CLIMATE GREEN
ACTIVISM ANTI-CAPITALIST
FRONT
Thanks for reading our zine on queer and feminist climate
activism! We hope you learn something new, get different
perspectives on what you already knew, or find other
value in the articles and artworks that are included.
This zine is made up of submissions we received from
members of Edinburgh GAF and other people who had
something to contribute to this topic. Many thanks to
everyone who contributed!
Contact us at
https://www.facebook.com/EdinburghGAF
https://twitter.com/Edinburgh_GAF
[email protected]
Text
TREE-PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS FROM
BORDER FOREST TRUST
Tex
(LOCATION SUGGESTION NOT FROM
BORDER
t FOREST TRUST)
theradicalforest.wordpress.com
QUEER BUTTERFLIES: RELEASING GYNANDROMORPHIC RESISTANCE
by Francis and the Birds
Sometimes when a butterfly emerges, it disentangles asymmetrical mosaic wings of “male” and
“female” colourings from its chrysalis. More rarely, the butterflies are split down the middle by
“sex”, with each wing a different colour and size. Biologists label certain colours “male” and
others “female,” aligned with the binary of “sexuallyi dimorphism” said to be characteristic of
the rest of the species, despite the existence of these “exceptional” individuals which are said to
be both.
Popular articles about gynandromorphs tend to focus on their rarity, citing studies
like Scriber & Evans’ (1988) which involved breeding thousands of butterflies to
find a few gynandromorphic individuals and judge how frequently they occur. I
am reminded of red herrings within the toxic Gender Recognition Act discourse
(where trans people are repeatedly forced to defend their existence). For example, the proposal
to include a non-binary gender category in the 2021 census in Scotland. Although I would
appreciate not having to misgender myself endlessly in bureaucracy, debating this is a
distraction from the fundamental changes needed to remove barriers for trans healthcare and
address disproportional homelessness and poverty. It is also an attempt to statistise queerness,
to make it “legible” to state models and therefore to control queer people. As James C. Scott
(1999) writes, states ‘arrange the population in ways that simplified the classic state functions
of taxation, conscription, and prevention of rebellion’ (2) like butterflies pinned to a board so
they can be properly photographed and dissected. If you know how many non-binary people
there are, you can determine if the proposed non-binary prison (CAPE, 2018) will be a
profitable addition to the prison industrial complex.
Tsing’s consolation for state and capitalist control is “radical hope”, which comes from tiny,
vibrant, vulnerable pockets of diversity and inter and intra-species solidarity, like mushrooms
sprouting after the atom bomb and nourishing new trees (2015). One example might be
butterfly “introductionists” - lone hobbyist humans who illegally breed, release, and have
successfully revived endangered species, defying the hierarchical conservation establishment. I
am not advocating for private individuals to introduce species without accountability, like this,
but I see potential in introductionism for radical ecological practices that are embedded in
social life and community accountability, rather than outsourced to external decision-makers.
Sarah Armstrong
Fitzblocksberg Illustrations
@stitching_4_change
theradicalforest.wordpress.com
Edinburgh Green Anti-Capitalist Front Welfare Policy
1. Our Principles
Please refer to the ACE safer spaces policy for more detail.
Accessibility: We agree to make our spaces and activities
accessible and responsive to people’s needs. We agree to meet
only in accessible spaces, ensure physical visibility to allow lip-
reading, provide workshop materials in both text and audible
form. We agree to refrain from using unnecessary complicated
language and explain any terms we do use. We also recognize
that language subtleties are not universally understood and we
will take that into account when communicating. If anyone has
any additional accessibility requests, please let us know.
2. Resolving Conflict
Welfare Officers
We will:
Take your issue seriously.
Ensure there is someone who can act as an advocate for
you.
Suspend the person you believe is responsible for causing
harm from all meetings until the complaint is resolved,
should you think it is necessary.
You can:
Nominate a third party advocate (a welfare officer or
someone you trust) to hear and represent you. You can do
this by call, in person, or in writing. You can ask them to
maintain your anonymity when communicating with the
group, and you can waive your anonymity at any point.
You can also choose someone else to confide in at any
point.
Raise your issue directly in a general meeting,
representing yourself.
Submit a written statement to a general meeting if you do
not wish to speak.
Request the suspension from all meetings of the person
who harmed you at any point.
Request escalation of the process to the exchange system
of advocacy, once it’s in place.
Step away from the process or the group at any point.