Queer activists joined the climate change protest

A group of queer dance activists at a climate change protest shut down traffic by twerking.

Dance-based queer activist group Werk for Peace, which was set up in in the aftermath to the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting, took to the streets of Washington DC as part of wider climate protests coinciding with the UN Climate Action Summit.

Under a banner with the headline “End pipelines now”, queer activist Firas Nasr showed off his twerking abilities while being coated in biodegradable glitter, in front of a cheering crowd.

Queer dance protesters twerk the road closed.

Nasr, the founder of Werk for Peace, told The Washington Blade: “We know that climate justice affects marginalised communities around the world.

“At the front of those marginalised communities are queer and trans people who are disproportionately affected by the climate catastrophes just as people of colour and disabled folks and indigenous folks, undocumented folks are also disproportionately affected.

“Many of those people are also queer and trans, and we wanted to stand in solidarity with everyone who is working on this issue and also show the world that queer and trans people are here to fight for our climate and for our mother earth.”

The group has previously staged queer dance parties outside Mike Pence’s house, and has also twerked to oppose Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies.

Its website explains: “Our protests are like no other – hip-shaking, fist-pumping, ass-twerking, head-thumping dancing! But lets get real, we don’t just dance – we WERK.

“We’ve protested around a number of intersectional issues, including the Muslim ban, climate justice, healthcare, sexual violence and consent, and more, covering the streets with biodegradable confetti and letting the world know that #WeAreHere and #WeWillDance.”

It adds: “We create space for radical celebration of our bodies, community, and vision for justice, and strive to reflect intersectionality, sustainability, and peace in every aspect of our work.”

Climate change protests demand action from leaders.

32 people were arrested at the wider Shut Down DC protest.

A statement said: “On September 23 we’re coming together to #ShutDownDC to disrupt the systems that created and perpetuate the climate crisis. But a crisis of this magnitude has many different causes and it has many different consequences and all of us and our communities experience its effects in different ways.

“Everyone taking action on September 23 is coming together around our shared pledge of resistance and the set of demands put forward by the youth coalition that called us to action. But we’re also drawn to action by our own experiences and our own visions for the future.”