After the recent wildfires in Los Angeles County, UC Irvine’s Womxn’s Center hosted Serving Safety: Disaster Prep with ChiChi La Pinga and Equality California, offering students disaster preparation tips presented by a drag performer on Feb. 25.
The event brought in around 15 UCI students to the Dr. White Room in the Cross Cultural Center. Prior to the start of the event, students snacked on free coffee and pastries as music by Chappell Roan and other pop stars faintly played. Drag performer ChiChi Navarro/La Pinga then took center stage and presented Equality California’s five key steps to be disaster-ready. The five steps include signing up for emergency alerts, making a plan, packing a go-bag, building a stay box and helping others prepare.
“We are people of different abilities, and so we need to make sure that we are taking care of those around us,” Navarro said during their presentation. “Make sure that you’re creating that community in spaces wherever it is that you have, because that is going to be very important, as well as for you if you ever need help.”
The community-building and nurturing step is invaluable for Navarro because they once had an experience where they needed to rely on their neighbors’ help. They shared that they injured their back at home and were unable to get up on their feet or move freely. Navarro has always stressed the importance of friendships between neighbors, and because they frequently leave their door unlocked, Navarro was able to call for help in a situation that desperately warranted outside aid.
“I am in my early 30s, so this is just a reminder that these things can happen at any moment,” Navarro said. “We need to make sure that we have not only our cell phones but that we also know neighbors, to make sure that they have our backs.”
Aside from personal anecdotes and jokes to liven up the discussion, Navarro relayed information specific to frequent California disasters like earthquakes and wildfires. They brought out their stay box — a container meant to be stored at home with essentials one may need in case one needs to remain in place — complete with a feather boa, wig, first aid kit, batteries and more. They stressed that the box should contain what is important to the individual, meaning everyone’s belongings will look different.
After Navarro, Michael A. Ramirez, a board chair for the San Bernardino Red Cross and previous emergency services officer, shared ways an individual can prepare themselves and their loved ones. Ramirez cited the research of Michael Méndez, an assistant professor in the Urban Planning and Public Policy Department at UCI, which states that LGBTQ+ displacement from disasters “is nearly 2x higher than cisgender, heterosexual displacement.” The policy brief, published in November 2023, notes that each state has their own respective shortcomings. Key issues found in the research are relying on faith-based organizations for aid and residing in rural areas. The brief’s policy recommendations for improving outcomes for LGBTQ+ people post-disaster rely heavily on the passing of the Equality Act, which will “explicitly include sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This legislation would make it illegal for states to discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals.”
“There are higher rates of food instability, higher rates of being unhoused following a disaster, a lot of things like that,” Ramirez said during the event.
Ramirez stated that he took Méndez’s data to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, which resulted in the creation and eventual passing of California Senate Bill 990, which requires a continuous five-year update to the State Emergency Plan to “include proposed policies and best practices for local government and nongovernmental entities to equitably serve LGBTQ+ communities during an emergency or natural disaster.”
The Center for Disaster Philanthropy found that LGBTQ+ people are “more at-risk during and after disasters.” Factors such as “fear, discrimination and exclusion by other people, especially emergency responders, and aspects of inequality such as race, income, disability, health and gender appearance” can be used as exclusionary tactics.
Alicen Bosley, program coordinator of the Womxn’s Center, informed students of the connection between the center, reproductive justice and disaster preparation.
“One of the core tenets of reproductive justice is raising our communities to be safe and sustainable,” Bosley said at the event. “So when we’re talking about disaster preparation, we’re talking about building community with our neighbors. So hopefully we can keep having discussions like this because it’s very important to keep not only our own community safe, but our surrounding communities as well … keep building your go bags as we work towards a more equitable future for everyone.”
Cassandra Nava is a Layout Editor. She can be reached at cassan2@uci.edu.
Edited by Kaelyn Kwon