Equity in the Great Outdoors
We want to wish you a Happy Pride Month! Conservation Minnesota is proud to stand by our LGBTQIA+ staff, members, friends, family, and partners. It’s important to us that Minnesota is a welcoming place for all people no matter where you’re from or how you identify. Pride is a time to acknowledge our differences, celebrate self, and show the world that love brings people together.
At Conservation Minnesota, we are committed to protecting people and places from the adverse impacts of pollution and climate change while ensuring that everyone who calls Minnesota home has access to the Great Outdoors and ample opportunities to enjoy it. It’s important to us that all people can see the Outdoors as a place where they can rest, reset, and connect with nature—and with each other. Unfortunately, many people have told us that they don’t feel welcome or included in outdoors spaces, and whether that’s because of their race, gender identity, or sexual orientation, it’s clear there is much more work that needs to be done to ensure the outdoors are truly accessible to everyone.
We’re inspired by LGBTQIA+ outdoor groups across the country who are working to make that vision a reality—because our communities thrive when everyone is able to safely and freely bring their fullest selves to any space they’re in. This Pride Month, as we celebrate our LGBTQIA+ friends and neighbors, we will also continue to work toward achieving environmental equity and ensuring our Outdoors are safe, accessible, and protected for everyone.
We’d also like to point to the important work of OutFront Minnesota and their Anti-Violence Program that helps move us toward an end to violence, hate, and bias directed at the LGBTQIA+ community.