Meisei Gonzalez

Great Salt Lake drying is terrifying. And as much as I would just love to relocate and live in the cleanest, most beautiful place with no pollution, I can't see myself fully leaving. I have built such a beautiful community, and a lot of my family, which is a pillar to my life, still live here. Maybe I do have a little bit of privilege right now where I think I could probably afford a different place in a different city. But I just can't walk away from my home. When it comes to my family, they didn't come here to the U.S. with a lot. But I've witnessed them build their own community and safety here, and I don't want to see them have to forcefully leave yet another place they call home. There's a lot of trauma in immigrant households. And one of those anxieties that a lot of us have is, do I have to leave again? I really do think building community and roots, no matter how small they are, in a place where you call home helps you want to fight for it and keep your ground, because if you don't have that sense of belonging, it can be really easy and tempting to walk away.

Meisei Gonzalez is a co-host of the Stay Salty: Lakefacing Stories podcast. He is an environmental justice advocate and communicator based in Salt Lake City. As the Communications Director for HEAL Utah, he focuses on addressing environmental disparities faced by the Latino and LGBTQIA+ communities.