Ariel Howland's blog

Ariel Howland is a white, poly, pansexual, genderqueer, trans woman community organizer, public speaker, and writer. She prefers the pronouns they or she. You can bring Ariel to speak at your college or event! www.queersocialjustice.wordpress.com

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Mother’s Day is difficult for some. It’s also important to validate the underrepresented mothers. Some thoughts on Mother’s Day.

I wish to first acknowledge everyone who dealt with abuse or neglect from their mother(s), everyone who has a strained relationship with their mother, and everyone who was abandoned by their mother. This day is difficult for a lot of people. This day is also difficult for many mothers and children due to separation by borders, incarceration, custody battles, drug addiction, and mental illness. This day is difficult for people who have lost loving mothers and loving mothers who have lost children. I see you. Although this holiday tends to promote a cultural myth that all mothers are loving nurturing parents within a heteronormative nuclear family unit, it’s also true that this holiday is one of the few holidays in mainstream U.S. culture that gives some recognition to women and hardworking loving mothers. So I also want to recognize and validate the loving people who are often left out of the narrative of this holiday. Let’s remember and celebrate the survivor mothers, single mothers, teen mothers, poor mothers, houseless mothers, sex worker mothers, kinky mothers, non-monogamous mothers, mothers of size, disabled mothers, Deaf mothers, neuroatypical mothers, chronically ill mothers, HIV positive mothers, mothers with Lyme disease,

mothers in prison, felon mothers, mothers in recovery, refugee mothers, undocumented mothers, Muslim mothers, Sikh mothers, Black mothers, Latina mothers, Asian mothers, Desi mothers, Arab mothers, Pacific Islander mothers, Native mothers, mixed mothers, activist mothers, radical mothers,

femme mothers, butch mothers, queer mothers, bisexual mothers, intersex parents that may or may not identify as mothers, trans women parents that may or may not identify as mothers, the trans men parents that may or may not identify as mothers and the non-binary parents that don’t even have a holiday. Let’s also celebrate the people who have played maternal roles who don’t carry the title of mother.

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Some sad statistics about how trans people of color are more impacted by suicide and other issues then white trans people.

These statistics are from the National Center for Transgender Equality's survey Injustice at Every Turn. A staggering 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population. . 56% of Asian & Pacific Islander trans and gender non-conforming people have attempted suicide due to discrimination. . 21% of API transgender and gender non-conforming people reported having been refused a home or apartment due to bias . 40% of American Indian and Alaskan Native respondents have experienced homelessness, nearly six times the rate of the general US population. . Fifty-six percent (56%) of American Indian and Alaskan Native respondents reported having attempted suicide, compared to 41% of all study respondents and 1.6% of the general U.S. population. . Over half (54%) of multiracial respondents reported having attempted suicide, compared to 41% of all study respondents and 1.6% of the general U.S. population . 32% of multiracial transgender and nonconforming people reported having been refused a home or apartment due to bias. . Black transgender and gender non-conforming people often live in extreme poverty, with 34% reporting a household income of less than $10,000/year. This is over twice the rate for transgender people of all races (15%) and four times the general Black population rate (9%). This is over eight times the general U.S. population rate (4%). . Black transgender and gender non-conforming people are affected by HIV in devastating numbers. Over one-fifth of Black respondents reported being HIV positive (20.23%) and an additional 10% reported that they did not know their status. This compares to rates of 2.64% for transgender respondents of all races, 2.4% for the general Black population, and 0.60% for the general U.S. population. . Latino/a transgender and gender non-conforming people had a very high unemployment rate at 20%. This is higher than the rate of the overall sample (14%) and almost three times the rate of the general U.S. population (7%) at the time the survey was fielded. . Twenty-six percent (26%) of Latino/a respondents lost a job due to bias, and 47% were denied a job because of their transgender identity or gender nonconformity. For Latino/a non-citizen respondents, the rate of job loss due to bias was 42%. . Fifty-four percent (54%) of Latino/a respondents were harassed, 16% were physically assaulted, and 14% were sexually assaulted at work. . Of Latino/a noncitizen respondents, 57% were harassed, 47% were physically assaulted, and 38% were sexually assaulted.

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The Great Escape: Inky the Octopus Legs it to Freedom from Aquarium | Earth First! Newswire

by Eleanor Ainge Roy / The Guardian An octopus has made a brazen escape from the national aquarium in New Zealand by breaking out of its tank, slithering down a 50-metre drainpipe and disappearing into the sea. In scenes reminiscent of Finding Nemo, Inky – a common New Zealand octopus – made his dash for freedom after the lid of his tank was accidentally left slightly ajar. Staff believe that in the middle of the night, while the aquarium was deserted, Inky clambered to the top of his cage, down the side of the tank and travelled across the floor of the aquarium. Rob Yarrell, national manager of the National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier, said: “Octopuses are famous escape artists. “But Inky really tested the waters here. I don’t think he was unhappy with us, or lonely, as octopus are solitary creatures. But he is such a curious boy. He would want to know what’s happening on the outside. That’s just his personality.” One theory is that Inky slid across the aquarium floor – a

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Protesters Cement Their Feet in Front of State Palace | Earth First! Newswire

from The Jakarta Post Nine women from Central Java prepare to cement their feet in front of the State Palace on Tuesday. (Tempo/Mawardah ) A number of female protesters cemented their feet in front of the State Palace on Tuesday in protest of a cement plant development by state-owned PT Semen Indonesia in their hometown in Rembang regency in Central Java. The protesters reject the development of the cement firm in their town because it would cause environment problems and also threaten their earnings as farmers in Kendeng, a mountainous area in Rembang, Pati, Blora and Grobogan, tempo.co reported. Teten Mastuki, chief of presidential staff, reportedly told the women to foil their plan to cement their feet, but the protesters ignored the demand. Coordinator of the Mt. Kendeng Society Network (JMPPK), Joko Prianto, said that Teten met with the women had met with the women prior to the protest. “He (Teten) was worried about the plan and banned ,” Joko added as quoted by tempo.co.

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When Do You Let Jealousy End A Non-Monogamous Relationship?

In this installment of "I'm Poly & So Can You", Andre helps someone navigate approaching their aggressively jealous partner.

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Choosing Each Other and Ourselves: BGD’s Crush of the Month Featuring Mia Mingus

Mia Mingus is BGD's Crush of the Month!

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On Racism and Competitiveness in Queer Spaces

"When I am 'nice,' I am not listened to. I have learned to be precise, driven, and forceful in my interactions with white women to accomplish the simple feat of being heard; pleasantness is a luxury I cannot afford."

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Residents hope SoMa Pilipinas will go beyond signs and murals and help Filipinos worried about gentrification.

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How are these conservative politicians proposing to prove when it is a "sincerely held religious belief" vs an "insincere" one? Sounds like pretty vague language to base a fascistic policy on. I guess they put it that way because they can't get away with proposing a Christian theocracy.

Ariel Howland (queer-political-nerd)

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Poverty Has Same Effect On The Brain As Constantly Pulling All Nighters

Poverty saps mental capacity, leaving low-income people susceptible to poor decision-making.

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How Our "Greenest Governor" Pushed for the World's Largest Methanol Refinery in Tacoma

When Governor Jay Inslee took office, he was dubbed by environmentalists the nation's "greenest governor," based on his stellar environmental record. In the years since, the governor has faced Republican obstruction against plans to tackle climate change. At the same time, the governor's office also quietly backed an effort to establish the world's largest methanol refinery in Tacoma, as revealed by internal records obtained by the The Tacoma News Tribune: For nearly three years before...

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Some bad ass queer and trans people of color that everyone should know about!

Here are some bad ass queer and trans people of color that everyone should know about. If you want to know more about them google is your friend.

Sylvia Rivera Marsha P. Johnson Miss Major Reina Gossett CeCe McDonald Monica Jones Bamby Salcedo Toni Newman Lavene Cox Janet Mock Tobi Hill-Meyer AH MER AH SU Angelica Ross Elena Rose Jennicet Gutierrez Luna Merbruja Monica McIntyre Emi Koyama Ignacio Rivera Ebin-Chanelle Lee Kay Ulanday Barrett DarkMatter Neve Be aka Lyric Seal Jiz Lee Jezebel Delilah X Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Yvonne Fly Etaghene Mia Mingus Cristy Road Mia McKenzie Virgie Tovar Juliana Delgado Lopera Denise Benavides Andelina Anthony Audre Lorde Angela Davis June Jordan Barbara Smith Chrystos Gloria Anzaldua Cherrie Moraga James Baldwin Langston Hughes Che Gossett Bayard Rustin Julio Salgado

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HIV organizations often classify trans women as "men who have sex with men." Part of this is because of how the grants are written. Trans women have been misclassified in paperwork and research for a long time. So when people object to this and want funding, research, and services focused on trans women sometimes the response they get is "well the research and paperwork doesn't show that there are as many trans women needing services as you are saying." Circular thinking.

Ariel Howland (queer-political-nerd)

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I found out that there is a non-profit TV network called Free Speech TV that shows progressive and left wing programming all the time. On DirectTV it's channel 348. . They show Democracy Now!. Other stuff I saw on their schedule are a documentary about 2 Shoshone women activists, an LGBTQ focused news show, a show focused on positive news, and a program that interviewed activists about gentrification, the school to prison pipeline, land trusts, racist policing, and problems that arise when non-profits aren't connected to social movements and get all their funding from corporate foundations. They also had a segment about sustainable farming community projects run by people of color. . Oh yeah there was also a documentary about the military specifically targeting latinos for recruitment.

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Scientists have for the first time scanned the brains of people using LSD and found the psychedelic drug frees the brain to become less compartmentalized and more like the mind of a baby.