Mod: Ash, they/them pronouns. My normal account is @4shtronomy.
This account Is based on other this-is accounts, specifically about the infantilization of disabled people.
Schedule is mostly just when I can answer them, and there's supposedly 6 daily, this is because knowing I've answered something but not having it posted gives me stress, so some days/weeks there'll be 6 posts daily, and others nothing because I get very bad flare ups and I want to be able to answer the asks with the best of my ability.
First time doing this, so if I mess up in any way please tell me.
What's this blog?
[PT: What's this blog?]
This blog is focused on spreading awareness about the infantilization of any kind of disabled and mentally ill people. You can submit your own experiences or from others, as long as the privacy of others is respected. Infantilization in other departments is also welcome. Intersectionality is very important, and in a lot of posts it'll be apparent as when I see that anything overlaps I'll also add it there.
Vents are accepted. Depending on my spoons and if I think the ask could benefit from some info/resources/ideas I'll add those. If you don't want it in any way please state it in the ask so I can know, and if you want it and it's part of the reason you sent it also say it (as I don't do it always and I may not do it if it stated).
If you need tone tags, simpler vocabulary, etc please state it and I'll accommodate it as well as I can.
Constructive criticism about anything I've posted here is accepted.
Posts that explain some concepts in depth
[PT: Posts that explain some concepts in depth]
- What's wrong with (dehumanizing) infantilization and what can make infantilization be good/bad. [Link]
Tag system:
[PT: Tag system:]
#this is infantilization [link] for when something is infantilization.
#this is not infantilization [link] for when something is not infantilization and unrelated posts.
#resources [link] reposts that have relevant resources.
#it depends [link] for when I think there's more complexity than just it definetly is, or the Ask is vage so it could be more Than one option.
And specific hashtags for who's being infantilized.
This blog is inspired by accounts like: @thisisparamisia, @this-is-ableism, @this-is-anti-masculinity, @thisis-suicidism, @this-is-anti-homeless, @this-is-exorsexism, @this-is-ageism, @this-is-adultism, @this-is-amato-heteronormativity, @this-is-alterhumisia, @this-is-classism, @this-is-sinophobia-orientalism, @this-is-indigemisia, @thisisantisemitism, @this-is-deformimisia, and similar accounts. (If you don't want to be tagged, let me know and I'll take you out.)
About mod:
[PT: About mod:]
I'm Ash (they/them) and I'm a minor. I'm LSN autistic and for lack of better wording I'm "gifted" and have a high number on the WISC-V (142) which is to say that even if that score is very advitrary, classist, and harmful, I have not experienced almost any infantilization for my autism in that department, but for my age, stimming and social interactions. So I want to make sure that you know that if I ever fuck up about talking about the infantilization of Intellectual/cognitive disabilities, please let me know. As what I know comes from what I've been able to educate myself in, but I've grown in a place where I'm surrounded by a lot of harmful stereotypes and I wouldn't want to spread them.
I have chronic headaches, POTS, and very bad period pain.
I am in school. I won't be able to mod anything for that period of time or when I sleep. I hate seeing notifications so if they aren't very pilled up I'll answer them pretty soon, if I ended up having too many asks I'll have to ration them, but that's not the case for now.
I know personally people with epilepsy, rheumatic arthritis, astigmatism, dyslexia, ADHD, autism, DID, Bipolar, OCD, amnesia, and not much more. Even if I know it because of them I'm not an expert.
I want to reiterate, that my and my friends's disabilities are listed here because I want you all to know what I personally know of, to be able to see the biggest gaps on my knowledge.
I educate myself as much as I can daily, and if I receive any ask that's specifically about something I know little about I'll research it before answering. But still, if something is wrong you're more than welcome to correct me.
for the record im not technially 100% anti-AI, in the sense that its a broad category of tech being lumped under one umbrella term so it feels over-zealous to say i hate all of it all the time forever. but i also think trying to discuss what it actually IS good for is difficult right now when i cant take one step without something trying to convince me to use chatgpt to summarize my life and speed up my hobbies and turn my friends into chatbots and optimize my life into oblivion. i am certain there is nuance to the topic but can we stop cramming the square peg into the round hole before you start trying to sell me on the legitimate benefits of the square peg. please.
here's my super-quick, easy-to-digest summary that i use when i can't spend more than like 15 seconds on it but need someone to know the basic distinctions:
generative AI - bad evil AI. chatbots, LLMs, image generators, etc. this the one that steals shit.
analytical AI - helpful medical AI. this the one that helps detect cancer early.
game "AI" - fake AI. 100% human created and dictated. this the one that determines game mob behavior n stuff.
losing the battle with my own self-control so will briefly comment and say that categorizing certain types of ai as straightforwardly good and other types as "bad evil," even for the sake of summary, doesn't really hold water. just to give two counterexamples to the distinctions drawn above, large language models ("evil") are being used by human rights groups to parse huge datasets about police abuse while analytical ai ("helpful") is also the kind of ai that animates facial recognition software and the increasingly ubiquitous searchable license plate databases that police are using to stalk people. the goodness or badness of a given ai tool has less to do with its type and more to do with things like scale and scope, transparency, ownership, and contextual application.
for those unaware today india experienced one of its biggest protests in half a decade. there were protests all over the nation for various causes but the major one was in delhi. all we asked for was the resignation of the education minister because he's failed the students of this nation time & time again. but we were met with brutality, the police had barricaded the main site of protest (jantar mantar). metro stations were shutdown, the public was restrained from reaching the protest site and all the adjoining areas had signal jammers to make sure the crowd had no access to constant updates. they had us blocked from all the sides. they were lathi (baton) charging students from one side & releasing tear gas from the other. you couldn't walk 100 m on streets without having a tear gas shell thrown at you. there were many students, women & kids bleeding — some from their head. some couldn't walk anymore. the police had removed their nameplates & acted with full impunity to resort to unprecedented levels of violence. they were pelting stones at us, beating up people for no reason, forcefully detaining them and attacking us constantly with tear gas & rubber bullets. they wouldn't let you exit either. the crowd was peaceful & looking out for each other yet they were met with violence. i made a friend who was all alone & she asked to join me & my friend because a policeman wouldn't leave her alone. he constantly prodded her for personal info, invited her back to the jeep saying they have food there, wouldn't stop following her around. you couldn't call or ask anyone for help, we were left to fend for ourselves & be on a constant lookout if you did not want to be beaten up to death by police. all for what? asking a resignation? shame on this country.
happy world water day! here's a reminder that access to clean, potable water is a human right. here's some links to donate to if you want to provide drinking water to people across the world:
Gaza Water Fund - Clean water for people in Gaza.
Afghan Relief - Clean water for people in Afghanistan.
Water Aid India - Clean water for Indian communities.
Armenia Fund - Clean water for people in Armenia and Artsakh
W4W (Waves for Water) - Clean water for Ukraine
FACE AFRICA - Clean water for communities across Africa.
Water Aid Mali - Clean water specifically for people in Mali (and a reminder that even today more than 70% of Mali is controlled and/or contested by terrorist groups. stand with the people of Mali just as you do with the people of Afghanistan)
Water for South Sudan - Clean water for people in South Sudan.
Smile Givers International - Clean water for Sudanese refugees + Sudan.
I have vitiligo does that mean I can't do X, Y, or Z?:
If you have vitiligo: Welcome to the club :D! In general this advice is mainly aimed towards people who don't have vitiligo, BUT if you do, do what you want! The only thing I would ask of you is to be aware that A) People might not be aware that you have vitiligo which is why you're taking liberates with it, B) People might try to emulate your depiction so if someone without the disorder doing something you might find uncomfortable, keep that in mind! and C) Be mindful of whether or not you're contributing to potentially harmful stereotypes! I'm not going to tell you, someone with the disability, that things are off limits, and I am aware that not everyone feels the same about this disorder, but keeping those things in mind won't hurt anybody!
Is it okay for vitiligo to be animal or shape based in pattern?:
NO. It's de-humanizing and harmful as many ablest insults aimed towards people with this disorder are animal-based. Also it purposefully goes out of it's way to make a person less human purely because they're disabled, which is obviously ablest in itself. Vitiligo is a disorder, NOT an aesthetic.
The same applied for characters inspired or based on animals, especially ones that are patterned.
YES this also includes giving them patterns like paint splotches, hearts, stars, and other stuff like that.
How does vitiligo develop?:
Vitiligo is an auto-immune disorder, which means its genetics based, BUT(!) it is not something you are born with, and needs to be developed through a person's life time. There are theories as to how it develops but as far as I'm aware there's no one solid answer.
There are also various comorbidities that can occur with vitiligo including but not limited to hypothyroidism, higher risk or cancer, and even hearing loss.
Are POC the only people who can develop vitiligo?:
Nope! Vitiligo can occur in anyone of any race/ethnicity. The reason why you only see people with darker skin tones portrayed with it is because there's more visual contrast, thus making it seem more unique/distinct/obvious.
What does this blog offer?:
I do all sorts of things! I show examples of vitiligo represented in media, answer any questions people might have about it in general, questions specific to character/plots, character design tips, and sensitivity reading just to name a few!
Why am I not answering an ask?
I've got a few mental and physical conditions which make me extremely tired all the time and sometimes I just don't have the mental energy to do it </3
Also some asks are tricky! I might just hoard the ask until I can think of a proper way to respond or if vitiligo finally gets enough media rep that I can do a proper analysis or make an actual wish-list lol.
Who runs this blog?:
@trinrose3! I developed vitiligo when I was 7 years and and for the majority of the time that I've had this disorder I felt disgusted and ashamed of it. Over the last few years I've learned to appreciate my vitiligo, as well as develop a slight hyperfixation on it in general, so I made this blog in order to spread awareness and positivity!
I'm the only one running this joint so if I'm being a little slow to answer an ask please be patient <3
Also here's a link to my ko-fi I'm struggling to pay bills and the health issues, job market, and other life circumstances are making it really hard right now so every penny is appreciated! I also take art commissions!
The issue of trans women being sent to men's prisons isn't brought up as being a monstrous thing because of the misgendering, it's monstrous because we're sent there to be legally sex trafficked.
That's what V-coding is. That is why they are so adamant about sending trans women to men's prisons, because sex trafficking trans women within the men's prison system is an essential part of that system. Being misgendered by this isn't even an issue that's on our radar!
I honestly really hate the "[insert country in Asia] is not racially diverse" excuse for antiblackness in Asia, esp in East Asia. I always see this excuse by content creators and commentators now that content about South Korea is exploding online.
I understand how living in racially homogenous areas can make people racially ignorant but that's ignoring how colorism is already a problem within Asian communities + how there are other racial minority groups that exist in Asia? Like, Black diaspora does exist in Asia?? And there is no need to infantilize non-Black Asian people becos learning and growth is possible? Infantilization will not help anyone 😒
Overview of some topics when it comes to drawing characters who are burn survivors.
DISCLAIMER. Please keep in mind that this is an introductory overview for drawing some burn scars and has a lot of generalizations in it, so not every “X is Z” statement will be true for Actual People. I'm calling this introductory because I hope to get people to actually do their own research before drawing disabled & visibly different characters, rather than just making stuff up. Think of it as a starting point and take it with a grain of salt (especially if you have a very different art style from mine).
Talking about research and learning... don't make your burn survivor characters evil. Burn survivors are normal people and don't deserve to be constantly portrayed in such a way.
Consider supporting me on ko-fi if you find this to be helpful.
Edit: How are people seeing this post where I specifically talk about burn survivors being normal, real people, and still tag this as "TW body horror"? Not a single one of these drawings or pictures is a fresh injury. All of them are healed. How the hell would you feel if someone tagged a photo of you as "trigger warning: gore"?
Disabled people are not your fucking body horror. Grow up.
Tutorial on drawing characters/OCs who have some sort of facial paralysis. It doesn't cover all possible variants because I was using mirror as my main reference lawl
Keep in mind that this is an introductory drawing tutorial and has some generalizations in it, so not every “X is Z” statement will be true for Actual People 👍
Consider supporting me on ko-fi if you find this to be helpful.
Seeing a blog that claims to be supportive of paras and then seeing ‘proshipper dni’ in their bio like
Come on
It’s just feels weird?? Like, you want paras to get better and not harm anyone, but then you shame people for liking ficton that may or may not even pertain to their paras. Fiction that could be their only outlet to curb urges safely
I dunno but theres something weird about that
This is paramisia.
Honestly, I think the whole "proshipper/antishipper" argument is such a waste of time. I think both sides make good and bad arguments, and that they both lack nuance in many cases, and end up steering into "fiction is completely harmless" and "it is immoral for fiction to ever portray harmful topics", both of which are such black-and-white thinking.
I think that instead of having these ridiculous arguments, we should focus on advocating for better safety precautions for children using the internet that doesn't cut off adults from exploring fiction.
For example, creating websites that are actually SFW and don't have comment sections or messaging (so even if adults use the site, they can't actually speak to the children using it.) Or, if you really want commenting/messaging to be a thing, have a list of pre-approved symbols or phrases that can be selected between, sort of like an AAC machine.
These websites could have games that can be enjoyed by kids, videos that can be enjoyed by kids, and so on, all with actual moderating teams.
In this hypothetical, the only people who can upload these games or videos are pre-screened and approved by the moderating teams, no videos or games go out unwatched/unplayed by adults, etc, etc.
And then once a kid reaches teen years, and wishes to integrate to the wider internet, there should be required videos (with captions and full descriptions to be disability friendly) that you have to watch, discussing grooming and red flag behavior, internet safety, etc, before you can make an account.
Of course, I also think legal guardians should be responsible and teach children these things themselves, but realistically that won't always happen, so I think the best solution to make sure teens actually get informed is to put these measures in place.
I do disagree with "it really doesn't hurt anyone if you think about it", for two reasons.
Reason 1 - some people engaging in this fictional content start experiencing worsened mental health. Fiction can be an outlet to some, and a curse to others. It depends on a person-to-person basis. (Warning signs for that here [link.])
Reason 2 - Fiction is one of the widespread ways that propaganda is created and spread, hence why positive representation matters so much, and why there's so many old cartoons, comics, etc that feature problematic caricatures and stereotypes. Even modern propaganda and stereotypes exist within currently produced fiction.
However, that being said, there is a difference between fiction that spreads problematic viewpoints, and darkfics where the person creating the art acknowledges the content is morally questionable or immoral when applied to reality.
I also don't think darkfic content should be wiped off the web. I think it deserves a space, a category on websites, one that can be easily opted into/out of by users (ie; a flip you can switch in the settings on a website that says "turn on dark content mode" or something along those lines.) I say this because it's super annoying trying to find fictional content and being jumpscared with dark content when thats not what youre in the headspace to see.
Blocking tags doesnt always help either, because a lot of people dont properly tag their content. So it would be nice if sites had a "mode" people can switch on to post their dark content, that way if they forget to tag properly, its at least got SOME level of precaution, because they already are on the "dark mode."
To add to all of this - censorship is an act of authoritarianism. Full stop. Saying one particular topic should be censored opens the door for people to find ways to accuse you of creating said content, and getting you censored as well.
Cater your internet experience to yourself. Your mental health matters. But don't act like content you personally dislike or find distressing should be censored or wiped off the internet. Block tags, block keywords, do your responsibility of making a safe space for your own mind. Don't go out and attack people who make content that doesn't suit your safe space.
People should tag their content properly. People should have spaces to post potentially distressing content. That's something I fully believe. But censorship is not and never will be a successful form of protection.
Education and curated spaces are how you protect people.
I'm honestly just really tired of black and white thinking on the internet. People always try to turn everything into "sides" and it just tires me out. Most subjects of what is morally or psychologically "correct" cannot be easily put into two opposing sides.
Yeah, fiction can be a legitimate form of therapy. It just depends on the paraphile. For some it worsens their mental health, for others it improves it, and I wish people would just stop with their pro-censorship bullshit.
Over 100 million children are homeless and/or on the streets.
[PT: Over 100 million children are homeless and/or on the streets /End PT]
That's the numbers estimated back in 2015, and regardless of whether they've grown or shrunk since then, the issue still remains that there are MILLIONS of minors on the streets.
Homelessness and street survival is an intersecting issue for people of all marginalized groups, and that includes the youth.
Homeless youth are very likely to be sex trafficked and targeted by dangerous people to be groomed into criminal activities or otherwise unsafe practices.
Many homeless youth are runaways, usually trying to escape abusive households.
Note for clarity: "Children" and "kids" throughout this post will be referring to teenagers as well, since minors of all ages are grouped together in these statistics.
---
What is homelessness and street children?
[PT: What is homelessness and street children? /end PT]
Homelessness is defined by a lack of stable housing. This includes living without shelter, in a tent, in a car, in a homeless shelter, couch surfing, or using public locations/transport for shelter.
"Street children" are children who spend a majority of their time on the street due to housing complications. Some of them are not considered "truly homeless", because they technically have a house, but this house is usually inaccessible or unsafe for them, and thus they do not reside in it much, if at all. Usually, they only spend the night there, but the rest of their time is spent outdoors.
When discussing the statistics of both these concepts, I cannot neatly discern between them, because so many of the studies use the statistics interchangeably. Street children have very few distinctions anyways, and thus trying to separate the two is usually not beneficial anyways.
---
What are the statistics of homeless youth and street children around the globe?
[PT: What are the statistics of homeless youth and street children around the globe? /end PT]
Around 30 million children in Africa are homeless/on the street.
There is no overall consensus on how many children in Asia (including The Middle East) as an entirety are homeless/on the street, however it is estimated to be quite high, with individual locations being given statistics (Bangledash having 445,000 homeless/street children, India having 11 million, Pakistan having 1.5 million, Indonesia having over 170,000, Iran having anywhere between 60,000-200,000, the Phillipines having 1.5 million, Turkey having 88,000, etc.)
There is also no overall consensus on how many children in the Oceania are homeless/on the street, however Australia estimates around 76,000, and New Zealand estimates around 33,000.
Around 400,000 children in the EU (European Union) are homeless/on the street. There is no overall consensus on how many children in Europe as a whole (not just the EU) are homeless/on the street, however individual countries also have statistics.
Over 1.2 million children in the USA are homeless/on the street. Over 40,000 children in Canada are homeless/on the street.
Around 40 million children in Latin America are homeless/on the street.
---
What ways do homeless youth and street children suffer?
[PT: What ways do homeless youth suffer? /end PT]
A higher risk of sex trafficking, rape, assault, and kidnapping.
A higher risk of child labor/slavery.
A higher risk of being poisoned or suffering from oral, throat, or gastrointestinal system damage (as malicious people often put poison, razors/glass/sharp objects, and other dangerous things into the food provided to the homeless.)
A higher risk of sexual, reproductive, urogenital, and gastrointestinal disorders/infections.
A higher risk of respiratory disorders.
A higher risk of nutritional disorders, growth disorders, and starvation.
Higher rates of substance use and addictive disorders.
A higher risk of mental health disorders.
Low or no accessibility to hygiene products or showers/bathing (which significantly increases risks of infections and diseases.)
And, of course, a higher likelihood of death and grave injury, due to weather conditions, untreated disease/injuries, hate crimes, overdose, and/or suicide.
---
What about intersectionality? How does that affect homelessness and street survival?
[PT: What about intersectionality? How does that affect homelessness?. /End PT]
Note: Whenever the discussion of employment comes up, we think it is important to remember that:
1- Unemployed adults can have children, and thus, the children in the equation will be effected.
2- Teenagers can also get employed in a majority of locations, and in many countries even minors younger than that, meaning their incomes could be contributing to housing as well.
The most obvious - being low income often risks loss of housing. Hell, being "average income" doesn't even afford housing anymore for most people, in the current financial crisis. Classism and homelessness go hand in hand, and the refusal to provide for the lower class their basic needs is the direct cause of homelessness.
Being a foster kid. Discussion:
Being a foster kid greatly increases the likelihood of homelessness, due to the foster system being notoriously abusive, and not providing minors with the proper funds, stability, and education necessary to survive in life. In the USA alone, 23,000 people age out of foster care a year. 25%-50% of those who age out end up homeless. Now imagine the statistics of that worldwide, of how many people are ending up homeless the moment they turn 18 (or younger, in countries where legal adulthood begins sooner)?
Additionally, minors will often run away from foster homes, because it is unsafe for them there. They wish to escape the abuse. A depressing fact is that a majority of sex trafficked youth are from foster care, usually runaways who were living on the street to avoid abuse.
(You can read our post about the statistics of foster kids here [link.])
Being disabled. (Note: Some of these statistics leave out emotional, behavioral, personality, or other mental disabilities, and also often leave out "small" physical disabilities, so the statistics may actually be higher if all disabilities were included.) Discussion:
We could not find any overall statistics on the intersection of homelessness and disability in Africa and Asia, unfortunately.
However, disabled people in Africa often suffer forced evictions and are more likely to be impoverished, and we did find statistics on specific locations of Asia (ie; 42% of homeless people [including adults] in Nagoya Japan are neuropsychologically disabled, 15% of homeless people [including adults] in Hong Kong are physically disabled, in South Asia 85% of disabled people [including adults] are unemployed which greatly risks homelessness, etc.)
We could not find any overall statistics on the intersection of homelessness and disability in the Oceania as a whole, however we did find statistics in Hawai'i, Australia, and New Zealand. in Hawai'i an estimated 62% of homeless people [including adults] are disabled. In Australia, an estimated 9.5% homeless people [including adults] are disabled, and 8.9% have an unknown disability status. In New Zealand, 4.1% of homeless people (including adults) are disabled.
We could not find any overall statistics on the intersection of homelessness and disability in overall Europe, however in the UK alone, 35-39% of homeless people [including adults] are disabled (and for comparison, only 20-22% of the overall UK population are disabled.)
In Canada, there is no minor-specific statistics for disability, however 50-60% of the overall homeless population (including adults) are disabled.
In the USA, 19% of homeless K-12 [pre-college] students are disabled (and for comparison, only 14% of the overall USA student population is disabled.)
We could not find any overall statistics on the intersection of homelessness and disability in South America as a whole, however in Latin America, disabled kids are 15% more likely to not attend school (and those who do attend are more likely to drop out), which inherently leads to employment issues down the line (and thus, housing issues) Additionally, 1 of every 5 households in extreme poverty houses a disabled person. And in some locations, people with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed (ie; in Argentina 91% of disabled people are unemployed), earn less money in work (ie; in Mexico and Costa Rica, disabled people earn 20% less than their abled peers), and/or have no insurance (in Ecuador, 84% of disabled people have no insurance), which can cause or exacerbate housing issues.
Being queer. Discussion:
In Africa, we could not find any statistics of the overall intersection of being LGBTQIA+ and homelessness, however homelessness is highly reported by LGBTQIA+ people (especially youth.)
We could not find any statistics of the overall intersection of being LGBTQIA+ and homeless in Asia, however we did find a few for individual Asian locations (ie; in Singapore 20% of LGBTQIA+ people [including adults] experience homelessness, in the Philippines 12% of people who are 15-25 are homeless, In Japan 4 in 10 LGBTQIA+ people struggle with housing, in India there is a hidden housing crisis within LGBTQIA+ people, etc.)
We could not find any statistics of the overall intersection of being LGBTQIA+ and homeless in the Oceania, however we did find some statistics for Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, queer-oriented people [including adults] are twice as likely to be homeless than nonqueer-oriented people, and 1 in 5 trans & gender diverse people aged 18-25 suffered homelessness (unfortunately we cannot find a statistics for people younger.) In New Zealand, 2.6% LGBQTIA+ people who are 15 and above are homeless, and unfortunately there is not a clearcut estimate on minors under the age of 15.
In Europe, 17.39% of LGBTQIA+ people [including adults] have been homeless, with 1/3rd of intersex people and 1/4th of trans people being homeless.
In the USA, LGBTQ+ minors are 120% more likely to end up homeless. They make up roughly 30-40% of homeless youth (and for comparison, only 9.5% of the overall population are LGBTQ+)
LGBTQ+ minors of color have an 83% higher risk of homelessness than their white peers. 44% of Indigenous LGBTQ+ youth, 16% of LGBTQ+ Asian & Pacific Islander youth, 27% of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth, 26% of Black LGBTQ+ youth, and 36% of multiracial LGBTQ+ youth have experienced homelessness.
38% of trans girl youth, 39% of of trans boy youth, and 35% of non-binary youth have experienced homelessness (compared to 23% of non-trans & non-gender diverse homeless queer-oriented youth.)
39% of intersex youth have experienced homelessness.
In Canada, 25% of homeless youth are LGBTQIA2S+ (and for comparison, only 5-10% of the overall Canadian population are LGBTQIA2S+.)
We could not find any statistics on the overarching intersection of LGBTQIA+ and homeless in South America, however we did find a few in specific locations (ie; 30-40% of homeless youth in Brazil, 30-35% of homeless youth in Argentina, 30-35% of homeless youth in Colombia, 25-30% of homeless youth in Mexico, 15-25% of homeless youth in Chile, etc)
Being a person of color. Discussion:
We could not find any statistics on the overarching intersection of race and homelessness in the Oceania, however we did find some individual statistics for Hawai'i, Australia, and New Zealand.
In Hawai'i, 28-50% of homeless people [including adults] are Native Hawaiian.
In Australia, 1 in every 3 Indigenous Australian is homeless.
In New Zealand, 31% of homeless people [including adults] are Māori, and 6.6% of Pacific Peoples [including adults] (and for comparison, 17% of the overall New Zealand population are Māori, and 8% are Pacific peoples.)
We could not find any statistics of the overall intersection of homelessness and being a BIPOC, however we did find statistics in the England, Ireland, and the EU specifically. In England, Black people [including adults] are 4x more likely to be homeless than white people. In Ireland, 15% of homeless people [including adults] are Romanian, and 6% are Black.
In the USA, Hispanic high schoolers are 2x more likely to experience homelessness than white highschoolers. Black highschoolers are 2.25x more likely to experience homelessness than white highschoolers.
Black and Hispanic people [including adults] make up 64% of the homeless population. Pacific Islanders [including adults] have the highest rate of homelessness in the USA. Native Americans [including adults] have the second highest rate of homelessness in the USA.
In Canada, 10-30% of homeless youth are Indigenous and 15.4% are Black (and for comparison, 5% of the overall Canadian population are Indigenous, and 4.3% are Black.)
We could not find any statistics of the intersection of race and homelessness in Africa or South America, unfortunately.
Other. Discussion:
In the USA, 17% of English learners (which are usually immigrants) in K-12 [pre-college] school are homeless (and for comparison, 10% of the overall student population are English learners.)
Being in areas of the world subject to war, genocide, political violence, and environmental disaster. Discussion:
16% of the population in Sudan had to flee their homes due to conflict.
90% of Gaza [including adults] are homeless right now.
46% of homeless people [including adults] in Ukraine became homeless due to the invasion costing them their homes.
Venezuelan immigration has led to a disproportionate amount of homeless Venezuelans in South America.
---
Sources
[PT: Sources /End PT]
General:
Trends and dynamics of homelessness in Hong Kong: evidence from population survey in 2015 and 2021
Housing & Homelessness [link]
Global Homelessness Statistics [link]
Street Children - By Country [link]
Street Children and Homelessness [link]
28 Million Children Homeless [link]
Nearly 50 Million Children Uprooted Worldwide [link]
The Truth of Life in Accra (about Africa) [link]
The Health Profile of Street Children in Africa [link]
Street Children in Asia and the Pacific [link]
Street Children of South Asia [link]
5 Facts About Child Homelessness In India [link]
Understanding the Heart of Homelessness In Hawai'i [link]
Strengthening the European Child Guarantee to address Child Homelessness [link]
Statutory Homelessness in England [link]
Shocking Extent of Family and Child Homelessness in Australia [link]
Our Hidden Child Homelessness Problem (New Zealand) [link]
2023 Census Severe Housing Deprivation (Homelessness) Estimates (about New Zealand) [link]
Nationwide, More Children Live in the State of Homelessness than in Most American States [link]
The "Street Children" of Latin America [link]
Student Homelessness: Quick Facts and Resources for Governors (for the USA) [link]
Disabled homelessness sources:
Challenges and Struggles Faced by Persons with Disabilities Across Africa [link]
Forced Evictions and Disability Rights in Africa [link]
Prevalence of Mental Illness, Cognitive Disability, and Their Overlap Among the Homeless in Nagoya, Japan [link]
Trends and Dynamics of Homelessness in Hong Kong: Evidence From Population Survey in 2015 and 2021 [link]
Disability In South Asia [link]
People With Disability in Australia 2024 [link]
Disabled People Are Disproportionately Affected by Homelessness – And Getting support Feels Nearly Impossible (UK) [link]
Invisible Intersections: Disabilities and Homelessness (Europe) [link]
People With Disabilities in Latin America [link]
Disability In Latin America [link]
LGBTQIA+ homelessness sources:
Global Crisis of LGBTQ+ Homeless Youth: A Call for Inclusive Policies and Accurate Data [link]
Safe Homes for African LGBTQ+ Youth [link]
Experiences Of Conflict, Non-Acceptance and Discrimination are Associated with Poor Mental Well-Being Amongst LGBTQ-identified Individuals in Singapore [link]
2024, Philippines National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People [link]
4 in 10 LGBTQ+ People in Japan Still Face Report Housing Barriers [link]
The Hidden Housing Crisis Within India's LGBTQ+ Community [link]
Housing & Homelessness Transhub (Australia) [Link]
Homelessness Australia LGBTIQ+ People [link]
LGBTIQ+ Experiences of Poverty (Australia) [link]
LGBTIQ+ Population of Aotearoa New Zealand: 2023 [link]
Intersections Report: Homelessness (EU) [link]
LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness (for the USA) [link]
LGBTIQ+ Population of Aotearoa New Zealand: 2023 [link]
LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness (for the USA) [link]
LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness & Housing Instability (for the USA) [link]
Intersex Youth Mental Health Report (for the USA) [link]
2SLGBTQ+ and Homelessness (in Canada) [link]
Homeless POC sources:
Paradise for Tourists, a Struggle for Natives: Native Hawaiian Homelessness in the Hawaiian Islands [link]
Out of Sight is Not a Solution (about New Zealand) [link]
Australia National Homelessness Facts [link]
Racism and Racial Inequality Within the Homelessness System Needs Recognition and Action From Government (England) [link]
Homelessness, Race and Ethnicity Research Programme Finds Shocking Evidence of Inequalities (UK) [link]
Census of Population 2022 Profile 6 - Homelessness (Ireland) [link]
Rooted in Trauma: Homelessness in Native Communities (USA) [link]
State of Homelessness 2025 (USA) [link]
Racial Inequalities in Homelessness by the Numbers (USA) [link]
Racism and Homelessness (USA) [link]
Young People of Color Facing Homelessness (USA & Canada) [link]
Aboriginal Homelessness In Canada [link]
Black Communities and Homelessness (in Canada) [link]
Other sources:
Sudan's humanitarian crisis: The facts and figures [link]
Crisis in Gaza: What to Know and How to Help [link]
46% of Those Experiencing Homelessness in Ukraine Lost Their Homes due to Conflict, Report Finds [link]
Four Years of War in Ukraine: Childhood has ‘Moved Underground’, Displacement Continues – UN humanitarians [link]
Ukraine - Street Child [link]
A Latino Learning About Homelessness in Latin America [link]
Venezuela Situation [link]
Venezuelans Sleep in Cars and Under Trees as They Question Where They’ll Live After the Earthquakes [link]
Namaygoosisagagun First Nation/Collins has burned to the ground. The entire community is nothing but ashes after being quickly consumed by wildfires. They did not have any support from emergency services, and no one offered aid. The community saved themselves by escaping into boats because no one came.
Mishkeegogamang and Cat Lake have lost power. Families are ending up in shelters with nothing. Armstrong, Lac La Croix, Whitesand, Gull Bay, Lac des Mille Lacs are currently in the fires path and all members are being evacuated.
All this loss, all this devastation, and it was entirely preventable.
After steadily underfunding wildland firefighting and purposefully excluding Indigenous wildland firefighters and Indigenous wildfire organizations from wildfire operations, firefighter training, decisionmaking, and resource exchanges, in 2025, Doug Ford slashed the forest firefighting budget.
It's hard to ignore his decision to cut funding and leave us out of adequate fire training (even though we've lived with forest fires for thousands of years—far longer than settlers have been in Canada—and made sure fires like the ones we're all seeing today were prevented through kinisitotēn) when, despite making up less than 5% of the population, we account for 42% percent of all wildfire evacuations in Canada.
And when we are successfully evacuated, we face discrimination and racism—like Kashechewan—because it's always been easier to blame us than it is to blame the true culprit: denialism, corportate greed, and colonization.
The people of Collins and every other impacted community deserve better.
Right now, the AFN is currently accepting donations to help Collins First Nation. If you're able to, please consider donating.
ONWA (Ontario Native Women's Association) is another great place to donate to. They have outreach vans going to motels and inns and offering food, water, resources, and cultural support to those impacted by the wildfires.
Other places to consider donating to are Mikinakoos Emergency Fund, Red Cross, True North Aid, Indigenous Climate Action. You can also send donations directly to Whitesand First Nation via e-transfer ([email protected]) and they request that you add your full name in the e-transfer comment section to receive a tax receipt.
*Before sending money, verify that the appeal appears on an official First Nation, Tribal Council or registered charity channel.
If you can't offer financial support, please consider donating items of need. Moontime Connections is currently accepting drop-off donations. If you live in the Thunder Bay area, Namaygoosisagagun Health Office is also taking in donations! They can also bemailed to Superior Inn Hotel & Conference Centre at 555 West Arthur Street, Thunder Bay, ON, P7E 5P8.
One thing I hear a lot about is that trans women and transfems who support the ideas of transunity do not have a space to discuss transmisogyny, since the main transmisogyny tag is overtaken by users who engage in lateral transphobia and are often hostile to these trans women and transfems.
Does anyone have any ideas what to do about that? Perhaps a more specialized tag? I would like to hear suggestions, primarily from those who feel personally affected.
Personally, I think using the term anti-transfemininity could be useful for the same reason as anti-transmasculinity. It emphasizes what is being targeted (perceived transmasculinity or transfemininity) while leaving room for transunity's basic idea that all forms of transphobia involve misogyny, misandrogyny, and misandry.
Obviously transphobic misogyny still plays a major role in anti-transfemininity, but the same goes for anti-transmasculinity and exorsexism. It seems like this could be a good move to step away from the cissexist idea that only women are targeted by misogyny, or that only men are targeted by patriarchal stereotypes of men & masculinity. As someone whose transmasc and transfem, I experience both transphobic misogyny and transphobic misandry in distinctly anti-transmasculine and anti-transfeminine ways.
this! I've also been growing increasingly fond of the idea of just using the tags regardless of the harassment that might ensue. as more positive, non-transphobic conversations use that tag, it drowns out the hatred eventually.
I tend to just use the transmisogyny tag for that very reason. We don't want the term transmisogyny to be considered a term used only by hateful trans people who engage in lateral transphobia. I tend to use it regardless and I haven't really faced much harassment from TRFs.
intellectual disability be singular diagnosis give to people who struggle with intellectual functioning & adaptive functioning (e.g living skills), rated from mild to profound. it affect everything every single aspect about person.
(UK: learning disability, not to be confused w specific learning disability or UK term learning difficulty. so far only find UK use this term difference.)
intellectual disability often comorbid with autism - different source n study say different things but many place say 30% or more autistic ppl have intellectual disability.
autism (& adhd, specific learning disability like dyslexia, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, etc) be part of wider umbrella called developmental disability (DD).
(technically, intellectual disability also a developmental disability. but because so many other developmental disability comorbid with ID, & ID affect everything single aspect of person, ppl often give it extra emphasis, abbreviating both of them as intellectual / developmental disability (I/DD))
intellectual disability experience & intellectual disability activism need center actual intellectually disabled people / people with intellectual disability. whenever autistic people without ID mistake autism as “an intellectual disability,” it speak over people with ID. it decenter people with ID from their own word / experience / space.
people insulting & mistreating you as autistic person without ID by confuse you with or compare you to people with intellectual disability cry, are saying you “just as bad”, n not mean you affected in same way as people with intellectual disability.
things targeting people with intellectual disability target people with intellectual disability first. they be most affected.
you can (& should) advocate for group of people you not without claim to be one of them. but most of time when people do this, they not even advocating.
autistic people without ID (and people without ID in general) need stop derailing things about people with intellectual disability.
while looking for that other book i also found this google doc titled race and ethnicity in classics pedagogy: a starter pack. it showed up in my firefox suggestions so i must have visited or saved it a while ago but i only vaguely remember it. but it has links to a bunch of resources on the topic (some of which i've posted/reblogged here before). obviously aimed at educators but it's mostly articles that would be useful to anyone.
