A vegan objection to “cultivated meat” — As most of my regular readers know, I am vegan for ethical reasons. I am convinced that my fellow animals are sentient beings who feel pain and fear, and cannot consent to being exploited for human use. I therefore avoid consuming or otherwise using animal products to the best of…

Striving to embody my values of peace and nonviolence — This Wednesday, August 23 is a special day for me: The tenth anniversary of my Nameday. Ten years ago, I announced my new name and non-binary gender identity to the world. …

Representing marginalized communities with my contributions to Wikimedia Commons — This week, I was honored to be named by the Wikimedia Foundation as the 2023 Media Contributor of the Year. The award ceremony, honoring multiple Wikimedian of the Year winners, took place on the opening night of Wikimania Singapore, which is happening both in-person and online throughout this week. For…

I mentioned this during a Medium Day session yesterday, and I'll say it again here: No one writing "on spec" should expect to make their entire living from a single source, whether that source is Medium or anywhere else. Seeing people comment that they used to make thousands of dollars a month just from writing on Medium makes me suspicious, and makes me think the changes to Partner Program earning calculations were a good idea indeed.

Lives are precious. Guns end them. — Yesterday, I read a story that left me shaking with rage. On Saturday night, a 43-year-old man in Chicago killed an eight-year-old girl. He complained that she was making too much noise, pointed a gun at her and shot her in the face. …

August is Transgender History Month — This week, the City and County of San Francisco kicked off Transgender History Month, an annual celebration that started in 2021. …

Countering transphobic talking points — In the United States, trans people have been facing a multi-year onslaught of legislative attempts to deny our identities and curtail our rights. The primary targets of these transphobic bills — some of which have become law — are trans women and girls. The main movers behind this wave of…

I have plenty against Elon Musk. Among other things, he has welcomed and promoted users spouting openly transphobic views, in the name of "freeze peach". I do recognize that many of the same marginalized people who are targets of hate speech on Twitter have continued to rely on that platform for community connections and other reasons. I am not one of those people who will mourn Twitter's demise, however. I am much happier on Mastodon.

In 2023, Black people remain second-class citizens — Today, I read a story that brought me to tears. In 2020, Patrick Braxton was elected as the first Black mayor of Newbern, Alabama. But the town’s white residents have kept him from serving through racist intimidation and harassment. …