On this day of freedom, let’s talk about how bald eagles are queer!
It starts with a female eagle named Hope and a male named Valor I. The two settled down to neat together, however Valor I wasn’t a great dad. He did show up to incubate the eggs and basically never came around.
In comes another male, Valor II. He immediately did what a good eagle dad is supposed to, incubate, maintain the best, all that. This lead to him becoming Hope’s new mate.
Here’s where it gets interesting, Valor I didn’t seem to mind and actually stuck around! Eventually Hope started mating with both of them, and Valor I even learned to be a good dad!
Unfortunately in 2017 Hope was killed by intruding eagles, but! The two male’s actually stuck together and successfully raised their chicks!
Soon enough a new female named Starr came along and joined the two, and now she mates with both males every season!
This arrangement allows for the eagles to have a much more successful rate of raising chicks and fighting off other predators!
This particular story isn’t the only one! Bald eagles have been seen in multiple arrangements including two females and one male!
Today (July 19th) is Changing Places awareness day!
[Image description: a photo of the changing places toilet with the features listed below /end ID]
What is a changing places toilet?
A changing places toilet is a toilet which can be used by disabled people like me who can’t use a standard accessible toilet. This may be because someone needs extra equipment, and/or room for carers to help them. The main features of the changing places toilet are:
Lots of room! Changing places toilet must be at least 12 square metres. This means that there is plenty of room for a wheelchair user to turn around as well as room for up to 2 carers.
A peninsular toilet! This is a toilet which has enough room on each side were wheelchair to be positioned for transferring. As with standard accessible toilet there are grab rails on each side.
Accessible washbasin! The washbasin must have room underneath for a wheelchair user. An adjustable height washbasin is preferred.
A ceiling hoist! This allows people who cannot transfer independently to be able to safely get out of their wheelchair. A person brings their own sling which is hooked onto the hoist allowing them to be lifted.
An adult size changing table! This allows people need help with undressing to use the toilet, or help changing incontinence pads to have their needs met safely and with dignity. Without a changing table, many people have to resort to lying on the toilet floor to change their pads which is unsafe, undignified and unhygienic.
Why raise awareness?
The lack of changing places toilet means it’s hard for disabled people like me to leave the house. It’s limits our ability to socialise, access work/education, exercise, travel, and even attend hospital appointments. (In the UK there are only 93 hospitals with a registered changing places toilet).
I have to plan my entire life around the few changing places toilet that exist, which massively shrinks my world. It’s incredibly difficult for me to travel (less than 2% of train stations in the UK have a changing places toilet), go days out, visit the hospital, and otherwise experience the world outside my house. Hopefully one day every event like Pride or music festivals will have a mobile changing places toilet, and there will be public changing places toilet with 24/7 access in every town, as well as changing places toilets in public buildings like leisure centres, libraries, museums, cinemas, tourist attractions and shopping centres.
More info including what you can do to help the UK campaigns for more changing places toilets can be found at changing-places.org
i was interested to learn more about changing places outside of the UK, and i found, from what looks like the same organization, this international map + this Florida/Georgia/Alabama project to install more, in case anyone is in the same area and would like to learn! we apparently only have one in my city, seven in my state, which is absolutely not enough to let people go about their days freely.
y'know, this is a great way for newer activists to start learning how real coalition building works and how demanding purity is the poison that kills movements in the cradle.
A subpar figurehead doesn’t mean we need to sink the ship and everyone aboard it
You know what I love? When characters are almost unconscious, but not quite.
Slumped over, a complete ragdoll in the others’ hands, but alert enough to groan softly at different sensations, eyes hooded and glazed, just wide enough to gather a blurry image of their surroundings. Though they’re dizzy and their limbs feel like lead, they gain comfort in the others’ touch, unconsciously leaning into them, eyelids fluttering in hazy relief at the soothing, concerned gestures.