Meet Phoenix Huber | Human and Animal Rights Activist & Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Phoenix Huber and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Phoenix, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I spent my formative years in Arizona during the 90s-2000s, surrounded by upper-middle-class privilege. However, despite the material wealth, my mental health suffered as I became acutely aware of discrimination. Growing up as a transgender girl in a time and place that wasn’t accepting, I encountered queerphobia from fellow students during middle school. Around the same time, our science class assigned us to dissect animals—squids and pigs who had been bred for slaughter. This experience opened my eyes to the societal disregard faced by both animals and individuals like myself, and it ignited a passion for change.

Have you ever pondered the impact of words like “pig,” “chicken,” or “dirty rat” used as insults? These terms subtly perpetuate the notion that all members of these species are inherently gross, laughable, or undesirable. This makes it easier for us humans to ignore these animals’ pain, and uphold a system that causes them violence. When I was in middle school, I started noticing that the tone with which people voiced these anti-animals insults was similar to how they sounded when they chanted “gay!” in the hallways. If only they could be aware that every creature, not just a dog or cat, deserved respect—and that queer and trans kids were just as normal and worthy of love as anyone else. Society was lagging behind, but with courage and creativity, surely we could progress toward compassion.

At 12 years old, all of this lit a fire in me. Even if it took me many years to overcome my shyness and pain to figure out my path, I would become an animal and human rights activist. And fortunately, I did. Today, I am happy to report that I have used my writing to contribute to a political organization in Denver called Pro-Animal Future, which empowers everyday lovers of animals and humanity to vote at the ballot box for a kinder tomorrow. A major issue we are talking about is that factory farm and slaughterhouse jobs are dangerous and traumatic for workers. These places pollute surrounding neighborhoods and contribute to climate change. But these are just a few of the ways in which evolving away from the abuse of animals will also liberate humans. My dream is to become a better ally to every type of being, and more knowledgeable of solutions that aid both humans and animals simultaneously, as we build toward total liberation.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
From a young age, I knew I wanted to speak and write for human and animal rights. Of the many obstacles I have encountered, one stands out because it is still so raw and challenging today. And that is the task of accepting myself, while also striving to grow into a more effective communicator, and how to find that balance.

I have spent much of my young adult life feeling at odds with many of my tendencies. For instance, I desire total solitude far more than even most introverts, love children’s shows no matter how old I get, and feel as sensitive as a soap bubble in a room full of cacti. I often am tempted to move or speak in ways that will appear bizarre (unless I police myself otherwise). I get obsessed with insignificant details and out-there ideas that turn out to be out of sync with social norms. What’s confusing about all of this is that I am able to smooth over these tendencies and act normal and charismatic much of the time, but I feel exhausted. Despite a lack of formal diagnosis, this collection of intense internal chaos has repeatedly driven me to the conclusion that I have “high-masking” level 1 autism or what would previously have been known as Asperger’s. I seek out 1-on-1 support connections with other aspies to savor our shared experience.

Yes, I’m trying to turn my alleged autism into a superpower, but it still often presents a conflict in my writing and in my activism. I want to communicate well. And I can. Sometimes I communicate so exceedingly well, I feel guilty for ever having thought I’m autistic. And I think to myself, for the 237th irrational time, “At last, I’ve outgrown the spectrum!” But not for long, of course. It’s perplexing to live like this, and the only solution I have so far is to just limit how much time I have to spend being professional and coloring inside the lines, so I can breathe and recover. For example, I want to continue authoring pro-animal letters and op-eds for newspapers, in which I will appear highly articulate. Yet, I’ll probably still post my oversharey, very Phoenix updates on Medium at times. When I start to worry that I’ll never attain the positive impact I desire due to my brain type, I remind myself of the advice I would tell anyone else. Forget that “conventional” image, I say, which nobody really fits anyway. Build a foundation of authenticity on which to grow your unique success. In the long run, you’ll go farther and be happier, sustaining a success you feel like you were meant for. I believe in you!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Convergence Station in Denver would be our first stop, as a best friend of mine has highly recommended Meow Wolf’s immersive art. Apart from that, I’d enjoy walking around one of the giant parks with at least one lake (Wash, or perhaps City so we could also see the Denver Museum of Nature & Science), but to tell you the truth, I’m not one to know where all of the exciting places are at. I cook all of my own food and am a diehard homebody. If it were me leading the charge, we’d just wander around the city wherever we feel inspired, and see where the magic of Colorado’s capital takes us.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to shout out Pax Fauna, a research group that helped me see a clearer path to a better world for animals. After blogging about animal issues for a few years and feeling a bit aimless, I read one of Pax Fauna’s studies. In the study, they had asked regular meat-eating Americans, “What comes to mind when you think of animals used for food?”

People generally have some discomfort around this. By asking open-ended questions and listening carefully, the researchers found common patterns in how people avoid or rationalize away these feelings. In later rounds of interviews, the researchers were then able to test different messages to see which ones were persuasive in getting the public on board with liberation for animals. It worked well to suggest the idea of “evolving together,” specifically through voting or through policy change (rather than going vegan on an individual consumer level). It also worked well to center the voices of meat eaters who support a transition away from hurting animals for food, and to address the common objections that come up. Reading Pax Fauna’s reports generated tons of “aha” moments for me. My summary here is just scratching the surface!

I’ve been immersed these past nine months in launching the communications for a ballot initiative campaign here in Denver, called Pro-Animal Future, that is inspired by Pax Fauna’s research. But now that that work is complete, I’m excited to contemplate how I can fully integrate all of Pax Fauna’s suggestions into my independent writing and advocacy for animals. Above all, I want to follow the researchers’ example by actually getting out of my introverted vegan bubble, having deep conversations with people about the use of animals for food on a regular basis, and testing out messages so I can keep improving. Many activists find that fear holds them back from connecting more deeply with people around their cause. When you discover something that dramatically improves your strategy like Pax Fauna’s study did for me, it’s a huge confidence boost. To everyone from Pax Fauna who I got to learn from, I am forever indebted to you!

Website: phoenixhuber.medium.com

Other: proanimal.org