Substack Is Queer

It’s you. I’m here for you.

Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash

You’re laughing right now, probably because:

1. You are queer and you know Substack isn’t, or

2. You’re maybe not queer but you’ve been paying attention.

Thing is, even after so many really great queer/trans/LGBTQIA2S+ writers and readers left the Substack application a while back, some of us have opted to remain. We’re not entirely fossil fuel just yet. Some of us are even writing stuff, popping up in Notes, chatting with one another, and generally having a pretty good time.¹

I’m not gonna draw this out, partly because I feel very strongly that my writing here on TransFriend is less about the platform and more about the community, but in this specific case I’m pitching for community visibility and access, and so I think it makes sense to have a post like this.

Global History

Queer people have been around forever. Trans people have been around forever. We don’t get to leave. We can’t all just move when we’re threatened. We’re being born into places that don’t want us right this very second, and failing to see or acknowledge our existence simply does not work.

Substack History

In Queers We Trust. All Others Pay Cash.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/11/business/media/substack-newsletter-competition.html

I Am Leaving Substack

https://www.transgendermap.com/issues/topics/media/substack/

https://observer.com/2021/04/substack-transphobia-email-sign-ups-harassment/

https://mashable.com/article/substack-writers-leaving-misinformation

https://www.vox.com/recode/22338802/substack-pro-newsletter-controversy-jude-doyle

I mean, I could go on. You don’t need me to help. Just search for “substack is antitrans” and watch your screen fill with great content to catch up on. For me, the bulk of this actually happened before I had even heard about this platform. By the time I showed up, the most notable trans and queer writers had departed, and those few who remained were doggedly pursuing their work with their heads down and their hearts guarded. I became one of them, not completely oblivious to the libs of tiktok crowds and haters that proliferate in these places, but hopeful (if mildly ignorant) that I could sit in the corner and contribute my own wierdo pieces without attracting too much hatred.

And Then Nazis

At the end of 2023, I joined in on the open letter to substack regarding their monetization of Nazis. That letter was originally penned by Marisa Kabas (who now writes on Beehiiv and has an excellent newsletter you should check out) and copied and linked to by over 200 substackers. It was a phenomenal effort that gained significant traction and momentum in a very short period of time, and I’m proud of what transpired. Did we clean out the Nazis? Clearly not. Hamish and others doubled down on their support of “free speech” in the name of keeping hate alive, and a lot more great writers left this platform.

I did not leave. That’s why you’re still reading me here.

Trust me, I thought hard, I waffled, I debated, and I drank quite a few fine glasses of whiskey as I mulled over my options, which were essentially none. Leaving would mean abandoning most of the community I have built here, and it would commit me to utter obscurity (again) as I’m not a big writer, I don’t have a long list of published anything, and nobody would notice me in passing.² This felt less about the personal hit than the one to my beloved queer community, notably the folks like me who showed up late to the party and are standing awkwardly in one corner looking for a friend.

I showed up here to be that friend.

Just like in life, queer folks don’t get a choice as to where we are born. Right now there are families and individuals in this country and others who are relocating for safety, for access to medical care, for employment, and for reasons I know nothing about. And those stories are almost as sad as the ones about the people WHO CANNOT LEAVE.

And that is the real reason I chose to stay here on substack.

No queer person should be forced to leave. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to abandon the queer community that is here, now or in the future. That is my sole reason for being here. It’s you. I’m here for you.³

So Now What?

I recently cruised through my user settings on Substack Notes, and I noticed something odd. There are categories for everything. And I do mean everything. Take a gander at this list.

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🎭️Culture

🕹Technology

💼Business

🇺🇸 U.S. Politics

💰Finance

🍲Food & Drink

🏈Sports

🎨Art & Illustration

🌍World Politics

🏥Health Politics

📰News

🪞Fashion & Beauty

🎶Music

⛪Faith & Spirituality

🌞Climate & Environment

🔬Science

📚Literature

⚔ Fiction

🏥Health & Wellness

🪑Design

🏝 Travel

🚼Parenting

📖Philosophy

💥Comics

🌐International

🔮Crypto

💾History

😂Humor

🚌Education

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Notice anything missing here? How about Queer? Trans? LGBTQIA2S+? I mentioned this in a note, and a few folks agreed that it’s odd to see that big a category missing from the list. So I tagged some friends and they helped spread the word. I am not a popular guy, but even I can see when friends and neighbors and siblings are standing with me on a thing, and this is that thing.

If you click on that note above, you can restack it with or without your own note.

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Here is my request:

Please create a Queer category for our writing to live under.

When I first started my substack I had to choose from these topics to house my work so that others could find me. As a trans and queer writer, I was forced to pick stuff like “culture” an “humor” as the best fit, but “queer” would have gotten me way further toward finding the people who actually want to read the stuff I publish.

Can’t you just use tags?

Well no, tags are user-defined and incredibly subjective, which makes them difficult to search and enlist for this purpose.

Can’t someone search for trans writers?

Absolutely. Go for it. Let me know how that turns out for you. While I have found a few of my fellow trans and queer writers and artists on Substack with this method, it’s also a great way to find anti-trans rhetoric and hate speech. When you’re looking for your community, finding your attackers should not be the price for that search. Also, not everyone puts words like “trans” or “queer” into their newsletter names like I do. Why did I do that? So that you could find me! Which I would not have had to do if only………

Can’t you just use the crypto category?

I literally don’t even know what that is, but it looks like astrology or divination or another mystical entity I’m unfamiliar with, but I like the glittery look and am absolutely willing to co-opt the hell out of it if nobody else knows what that is.

For real. You have crypto but you don’t have Queer? Come on. Do better.

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Here look. I can help. Try this.

🏳️‍🌈Queer

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Your trans friend,

Robin

PS – I’ve created (or used) a few tags for this effort, yet again acknowledging that tags don’t solve the problem, but they do at least allow for some aggregation of content. Please use and share them widely.

#QueerStoriesMatter

#LGBTQIA2S+

#TransLivesMatter

#SubstackIsQueer

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1. Yeah, we can still acknowledge we’re in the back room of a Nazi bar.

2. Yes, that was a trans joke.

3. Yes yes, I know, I am actively working on my abandonment issues with my therapist. I’m in good hands.