Hi friends,
You likely know by now that QSL is hosted on the social media site Substack - meaning that it is subject to corporate overlords. Recently, the corporate overlords at Substack have made conscious decisions to partner with misinformation-peddling hate mongers and to continue to allow discriminatory language targeting marginalized groups to flourish on its platforms. I can no longer, in good conscience, encourage you to give your money to Substack which takes 10% of all subscription revenue. Therefore, I am turning off paid subscriptions for QSL. If you feel so inclined to support my work financially, you may “Buy Me a Coffee” through a one-time donation.
Further, I hereby cosign the open letter penned by in opposition to the dissemination of hate on this platform. I include the text of the letter below for you to read. Please share Robin’s letter widely. Together, our voices can have huge impacts.
I will be back soon with some amazing queer science for you! Thank your for subscripting to QSL! 💜
love, ev
Dear Substack Community -
When you came to Substack to write or create or read, you probably thought this would be a cool place to grow and explore. And it is. But Substack leadership has put a lot of mechanisms in place to promote and platform voices that are large, hateful, and intent on harming others through disinformation.
We—the collective, small voices of creators and community members on Substack—believe that this is wrong, it is hurtful, and it has the potential to stifle growth for many of us. Worse, it further marginalizes many of us who are actively targeted by the increasing wave of local and global laws, policies, and social stigmas being promoted around us.
Small voices have big power when we stand together in solidarity, and most of the publications on Substack are small, just like us. This means we get to decide how and where we spend our time, money, and attention.
Signers of this letter believe in the following:
We help our neighbors by calling out hate-speech, racism, misogyny, intolerance, bigotry, xenomisia, homomisia, transmisia, ableism, genocide, and violence when and where we see it by reporting and blocking such content and sharing the collective knowledge about harmful accounts.
We endeavor to build community by caring for one another. Caring means showing up for one another even (especially) when it is hard or scary to do.
We reject the intentional platforming of voices that spread hatred and disinformation.
We stand proudly for kindness and inclusivity, and we invite you to stand with us. Small voices can achieve huge change when we unite.
Signed,
Small Voices against Big Hatred