QSL Announcement on Leaving Substack

Hi friends,

Today, I am writing to share that this is the last QSL dispatch on Substack. I can no longer justify having my work exist for the profit of this morally bankrupt company. Moving forward, Queer Science Lab will be hosted on beehiiv. In fact, the new site is already live, including all of my old posts.

QSL started here on Substack in late March 2024. I didn’t know what to expect, but what I found was a vibrant community of people of all different backgrounds who are writing from the heart.

If you just read QSL in your email inbox, you may not know that Substack is not just a vehicle for publishing but also a social network. You can share your own writings, read others’ writing, and build connections within an online community.

I’ve met and befriended many Substack writers and users who radiate love and joy in palpable ways. I have so enjoyed meeting all of you and am grateful for your support and encouragement over the last 16 months. I plan to continue reading and engaging with your work moving forward. You can also still join us on the discord, if you’d like.

But, QSL itself will be moving. I’ve known for a while that Substack’s leadership is ~problematic~. It is funded by a man who envisions a technofeudalist future, and the site refuses to deplatform Nazis. When Substack partnered with noted transphobe Bari Weiss, I turned off paid subscriptions to deny them revenue from my work. The last straw for me was it’s recent push alert prompting users to subscribe to a Nazi publication, titled NatSoc Today. NatSoc is short for national socialist. In German, that’s nationalsozialismus. The publication’s profile and Substack’s push notification prominently feature a swastika.

Substack users deserve better than the poison the company is pouring into their brains. I sincerely hope that the platform’s leadership actually addresses the literal Nazis on this site, but I’ve lost faith in their commitment to the people who have made Substack a success.

All of my past writing and the QSL membership list has already been transferred to the new site. However, I could not transfer the comments. If you have commented on a previous post, I thank you from the bottom of the heart and am sorry that they will be lost in the move.

I will keep the QSL archive available on Substack for one week after this announcement is published. On August 6, 2025, I will delete all the old posts and leave this as the only item on the QSL Substack site.

Anyway, I am excited for what comes next at QSL! New post out tomorrow, so check you inbox :)

As a housekeeping note, I have reopened the paid subscriber option (in addition to the ability to Buy Me a Coffee), which you can find over on the new site. All of my writing will remain free.

Regardless, thank you all so much for reading QSL and for being lovely people!

sending hugs :)

💜ev💜