this account is inactive lmao

Stepan:

TERF - Trans Excluding/Erasing/Exterminating/Eradicating* Radical Feminist:

Someone who believes that trans women are not women and don’t belong in women’s spaces. They believe that trans women are predatory cis men pretending to be women in order to have sex with lesbians.

*The true meaning of the “E” has been debated, but in the grand scheme of things, whichever one you choose, they’re all bad.

Excluding: TERFs attempt to exclude trans folk (especially trans women) from participating in feminist and LGBQ spaces, both physically and online. They attempt to prevent trans folk from accessing community, needed resources and care.

Erasing: TERFS attempt to rewrite history, and reframe it excluding the contributions of trans folk (especially trans women of color) As well, terfs attempt to gaslight and convince trans men that they are not actually trans / suffering from internaligised misogyny.

Exterminating / Eradicating: TERFs will resort to violence and death to pursue their ideologies. Also included are withholding needed support to cause harm and death to trans folk, not just physical murder.

SWERF - Sex Worker Excluding/Erasing/Exterminating/Eradicating* Radical Feminist:

Someone who believes that sex workers (those who make money from pornography or prostitution) are not feminist / not valuable / should not be welcome in feminist / women’s spaces. They believe that women participating in pornography or prostitution are upholding patriarchy and damaging the feminist movement. SWERFs believe that women who perform sex work are never their of their own volition, are always being exploited and must be rescued from from any and all sex work. Sex work should be outlawed completely.

EDIT: Also includes discrimination against performance sex workers like strippers / pole dancers, etc.

Truscum aka transmedicalists:

Someone who believes that you must experience body dysphoria in order to be trans. They also tend to be attached to the gender binary and erase or exclude anyone who does not conform to a male / female gender identity (genderfluid, non-binary, agender, bi-gender, etc)

Ace exclusionists:

Someone who believes that ace-spectrum people are not inherently LGBTQ+ and do not belong in LGBTQ+ spaces. They see ace people as secretly cis/straight invaders and leeches to LGBTQ+ programs and resources. They also tend to believe that the definition of LGBTQ+ centres around those who experience discrimination for same-sex attraction, and therefore ace folk do not belong.

Trans women are women. Sex workers can be free and feminist. Non-medical trans people are trans. Ace people are LGBTQPIA+.

Know why we do not welcome those people.

Additions:

Bi/Pan Exclusionist:

Someone who believes that bisexual/romantic and pansexual/romantic people do not belong in the LGBTQIA+ community due to experiencing heterosexual attraction as well as other attractions. They can “pass” as straight and are therefore not oppressed. Bi and Pan Exclusionists also see Bi/Pan people as “fakers” or “confused” and either gay people suffering from internalized homophobia or straight people trying to claim oppression where none exists.

@keshetaylonit

JERF: Jewish Excluding/Erasing Radical Feminist

Someone who does not include Jews, or erases Jews, from their activism. Thinks Jews are privileged, that they whine, are white, etc.

JEA: Jewish Exclusionary/Erasing Activism

Activism, like from the Women’s March or Chicago’s D*ke March, that excludes Jews, or erases their oppression, or even existence.

@boatiechat

Just another distinction: TERF means Trans Exclusionary Radical FEMINIST. It means that their arguments are couched in Feminist rhetoric. They argue that trans women are not really women, that they are a threat to (cis) women, invading their spaces, stealing their resources. They argue that there is something exclusive to being a cis woman that trans women do not experience. ETC Sometimes, people use “TERF” and “transphobe” interchangeably, which is incorrect. For example, Trump banning trans people from the military is not TERFy, it is transphobic, because Trump is not a feminist, and he did not use feminist (”pro cis women”) arguments to reject trans people.

@0roboros

There’s quite a bit more to TERFs so I’ll just outline a few more things about them;

A) TERFs have been, and continue to be, the cause of death of many trans individuals. TERFs will dox trans women, harass them, and try and get them fired from their jobs. They have and will attack trans women, verbally and physically. So there is a real danger to these people that goes beyond the internet.

B) TERFs also hate and bully trans men. For trans men, they believe that they are women with internalized misogyny. They often accuse the transgender community of “stealing” their “butch lesbians.” If a trans man is gay, then he’s a “straight woman invading gay men’s spaces” or some such nonsense.

C) TERFs will often manipulate the stores of de-transitioned people in order to make it appear as if all trans people de-transition at some point in their life. They also use  these narratives to push the idea that being transgender is a mental illness. However, upon further analysis, most of these stories turn out to be exaggerations or falsehoods. Current studies estimate the number of de-transitioners to be in the ballpark of less than 2%. So we can conclude that it is fairly uncommon, and usually situational.

D) TERFs are responsible for some anti-trans legislation, and many TERFs are professors at well respected institutions. Do not underestimate them as keyboard warriors. These are real, dangerous people spreading violent ideology against trans people.

E) Finally, TERF is not a slur. The term TERF was actually invented by radical feminists who wished to separate themselves from those who were transphobic. However, to avoid the term, which now has a negative connotation, they will call themselves; gender critical feminists, radfems, radical feminists, cisgender trans women (an oxymoron) and a variety of other bullshit terms. Anytime you see this symbol, be wary;

This is a symbol of TERFs. So if you see it on someone’s blog, used as a header, etc, they’re most likely a TERF. They also thoroughly enjoy using URLs that have something to do with the reproductive system, for some reason. Like “proud-uterus-womyn123″ or whatever.

@acosmic

TERFs:

(cis men are often just transphobes and not affiliated with transphobic radical feminism. there are some cis male TERFs, but female TERFS are better-organized and more widely spread.)

(transpeople by christopher a. shelley isn’t 100% solid, but there’s a good section on TERFs. highly recommended.)

they’re hostile and incredibly dangerous to both trans men and women, though: they do believe that trans women are cis men trying to sleep with lesbians, and focus on trans women as harassment targets, but also (to a lesser degree) will harass trans men under the guise of “helpfulness”, patronizingly imploring them to “accept their lesbianism” and stop “pretending to be men.” we all know that false benevolence to hide terrible views is bullshit. don’t believe them when they say they’re trying to help.

they’re… like nazis, in that they’re beyond reasoning with and that even allowing discussion of their “ideologies” allows for hate speech to spread. save a trans person some pain! block, blocklist, and ignore a TERF today!

TRUSCUM/transmedicalists

“dysphoria,” in truscum mindset means “solely physical dysphoria” - with regards to one’s body, oft including genitals.

dysphoria can actually be more than physical! social dysphoria is a big thing, and it’s likely what clues most “non-dysphoric” trans people into the fact that they’re trans. (that and gender euphoria when presenting/gendered correctly).

LOTS of non-binary people, and a fair amount of binary trans people, don’t medically transition.

trans-related resources aren’t super limited and further limited by nonbinary/non-dysphoric use, they’re fucking governmentally gatekept and impacted by shitty, slow, expensive, and invasive medical systems. regulations, incl. “gender therapy” (which is itself shitty and gatekeeping) and mandatory amount of time spent presenting as your “preferred gender”, etc., make transitioning harder to access, and that’s because of the government, not other trans folks. anyone who manages to get through all the bureaucratic nonsense that comes with transitioning has fucking earned it - but we shouldn’t have to. and truscum (or at least some of them) want to keep these barriers up, or make them harder to get through.

as mentioned by prev. commenter.

personally, i think some of this stems from internalized transphobia. but that still doesn’t make it fucking justifiable.

pal, social transition works wonders too. and some people can “pass” without hormones. some people CAN’T go on hormones for medical or financial reasons. none of that justifies being an exclusionist asshole.

some people DO identify as trans and then stop doing so, or change their labels. identity is fluid. let people experiment and don’t be a jerk.

They say sorry a lot because they’re genuinely afraid they’ve insulted you somehow

They ask if they’re annoying because they genuinely think they’ve somehow annoyed you

They say things are ‘awkward’ because they can be uncomfortable in any situation, no matter who with, they don’t mean to personally hurt you

They cry because sometimes people and situations are too much, not because they’re looking for attention

They don’t text you a lot because they’re clingy, it’s because if you don’t reply, they think they’ve done something wrong

They can be set off by little things, so don’t say they’re overreacting when they panic

Please be patient with those who have anxiety

So there was a list going around tumblr for a while that made it to my dash of literary journals that accept open submissions (and will pay!), but upon inspection about half of them were closed indefinitely, and I found quite a few other places that looked interesting through further research, so I wanted to post my own list. 

I tried to focus on things that paid professional grade (at least 6 cents per word), were friendly to speculative fiction, and specifically encouraged diversity and writing about marginalized groups.

(Please note that as of right now I have never submitted or been published with any of these, so if anyone has experience with them, good or bad, please feel free to message or reblog this with your experiences.)

Speculative Fiction

Strange Horizons — Speculative fiction (broadly defined) with an emphasis on diversity, unusual styles, and stories that address politics in nuanced ways. 8c per word. Up to 10,000 words, under 5,000 preferred. Responds within 40 days. LGBT+ positive.

Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine — Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc. 7-12c per word. Up to 25,000 words. No response times listed.

Asimov’s Science Fiction — Primarily sci-fi but accepts fantasy and surreal fiction, but no high fantasy/sword and sorcery. Prefers writing that is character driven. 8-10c per word. 1,000-20,000 words. Responds in about five weeks.

Evil Girlfriend Media — Horror and urban fantasy centered on female empowerment and defying gender stereotypes. $100 flat payment. 4,000-7,000 words. No response times given. LGBT+ friendly.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies — Fantasy with a focus on secondary worlds and characters. 6c per word. Up to 10,000 words. Average response time 2-4 weeks.

Fantastic Stories — Speculative fiction with an emphasis on diversity and literary style. 15c per word. Up to 3,000 words. Responds within two weeks. LGBT+ positive.

Fiction Vortex — Serialized fantasy and speculative fiction. $300 for featured stories, $50 otherwise. 3,500 words or less. No response times given.

Shimmer — Speculative fiction with an emphasis on diversity, strong plots, vivid characters, and beautiful writing. 5c per word. 7,500 words or less (will consider longer words with query letter). Usually responds within two weeks. LGBT+ positive.

Clarkesworld Magazine — Sci-fi, fantasy, and other speculative fiction. 10c per word up to 5,000 words, 8c per word after. 1,000-16,000 words. Responds within days usually, gives a tracking number.

Apex Magazine — Speculative fiction of all kinds. 6c per word, +1c per word for podcast stories. Up to 7,500 words, all submissions over will be auto-rejected. Responds within 30 days.

Heliotrope Magazine — Speculative fiction of all kinds. 10c per word. Up to 5,000 words. Responds within 30 days.

Lightspeed Magazine — Speculative fiction of all kinds, with creativity and originality in terms of style and format encouraged. 8c per word. 1,500-10,000 words, under 5,000 preferred. LGBT+ positive. Submissions temporarily closed for their main magazine but is accepting for their People of Color Destroy Science Fiction special.

General Fiction

The Sun Magazine — General fiction, likes personal writing or writing of a cultural/political significance. $300-$1500 flat payment  and a one year subscription to the magazine for fiction (also accepts essays and poetry). No minimum or maximum lengths but over 7,000 words discouraged. Responds in 3-6 months. Physical submissions only.

One Story — Any and all varieties of fiction, “unique and interesting” stories encouraged. $500 payment plus 25 contributor copies. 3,000-8,000 words. Usually responds in 2-3 months.

Camera Obscura — General fiction. $1000 for featured story, $50 for “Bridge the Gap” award, no payment for other contributors. 250-8,000 words. Response time vary, running just over two months as of now.

Flash Fiction 

Daily Science Fiction — Speculative flash fiction (including sci-fi, fantasy, slipstream, etc.). 8c per word. Up to 1,500 words, but shorter stories given priority. Response times not listed.

Vestral Review — General flash fiction. 3-10c per word depending on length to a max of $25. Up to 500 words. Response within four months.

Flash Fiction Online — General flash fiction. $60 flat payment. 500-1,000 words. Response times not listed.

Novels/Novella

Riptide Publishing — Any LGBTQ manuscripts between 15,000 and 150,000 words. Currently especially interested in lesbian romances, trans stories, asexual/aromantic stories, romances with a happy ending, and genre fiction such as urban fantasy. Also has a YA branch.  LGBT+ positive.

Crimson Romance — Romance stories of all kinds, currently seeking LGBT+ stories with a focus on emotional connections and relationships, especially m/m romance. Novel (55,000-90,000 words) or novella (20,000-50,000 words) length.  LGBT+ positive.

Kindle Direct Publishing 

Kindle Direct Publishing — Allows you to set your own prices, create your own cover art, and make royalties off of each sell. Any and all genres are welcome and if you’re prolific and smart about how you’re publishing you can make pretty good money.

General Guide to Kindle Publishing — Gives a good rundown of the publishing process on Kindle.

101 Guide to Kindle Erotica — Great guide with lots of resources about how to make money publishing erotica on Kindle.   

Publishing Comics/Graphic Novels

Here is a list of potential comic companies and what kind of open submissions they accept.  

A small fat bird, like the above, is the hieroglyph used in Ancient Egyptian to mean “wicked” or evil”.

The phrase above him (the inscription should be read from the top down) is “Nb s3″ or “Lord of the son of”. Genitive is usually implied in this sort of phrase without a connecting word, meaning:

THEY ARE NOT

IF YOUR CRAMPS ARE THIS BAD AND YOU’RE NOT A TEENAGER, SEE A DOCTOR

I REPEAT: THEY ARE NOT NORMAL. YOU COULD ACTUALLY BE ILL