1. Revisiting how I worked for months last year on a piece The New Yorker commissioned about seeing my Black queer therapist. They ultimately said it wasn't right for them and paid me a kill fee. I later published it for them.us...
them.us/story/why-i-se…
them.us/story/why-i-se…
2. It is interesting to reflect on how my piece—in which I was asked to personally dig deep into my therapy & spent dozens of hours trying to address my editor's notes—wasn't ultimately right for The New Yorker.
But Steve Bannon WAS right for the New Yorker in Remnick's eyes.
But Steve Bannon WAS right for the New Yorker in Remnick's eyes.
3. Ultimately, I was happy publishing under fellow QTPOC editor @1demerith for @them. It reached a lot of people. People wrote to me and told me how it helped save their life & helped them find a therapist who was queer and/or trans.
THAT wasn't "right" for The New Yorker.
THAT wasn't "right" for The New Yorker.
4. No one told me my "free speech" had been harmed, just that my piece wasn't right for the magazine (despite writing what I'd been commissioned to write).
It wasn't a money issue—they paid me the full amount NOT to publish me!
For all we know, they may pay Bannon a kill fee.
It wasn't a money issue—they paid me the full amount NOT to publish me!
For all we know, they may pay Bannon a kill fee.
5. This is how white liberalism works.
It will pay to publish—or not—a queer PoC writer's essay on the importance of therapy. It's just a game, it's not important. It's just content.
I got another Conde Nast publication to publish it, which was a queer publication..
It will pay to publish—or not—a queer PoC writer's essay on the importance of therapy. It's just a game, it's not important. It's just content.
I got another Conde Nast publication to publish it, which was a queer publication..
6. At the time I was happy because my story reached QTPoC people seeking therapy.
But revisiting this, I am furious.
I refuse to believe my ideas and writing are less important than Steve Bannon's!
It's taken me a lot of therapy to say this (lol), but I know this is true!
But revisiting this, I am furious.
I refuse to believe my ideas and writing are less important than Steve Bannon's!
It's taken me a lot of therapy to say this (lol), but I know this is true!
7. Meanwhile, The New Yorker would have us believe the range of ideas in public debate SHOULD include white nationalist Steve Bannon and should NOT include queer Black Steven Thrasher.
They paid me NOT to publish in their magazine, to exclude my (commissioned!) ideas.
They paid me NOT to publish in their magazine, to exclude my (commissioned!) ideas.
8. And that, my friends, is white establishment media gatekeeping in a nutshell.
It is immoral, unethical, homophobic, xenophobic, unimaginative, crazy-making, and racist.
The End.
It is immoral, unethical, homophobic, xenophobic, unimaginative, crazy-making, and racist.
The End.
