![People with Inconvenient Truths about Transphobes [PITT]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YttD!,w_120,h_120,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F704ba0db-3e10-4112-9364-c2f224d0cfae_500x500.png)
THIS SUBSTACK HAS MOVED
New writing will live at valah.blog. My Q&A section has evolved into a proper wiki at wiki.valah.blog. And last month, I built four standalone tools - resources that live outside any platform’s walls:
iscisaslur.info — A reference on why “cis” is a straightforward descriptor, not a slur, countering the manufactured grievance used to police trans language.
terfisntaslur.com — A deconstruction of the propaganda site TERFisaSlur.com, exposing the logical fallacies, cherry-picked evidence, and manipulative tactics used to construct the narrative that “TERF is a slur” and that trans people are violent or threatening.
didshecheat.org — A direct rebuttal to claims that trans women have competitive advantages in sports, presenting peer-reviewed research and debunking the methodology behind anti-trans athletic monitoring sites.
isrogdreal.org — A simple redirect to my ROGD wiki article - a solid refutation of the pseudoscientific “rapid onset gender dysphoria” construct.
What doesn’t change: Everything I have published here will remain as an archive, with clear pointers directing readers to the new site. The content has always been free, and it always will be. Your subscription transfers automatically; if you prefer it didn’t, please unsubscribe now.
If you write on Substack and have been considering whether your presence aligns with your values: I encourage you to examine that question seriously. I recognize that constraints differ - some are locked into contracts, dependent on specific features, or anchored to communities that haven’t yet left or fractured. I am not judging those who cannot leave or choose not to. But if you are able, I highly encourage you to do so. Migration is technically straightforward, and for those who earn from your publication, you will likely earn more: Substack takes 10% of revenue forever, while a self-hosted Ghost instance runs roughly $5–15/month plus email infrastructure (around $0.50 per 1,000 emails via Mailgun). Unless you are moving with fewer than 50 paid subscribers at $10/month, Ghost pays for itself.
Migration resources:
Ghost’s official Substack importer handles content and subscribers directly
Molly White’s self-hosting walkthrough covers the edge cases and technical details
Read Only Memo’s guide for Mailgun and Cloudflare configuration
Ghost(Pro) hands-on migration service for annual plans
Not a migration source, but a lovely chat regarding digital sovereignty that acted as a bit of a catalyst for this post, and one I recommend you watch/listen:
The technical advantage is real. Ghost’s Mastodon integration threads directly to the fediverse (and Bluesky, via a technology bridge), distributing reach across networks rather than trapping it in one algorithm, but the primary advantage is architectural. Consider that this fills a gap that Substack had some unique claim to: notes and the twitter-like social engagement. Mastodon and Bluesky fill this gap while also broadening your reach beyond what Substack provides within its walled garden. But this architectural advantage extends beyond just technological; consider when Substack pushes swastikas to phones and waits four months to admit it lost your data, the distinction between neutrality and complicity collapses.
Some will say “now is not the time”- a common historical rebuttal and call for moderation and patience, but one I argue means that not only have they not read “Letters From a Birmingham Jail” but if they did, they did not listen with an open mind nor where they willing to learn to what it teaches. To which I point to Baldwin, who replied:
“We cannot be expected to wait passively for our liberation while the world passes by” - James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
NOW IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT TIME TO STAND FOR EQUALITY AND JUSTICE.
Not just this pivotal sociopolitical movement we are being faced with today. Not just the forced remigration effort underway, the whitewashing and historical revisionism, the forced trans exodus, or the renewed attacks on gay rights. Every moment. Every second of every minute of every hour of every day is the right time to stand for equality and justice for all.
Our liberation is collective, or it is nothing.
Thank you for reading, whether you joined me yesterday or eighteen months ago, or if choose to continue to do so. Your comments, feedback, chats, and engagement mean the world to me, and I hope to see it continue.
Find the work at valah.blog.
Find the references at wiki.valah.blog.
Use the links as rhetorical tools: iscisaslur.info · terfisntaslur.com · didshecheat.org · isrogdreal.org.
—PITT
