Hey there. Jennifer Snow here, founder of Myth & Verity. Today is November 14th, just over a week since the election, and I feel like I can finally speak to the election and our mission. But before I get to the point of this post, I want to provide a little context.
I have known mortal fear not only for myself, but also for my family and friends because of who I am. I have been publicly out as a trans woman since 1996. As one of the first 10 partnered streamers on Twitch, I was “SWATTED” before there was a term for it and incessantly harassed and attacked by 4chan because of my status. I’ve had family members disown me, had guns aimed at me, knives thrust in my direction, and my life threatened simply for my identity. I’ve been filled with tremendous sorrow because of my research on both the murder rate and the suicide rate of trans folx.
But nothing in my life has come close to instilling the same level of growing fear I have had as the days since the election. Today I fear more for my life and the lives of my loved ones than I did after the terror attacks in 2001, than when someone held a knife to my throat, than I did when I had a gun in my face. All of us, LGBTQ+ or not, are in danger of losing ourselves, losing our humanity. I wish I were being hyperbolic, but a grand teacher history is if one but takes the time to allow her lessons to be learned.
We are a proud people, we Americans. But we are also stubborn and steadfast, which is why I won’t back away from Myth & Verity’s mission—our goal is to help people become authors by offering editing services and editorial support at all stages of the writing process. We focus on LGBTQ+ authors and stories because we know first-hand how difficult it can be for our community to break through the gatekeeping.
There’s an adage: Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.
I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time. For the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case. But, America, if it is: Let us fill the sky with a billion brilliant stars.
Vice President Kamala Harris via Twitter/X
The results of this election have only emboldened us at Myth & Verity in our mission to uplift and promote LGBTQ+ voices, to promote the voices of those who are disadvantaged, to encourage your writing and engender hope.
These walls that are being erected may be new, but their purpose is not: the masonry is meant to silence the voices of the LGBTQ+ community, the voices of minorities, the voices of women, the voices of disadvantaged writers, but the architects of these walls will not succeed. Myth & Verity exists to help uplift those voices, and we will not falter in that endeavor.
Our mission has not changed. We will not back down amidst the sea of hate that has been levied at these communities.
I will not stop pushing for our voices to echo beyond the mountaintops and through the valleys of the world. In the immortal words of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s portrayal of the United States’ Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton:
I am either gonna die on the battlefield in glory or rise up.
Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton the Musical
Our voices will be heard.
