Call for Submissions: Intersectional Ace Survivor Stories

Resources for Ace Survivors is starting a new series, and we’re asking for submissions from you, the wider RFAS community (as well as anyone else who would like to submit).

The theme of the series is Intersectional Ace Survivor Stories.  The RFAS writing team decided on this theme, because we know how incredibly diverse the RFAS community is, but we don’t have much writing about the intersection of ace survivorhood with other identities and experiences.  To give you an idea of the diversity of the community, I can tell you that half of the current RFAS writing team is mixed race, around 40% of the people on The List are trans and/or non-binary, 25% of The List has signed up specifically to talk about disability and/or chronic pain/illness, and the majority of the people on The List have volunteered to talk about mental illness (most commonly PTSD, but we also have people with anxiety, depression, OCD, etc.).  And this is just information I have from people who have volunteered for The List!  We know that a lot of you who have connected through The List have had some great conversations on these topics and offered advice and support on how to navigate those intersections, so we’d love to have a more public record of those exchanges!

Here are some prompts to get you started:

• How has intersectional identity or experience impacted you as an ace survivor?  What is your particular experience as a Deaf ace survivor, a Black ace survivor, a trans woman ace survivor, an ace survivor who has been through foster care, a bi ace survivor, a Jewish ace survivor, etc.?
• How has the intersection of being an ace survivor and another identity or experience impacted your recovery?  Your access to health care?  Your access to support networks and communities?
• What advice would you give to others navigating your particular intersection?  What have you found particularly helpful?  What have you found unhelpful?
• What resources do you wish existed for people inhabiting your particular intersection?
• What do you most want ace survivors (or even other aces) who don’t inhabit your particular intersection to know?  What can they do to better support and affirm you?

Feel free to write about any of these or something entirely different!

How to submit:

1. You can post something on your blog (either on tumblr or off) and then submit the link via the submission box.  Or you can send me an ask and I’ll reblog/link your piece.  I can also cross-post your piece to our wordpress and/or tumblr and link back to the original post on your blog.  Just let me know your preference.

2. You can type your submission directly into the submission box on tumblr or the submission box on our main website.  Please be sure to specify if you’d like the post to be anonymized.  (I’ve also added a “please anonymize this submission” tag in the tumblr submission box.)

3. You can send your submission to submit@asexualsurvivors.org.  Please make sure to specify whether you’d like to have it posted anonymously or under your name (or a pseudonym).

When you submit, please be sure to specify whether you’d like your piece posted both to tumblr and wordpress or to only one platform.  If you’re unsure which is the safest or best option, feel free to talk to us, and we’ll be happy to give you further information.

We’re looking forward to reading your submissions!