AN ANTHOLOGY
OPEN CALL
Erase Erasure.
A national creative anthology of transgender and nonbinary lives in the United States
At a time when trans civil rights, histories, health data, and lives are simultaneously being spotlighted, contested, suppressed, and weaponized through disinformation, this national creative anthology brings together first-person scholarship, narrative, visual art, and multimedia.
Compiled as counter-record by the people most often spoken about and least often asked.
EDITED BY:
Drs. Restar, Gamarel, and Operario
PILOT COHORT: 6-10 contributors
ABOUT
Our stories are our data.
Our stories make us visible to one another and to history.
And our lives, documented honestly, can interrupt the machinery of erasure.
In an era of mounting social and legislative scrutiny and hypervisibility, when trans civil and political rights, histories, health, culture, data, and lives are simultaneously being spotlighted, contested, and erased, Erase Erasure documents what it means to exist as transgender and nonbinary individuals and communities in contemporary America.
We view this anthology as an archive. A collection of witnesses. A time capsule for trans lives and futures.
From disinformation campaigns that distort our realities to legislation that criminalizes our care, from data suppression that renders us invisible in public infrastructure to enforced invisibility in everyday life and access to fundamental, erasure operates on every level.
This project documents contributors’ everyday moments with families and peers to public protests, from small-town reckonings to systems-level injustices, to reveal the layered and often contradictory experience of navigating erasure and visibility as trans today.
Not all experiences and truths can be captured through data alone, especially data that is severely under threat of suppression, erasure, and exclusion from federal investments.
The pilot issue will gather six to ten contributors. It assembles contemporaneous evidence: first-person essays, poetry, visual art, and multimedia works by trans and nonbinary writers, artists, researchers, and community members.
Why This Creative Anthology Matters
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Public-health record.
Documents the impact of erasure on health, safety, and well-being, evidence that cannot be scrubbed from surveillance or surveys.
Evidence · Data
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Legal counter-narrative.
Preserves firsthand accounts and testimonies that show the impact of legislation on trans lives.
Testimony · Accounts
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Community mirror.
Offers trans and nonbinary communities a creative avenue in which they recognize themselves, not only as subject of study, but also as creators and artists.
Recognition · Voice
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Messages forward.
A compendium addressed to future generations: what we knew, what we made, what we insisted on holding in the record.
Legacy · Continuity
THE INVITATION
We invite trans scholars, thinkers, and creative members and visionary leaders to explore the following questions through their work:
How are you (or your communities) experiencing erasure and/or visibility in contemporary America – through legislation, healthcare systems, education, relationships, and beyond?
What are your social, legal, and medical realities in today's America?
How are you navigating gender-affirming care or experiencing healthcare discrimination
What are your encounters with legal systems (ID changes, criminalization, anti-trans laws)?
What do you wish your families, teachers, schoolmates, and lawmakers to understand about your individual and/or our collective experiences?
How are you pursuing or navigating your health, healing, and well-being as trans?
What are our collective visions, hopes, and demands for future generations?
What histories, burdens, and strengths do we carry — and how do we actively work to erase the erasure imposed upon us?
Whether through words, images, or multimedia, we want to uplift your vision, voice, and perspectives: honest, joyful, defiant, or tender. You do not need to be a professional writer or artist. This is about telling how you, as a member of trans communities, are experiencing America.
We welcome submissions in the following formats:
Personal essays, reflections, or letters(up to 3,000 words)
Poetry (minimum of 3 poems, up to 6 poems per submission)
Visual art or photography (high-resolution preferred)
Short video or multimedia storytelling (5 - 8 minutes, with transcription)
As this anthology will be showcased virtually first (and in hopefully print later), we ask that you include a portrait-style image (color or black-and-white) is encouraged to go along with bio (300 words max).
We're especially seeking work that explores the questions above. If your work is selected for inclusion, you will receive a $500** per submission as a thank-you for your contribution.
**subject to applicable taxes. Contributors will retain copyright to their work. Published submissions will appear under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, which allows sharing with attribution, prohibits commercial use, and does not permit derivative works.