Support, answered quietly.

Reading is always free. Every story, essay, and poem on My Lesbian Secret is openly accessible — no paywall, no signup wall, no email gate. We believe queer women's writing shouldn't sit behind a subscription that excludes the people who need it most.

We're supported by a small circle of recurring readers and by optional tips from writers whose work resonates. If you'd like to support the archive, you can find the link in the site's main menu.

Never. You can publish under a pen name, an initial, or a chosen name — whatever feels safest. The only name we ever need on file is one our editors can use to communicate with you, and even that stays confidential inside the editorial team.

Many of our writers use the same pen name across submissions, while others change names with each piece. Both are welcome. See our submission page for the full anonymity options.

Every submission passes through a human editor before publication. We do not run automated approvals. Our moderation standards reject content that is explicitly homophobic, transphobic, racist, or that depicts non-consensual acts in a celebratory way.

We do not censor difficult subjects. Sex, kink, heartbreak, addiction, abuse survival, complicated desire — these are all welcome as long as they're written by the person they happened to, and as long as no one is being harmed by the publishing of the work itself.

Yes — at any time, for any reason. Email us from the address you used to submit and we will remove the piece within 72 hours. We don't require explanations, we don't run a takedown queue with conditions, and we won't argue.

If you only want the piece taken down from search engines but want to keep a private archive copy, we can do that too. Your story, your call, always.

We don't require accounts to read. We don't run third-party tracking scripts, we don't fingerprint browsers, and we don't load advertising pixels. Your visit to a story leaves only a generic server log, kept for 30 days for security purposes, then purged.

Writers' contact details are stored in a separate, encrypted submissions database that only the lead editor can access. We will never sell, trade, or share reader or writer data — there is no exception to that rule.

Please do — sharing is how queer writing survives. If the author has asked for a pen name, that pen name is the only one you should use in your post. Avoid screenshots that include author bios, email addresses, or anything from the original submission thread.

If a writer later asks for their work to be taken down, please remove your social post too. It's a small act that protects someone who trusted us with their words.

Yes — explicitly and enthusiastically. The site's name is a nod to the lesbian history our community grew up with, and that history has always included trans women, butch identity, and people who live between and beyond the binary.

If you have a story that fits under the broader umbrella of queer women's experience — including sapphic, bi, pan, asexual, and trans narratives — you are welcome to send it to us.

Report it. Every story page has a discreet "flag this" link at the bottom. Your report goes to the editorial team and is reviewed within 24 hours. If something is urgent — a credible threat, a doxxing attempt, a cry for help — we forward it to the appropriate safety resources.

You don't have to give us your name to report. We take anonymous flags as seriously as named ones.

For everything except emergencies, the safest channel is our editorial inbox at [email protected]. For sensitive matters — takedowns, safety flags, identity questions — write to [email protected], which is read only by the lead editor.

If you ever need to reach us in a hurry, the contact section below lists a PGP key and an encrypted form. We never DM first, and we never ask for your phone number over email.

Only with the author's permission. We help facilitate reprint requests — email us with the link and where you'd like to publish, and we'll forward the ask. Most writers say yes if it's a respectful venue that credits them properly.

Never copy a story to another site, a content mill, or an AI training dataset. Our terms explicitly prohibit scraping, and we actively monitor for it.