Important Information About Our Intensives
All class times are in Eastern Time. More information about our courses and webinars is available here .
Approximately one week after the intensive takes place, everyone who registered will receive access to the recording on our education site . That site has different login information from the main EFA site. Please check your email one week after the intensive for information on how to access the recording. Recordings are only available to pre-registered students, and are never sold.
Editors are passionate about getting things right, in our personal lives as well as in our work. But at work, you have a style manual and a dictionary. When you’re feeling the call to support your trans colleagues, relatives, and friends as they face a storm of bigotry and oppression, where can you go for authoritative guidance?
Look no further than this four-hour workshop for cisgender people in and around the editorial profession. Led by three trans editors, grounded in personal experience, and leavened with humor, this class will explore the past, present, and future of trans lives, helping you understand not just which actions are helpful but why they help. You’ll learn when to speak up in support and when to look for and lift up trans voices. You’ll also get plenty of tips on how to educate yourself on trans issues, act from a core of compassion while letting go of fear, and handle slip-ups with grace
One thing that won’t be in this class: shame. This isn’t a space for seeking absolution, making apologies, or venting anger over past wrongs; it’s a practical workshop for cis people who actively want to be allies to trans people and just aren’t sure how to go about it. We’ll acknowledge that no one is perfect and then focus on how we can do better.
Trans people get a lot of press, but we’re a tiny minority. We depend on our allies to take action for and with us. Don’t just call yourself an ally (n.); come learn how to ally (v.) with vulnerable members of your community in ways that make a tangible difference.
Prerequisites
Students should have a general understanding of what transgender means and believe that all gender identities are worthy of respect. Reading this trans 101 guide from Advocates for Trans Equality is recommended.
This Intensive Is Free for EFA Members!
Sign in with your EFA member account to access member pricing on all our educational offerings and take this class for free! Not a member? Join now.
Asher Rose Fox (they/them) has been an editor and activist for over 30 years. A longtime EFA member, Asher is proud to serve the community as the EFA’s director of education. They’ve held staff editorial roles at Publishers Weekly, About.com, PCMag, and The Annals of Improbable Research; freelanced for innumerable clients, including Strange Horizons, Popular Mechanics, nonsense nyc, Anesthesiology News, and many individual authors; and volunteered with 10%+, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Arisia, Readercon, and Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives. Asher also co-edited the groundbreaking and award-shortlisted anthology Long Hidden, delighted Twitter as GRAMMARHULK, and played a human aerodrome for paper airplanes at the Ig Nobel Awards. They make things better.
Ley Taylor Johnson (she/they) is a fiction editor and coach based in the Pacific Northwest. Driven by a lifelong passion for storytelling, Ley began their freelance career in the hopes of connecting with indie authors looking to improve their stories and their craft. She now works with new and practiced authors alike, specializing in developmental editing for SFF, romance, and horror. They currently serve as the founder/coordinator of the EFA’s LGBTQ+ affinity group and secretary of the Editors Tea Club. Outside of editing, Ley can be found reading, playing D&D, and obsessing over her hobby of the month. Their own stories (both short and long form) feature queer, neurodivergent protagonists who think too much.
Oliver Dale Ray (he/him) is a writer and community specialist based in Brooklyn, NY. Oliver grew up in Kansas with a passion for becoming a professional storyteller. He followed his dreams to New York, where he graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Creative Writing in 2024. While having studied a wide range of types of writing, Oliver tends to gravitate towards romantic fiction and poetry. At Pratt, Oliver got his start in events as the Pratt Program Board President and was able to continue event work while bookselling at Greenlight Bookstore. Oliver is very proud to serve the EFA community as the EFA’s lead community engagement specialist. Outside of work, Oliver is a huge bird-nerd and an excited bird dad to two cockatiels.
Policies
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