THESOLI DARI TYMANI FESTO Everyonei sbi sexualand/ ort ransgenderenough regardlessofyourexperi ences andbackground.Y ou countandyou areavaluedmemberoft hi scommuni t y. Wearemi ndfulnotonlyoft he“ what ”ofouract i vi sm,butalsot he“ how” .The cont entofourworki sj ustasi mport antashow i tmakespeoplefeel. Ourgoali st ocreat ecommuni t i est hatareheali ng,safe,lovi ngandfun andt hat ext endbeyondorgani sedact i vi t i esi nt oanet workofgenui neconnect i on, fri endshi p,andsupport . Forus,a“ safecommuni t y”doesn’ tmean neveraddressi nghardornegat i vet opi cs, nort hatt herei sneverconfront at i on ordi sagreement .I tmeanst hatweare mi ndfulofhow weengagewi t ht hoset hi ngsandwi t h each ot her.Wedon’ taddress anyt hi ngj ustt oberi ghtorri ght eous,wedoi tt ogrow asacommuni t yandas i ndi vi duals. Wet reateach ot herwi t h ki ndness,respect ,andt ransparency. Allmembersofourcommuni t yarei mport antandvalued,regardlessofhow respect ablet heyappear.Wewelcomepeoplewhoareconfused,promi scuous, nonmonogamous,andfl amboyantj ustaswarmlyast hosewhofi tsoci et al expect at i ons,becauseweseest ereot ypesashavi ngsubversi vepower,notas somet hi ngt obeashamedof.Wedon’ tleaveanyonebehi nd. Weunderst andt hatj oi ni ngan est abli shedgroupcan bechallengi ngandwemake an effortt omakenewcomersi n ourcommuni t yfeeli ncludedandwelcome. Ourcommuni t yi snotj ustforext rovert sorforpeoplewhohavean easyt i me part i ci pat i ngi n groups.Weunderst andanxi et yandshynessanddoourbestt o welcomeandaccommodat eeveryone.Wedon’ tputpeopleon t hespotorpressuret hem t opart i ci pat ei n anyact i vi t yt heydon’ twantt o. Weunderst andt hatLGBT+vocabularycan seemconfusi ngandi nt i mi dat i ngandt hat noteveryonei sfami li arwi t hi t .Weassumet hatpeoplei n ourcommuni t yhavegood i nt ent i onsandaredoi ngt hei rbest .Wet reatmi st akesandmi sunderst andi ngswi t h empat hyandpat i ence.Peoplehaveari ghtt omakemi st akes,learn,andgrow wi t houtfaci ngresent ment ,personalat t acks,ort hefearoflosi ngt hei rcommuni t y. Webeli evet hatbei ngaki ndandcompassi onat eperson i smorei mport antt han knowi ngt hepoli t i callycorrectt ermi nologyoft hemoment .Wecan neverbeperfect , butwecan beki nd. Wehonour,explore,andcreat ebi sexualandt ransgendercult ure,poli t i cs,and hi st orybeyondt hei nt ernetandAmeri can medi a. Wecreat ean envi ronmentwherepeoplefeelsafet obeopen andvulnerable. Werespectandvalueeverybodyregardlessofsi ze,di sabi li t y,andpresent at i on. Humouri sapowerfult oolfort ackli nghardt opi cs. Languagei sourt ool,notourendgoal.Theendlessvari et yofwaysweunderst and anddefi neourgendersandsexuali t i esenri chesus.Ourcommuni t ywasnevermeant t obeeasyt ounderst and,nort oswallow,andweembracet hat .Wedon’ tletourselves beli mi t edbylanguage,andwehavefun wi t hi t .
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