The Twin Oaks Women’s Gathering is committed to creating an inclusive community of respect and sisterhood. We strive to welcome and honor all who are oppressed as or identify as women, regardless of gender assigned at birth.
We ask you to join us in this commitment by upholding the following guidelines for respectful treatment of everyone in our community:
- Help us maintain an environment that is free from judgment or bullying of any woman based on her race, age, size, ability, education, religion, or perceived gender.
- As a community, we acknowledge trans women as women, and honor them as such. Our inclusion of all women is not up for debate within the context of our gathering.
- We don’t do gender policing here, acknowledging the full diversity of womanhood means that women don’t need to look a certain way to be seen as women. (Duh!)
- Please respect our nonbinary participants by using their pronouns while accepting them as members of our community.
- Participants must refrain from using language that silences and shuts down others. This includes any term that is derogatory towards trans people or gendered pronouns as deliberate slurs. We do not tolerate language used to hurt or silence women of color or different abilities.
- Don’t call people TERFs; we take transphobia very seriously and we believe that using this term precludes the ability to grow and change. Please address any problematic behaviors or derogatory language use specifically, either with the person in question or with the organizers.
- Make sure to ask before touching someone. Help us defy the cultural expectation that women’s bodies are public property! This includes pregnant women, women of color and their hair, children, and everyone else. We encourage a cuddly environment, and we want to make sure that everyone’s boundaries are being respected.
- We encourage you to join us in continuing to educate ourselves and each other about oppressions that affect any women or any part of our community.
If a participant violates our inclusion guidelines intentionally, unapologetically or repeatedly this can result in losing one’s welcome at the event. We will prioritize the needs of those with less structural power or privilege.
