To facilitate the development of a safe and supportive community, the Wichita Transgender Coalition has adopted the following set of community values for use at our meetings and events--if you have questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact either of our group facilitators!
Community Values:
1. Respect others’ privacy--outside of closed meetings, talk about WTC, not its members.
2. Allow others to identify themselves and disclose related elements of personal history at their own discretion. Learn and use the names/pronouns requested by other group members.
3. Foster a safe and worthwhile meeting environment by listening well, asking questions when you don’t understand, working to educate yourself, and sharing honestly from your own experience.
4. Respect others’ intentions: while our experiences and opinions may be different, we are all here because we value this group and what it is doing.
5. Respect others’ ways of difference: we can support and affirm one another without sharing all of the same ways of being, behaving, or believing.
6. Be aware of the ways that your opinions may be affected or limited by your own past experience, preconceptions, or biases. Allow yourself to grow, to learn, or to change your mind.
6. Be honest about difficulties or problems within the group. Try to leave personal drama at the door--if you are finding this difficult or impossible, please talk to Ash, Susan, or both, about what’s going on.
7. Some WTC meetings are closed--that is, they are only to be accessed by community members who identify themselves as transgender or questioning. If you are not certain as to whether a given meeting is open or closed, or who is expected there, please check with Susan or Ash in advance. Unless otherwise specified, meetings should be assumed to be closed, while social events may be assumed to be open.
