INCLUSIVITY STATEMENT

We are committed to supporting KhushDC members in our respective identities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and additional gender or sexual minorities. We want our organization to be a safe space for South Asians within the LGBTQIA+ community and for LGBTQIA+ people within the South Asian community. This includes Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Trinidad, Tobago, Guyana, and Maldives and those in the South Asian diaspora across the globe.

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We invite our partners, friends, and family to share in the joy of spaces we create, while keeping in mind that these spaces center our community members. This includes individuals who do not identify as South Asian and/or LGBTQIA+, but striving to be active allies. We expect them to also abide by the inclusivity statement.

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We invite participants at our events to be mindful about our own explicit and/or implicit biases, resulting in but not limited to, ableism, anti-blackness, colorism, biphobia, classism, casteism, racism/racial microaggressions, misogyny, transphobia, body shaming, and religious biases. 

We are committed to educating ourselves and each other from a place of mutual respect and love. We believe that by taking the time to forge relationships, we can understand issues that affect each other. These friendships can be the beginning of bridging differences. 

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We also want to create dedicated learning opportunities, such as workshops and discussion groups, so that our members are not unduly burdened with educating others. 

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We recognize that creating a safe space may cause some members discomfort. This is a part of the process of moving towards a culture of better understanding, learning, increasing awareness, and unlearning unconscious biases. Naming uncomfortable topics and feelings may be difficult for some, but this level of vulnerability is needed for us to make KhushDC a space that is welcoming to all. We invite them to sit with this discomfort, and to use it as an opportunity to learn how to be inclusive of all South Asian LGBTQIA+ people.

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We invite KhushDC members to raise concerns either directly with co-chairs or anonymously through our online KhushBox with any concerns and questions. We will not have all the answers, nor do we claim to, but we will strive to address the concerns and learn alongside you. 

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Adopted by the KhushDC board on December 10, 2022