✨ Making Your Workshop More Inclusive to QUEERS
aka: How to Welcome the Colourful Queer Stars of the Borderland
We are here to expand our awareness about how to make your workshop more inclusive to the QUEERS, the colourful queer stars that occasionally pop-up in your life.
These queer stars live in a world where queer stars like them are a scarcity, where cars aren’t made to fit their colourful expressions, where fairy tales fail to mention them and where they wonder why others naturally assume that “no one is queer until proven otherwise”.
How do these queer stars feel most of the time? Unseen, misunderstood or disregarded.
Do we want that to be their experience in our magical world of Borderland?
I think we all can say in one voice “NO!”
So here are some tips on how to make our beloved gathering a more inclusive one:
🌈 Tips for Queer Inclusion in Your Workshop
Let us start with not assuming that queers are going to automatically feel included or invited to your workshop just because “of course they are! We don’t even have to clarify this!”.
Unfortunately, this assumption isn’t sensitive enough to the daily experience of queer people living in a predominantly straight world where we still, unfortunately, don’t feel included or seen most of the time. It is not yet an of-course-it’s-inclusive-to-us world that we live in, please let’s be mindful of this fact.
We do look for a sign of inclusivity to make us feel reassured and safe enough to be ourselves.
How to do that? Here are some tips: 🏳️🌈 Signals of Inclusivity
The easiest, most straight-forward way is to have a tiny (or not tiny) rainbow flag somewhere in your workshop space as a support symbol.
To us this instantly says “we see you, we have thought about you and you are welcome here”,
but we aren’t here to tell you how to decorate your space and this might simply not fit in it, but no problem, read along. 🗣 Inclusive Introductions
Starting the workshop with an inclusive introduction that sets the guidelines and boundaries is a usual start of most workshops.
Inclusiveness to queer people could be one more thing to add to the workshop introduction, for example: “I welcome all of you here, please let us be mindful of each others’ boundaries, consent, pronouns, personal space and please don’t interrupt each other while talking” etc. If the workshop invites people to introduce themselves, it would be nice if people are offered to share their pronouns (if they want to), for example: “Welcome and thank you for joining. We will start with introducing ourselves, names, pronouns if this is important to you, and what is your experience in the workshop’s topic” etc. 🧠 Language Awareness
Don’t assume peoples’ genders, their partners’ genders or their pronouns automatically.
It is safer to use “they” when you aren’t sure, or use “they” when talking about a third person in general.
Use gender-neutral language: “partner” instead of “bf or gf”,
“parent” instead of “father or mother”. When talking about sex topics, remember that sex isn’t P in the V for everyone, please be mindful of that in your language. ✨ Invite Queer Voices
You can intentionally, if relevant, ask if there is a queer person in the room who wants to share what is their point of view on the topic.
Sometimes we feel outnumbered by people who don’t share our experiences or live wildly different ones, and shy out from or feel intimidated to share ours. 🍑 Inclusive Sex Tools
For sex events that want to offer sex toys, please make sure that you offer equally inclusive sex toys and safe sex tools for everyone, for example: vibrators, dildos, strap-ons, prostate massagers and scissors
along with the condom basket (so vulva fans who are reluctant to have unsafe oral, or other, sex can chip-chop the condom and do whatever hearts wish to each others’ vulvas.) 💋 Speed-Dating, Sex Events, Meet-Ups
For sex events, speed-dating or meet-ups you could consider offering participants to wear a sticker/stamp/headband or any other visible thing that informs others if the person is looking for a same-sex cutie or not. ✍️ Queer-Inclusive Phrases for Your Workshop Description in JOMO Guide
Depending on your workshop theme, here are some ready-to-use gems:
“for weirdos of the world in every kind, taste, kink or gender”
“For humans who were born with vulvas”,
“for humans who were born with penises”
“for any human who identifies as a man” instead of “for men”
“for vulva fans”,
“for dick fans”
“Toys for all lovers who make love in all the colours”
“Space for intimacy and connection created with love and mindfulness of all genders, orientations and kinks”
“sex, whatever that means or looks like to you, we have a cozy corner for it!”
“Please join us, special invitation to those who feel like ‘the world isn’t ready for me yet’, we ARE ready for you baby!”
“Queer stars of the rainbow, help us make our space more diverse”
“At the door of our love dome you will get a wristband that shows if you are looking for a same-sex cutie or opposite-sex cutie”
❗ A Gentle Reminder
Please use the 🌈 rainbow icon only when you have put the thought and took into account the advice in this file.
