🅰🅻🅸🅲🅴 (🌈🦄)<p>I have to share this. So my partner is on the DEI board for a nonprofit org, which consists of my partner, a gay black woman, a Latina woman, and a straight white guy.</p><p>I was working from the other room and overhead some of their meeting.</p><p>The guy, (Fred? Doug? Something like that. Let's say Fred), had coopted the meeting for the last hour. He was going on about how he didn't think the org needed a DEI committee...it went something like:</p><p>"Race is an outdated social construct."</p><p>"I don't see color or gender."</p><p>"If everyone was just chill like me, there wouldn't be an issue."</p><p>And so on.</p><p>I heard my partner trying to gently reign in his monopoly on the discussion:</p><p>"Maybe we should hear from one of the other members about their lived experiences?"</p><p>He kept going; transitioning into the topic of "handout programs":</p><p>"I mean, the opportunities are there. Maybe the story was different in the past, but now they just have to work for it like anyone else."</p><p>Note: my partner was (nearly still)born into poverty, abuse, a broken child welfare system, and has multiple chronic conditions.</p><p>I could hear the frustration in my partner's voice. No one else spoke up.</p><p>My partner got up and left the call for a bit. Fred didn't seem to notice, as I could hear him still talking away in the background.</p><p>Eventually the meeting ended.</p><p>The other two women said they thought they got a lot out of the meeting, and that Fred brought up some good points (though I must of missed those ones from the other room).</p><p>My partner came into my office and recapped the meeting in one looong sentence (they were rather agitated).</p><p>So what's the moral of this story?</p><p>If you don't know why diversity, equity, and inclusion are necessary, then you're probably the reason.</p><p>If you refer to inclusion and social systems as "handout programs" then you have probably lived a priveledged fucking life.</p><p>If you're sitting on a DEI board full of LGBTQIA+/BIPOC people and none of those letters apply to you, then you'd better pay close attention to the collective lived experiences and perspectives of those other members.</p><p>If all the above apply to you, then you're probably Fred (and feeling pretty called out).</p><p>Don't be Fred.</p><p><a href="https://lgbtqia.space/tags/DEI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DEI</span></a> <a href="https://lgbtqia.space/tags/LGBTQIA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LGBTQIA</span></a> <a href="https://lgbtqia.space/tags/BIPOC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BIPOC</span></a> <a href="https://lgbtqia.space/tags/Rant" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Rant</span></a> <a href="https://lgbtqia.space/tags/Privelege" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Privelege</span></a> <a href="https://lgbtqia.space/tags/DiversityEquityInclusion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DiversityEquityInclusion</span></a></p>