The Recess Braver Spaces Policy

This is our Braver Spaces Policy. Our intent is to encourage all to make an effort to bring a personal bravery into this space that they may not feel empowered to do elsewhere. This does not mean sharing or participating in a way that violates your boundaries or could leave you in a place of insurmountable vulnerability. Rather, we hope that holding space together under these common goals and expectations can create a container that empowers us to embody and defend our values and greater vision for the world we wish to live in.

Recess, a community made up of both organizers and participants, is an evolving community. We’re committed to growth, self-reflection, and accountability for our missteps. We acknowledge that the spaces we create are currently not accessible to everyone. These are the values we strive to uphold, and the ones we think best support our mission of radical inclusion and egalitarian culture creation.

1. Everyone here treats each other with respect and consideration. We are responsible for our own actions. We are aware that almost all of our actions have an effect on others, despite what our intentions may be, and ask all attendees to maintain this awareness.
2. We do our best to respect people’s opinions, beliefs, experiences and differing points of view and revise our actions when made aware that they are not in line with this goal.
3. We hold physical safety as paramount and acknowledge consent as the key. Unless previously negotiated, ask before physically touching another person or taking actions which could affect them.  Don't make assumptions; ASK!  This includes affecting people through your conduct with individuals in the presence of others. Ask before engaging in conduct that could affect or be observed by others. Anything besides YES! means NO.
4. Bigotry is not welcome here. We acknowledge that we all come with bigoted social conditioning, that we will make mistakes, and that it is impossible for any person to guarantee the safety of a space for another. We also acknowledge that we desire a world free of discrimination based on race, class, sex, gender, size, sexuality, physical or mental ability, appearance, social standing, etc. and we will do our best to hold each other accountable when we perpetrate these discriminations. We acknowledge that it's really hard to do this, and that sometimes our feelings get hurt, and we're choosing to do it anyway because working towards liberation is worth it!
5. For any person who is making anyone uncomfortable here, or is violating the above policies, any attendee has the ability and is encouraged to call that person into accountability or request the assistance of one of the Recess organizers. In situations like this, we all support each other in taking steps to resolve the issue and defend our community.
6. If anyone in the community experiences or witnesses any behaviour that crosses their boundaries or makes people feel uncomfortable, please take steps to resolve the situation yourself or talk to a Recess organizer. We all stand ready to assist each other with confronting bigotry and malconduct in our community.
7. We have a strong commitment to handle conflict within our community whenever possible. If any conflict arises, talk to parties personally, or if you do not feel comfortable talking to them yourself, tell them you will get someone who does, and find someone who can speak to them. This can include community members or Recess organizers.
8. Recess Productions takes responsibility for creating a forum and container for the creation of a culture that takes everyone’s safety into consideration. We cannot take responsibility for interpersonal conflicts, either pre-existing or those that may occur at Recess, but do commit ourselves to supporting, to the best of our ability, mediation that is in keeping with our values and the process outlined in our conflict mediation protocol.