As a network representing people who hold a multitude of intersectional identities and experiences, it is our responsibility to create and uphold safe spaces. However, as a new organization founded this year, we have encountered a gap in our policies, training, and organizational preparation. That gap is in creating and maintaining safe spaces during events and programming. Through feedback from our membership this week, we have heard how this gap in preparedness has caused harm.
We are sharing this information to hold ourselves accountable to taking measures towards mitigating harm in the future. Moving forward, we will be establishing a Policy on Creating Safer Spaces. We will also build protocols for moderation, which will include training for our team.
Community and personal accountability is an important value in our network, and thus we are committed to making this change in a transparent way. We commit to sharing a plan on safer spaces with our members at our AGM in January.
As always, our member organizations are at the core of our work. Your feedback will be fundamental to building a strong, vibrant network of local 2Spirit and LGBTQ+ organizations that centres community safety.
We are holding a series of consultations with our member organizations focussed on hearing input from folks with intersecting identities, in order to integrate this feedback into our new strategic plan.
We are holding a BIPOC Consultation for our network on September 29th at 4-6pm EST on Zoom. This consultation is now open to any person who is sexually or gender diverse and who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Colour. People who represent one of our member organizations — in the capacity of being a volunteer, employee, or a person who access a member organization’s services — will be prioritized in the registration process.
In order to allow all participants to have enough time to speak, registration for this event will be capped at 15 people. The registration process for this consultation will be done to reflect the diversity of gender and sexually diverse BIPOC communities. Our team will ask participants for their accessibility needs in order to be better supported during the event.
In addition to our Zoom consultation, we are also hosting an online survey for people who identify as sexually or gender diverse people and as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Colour. Anyone who meet this criteria may opt into leaving their name and email address to be entered in a draw to win a $60 Visa Debit gift card.
Survey
Please note that this survey is open to people who identify as sexually or gender diverse people and as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Colour. Everyone who completes this survey and opts into leaving their name and email will be entered into a draw for a $60 Visa Debit gift card.
Please submit a proposal no longer than three pages in length, plus at least three references outlining how you will fulfill the responsibilities above and outlining your experience and qualification professionally and personally. Proposals are to be submitted by 5pm MST August 21, 2020 (new extended deadline!) to emmett@enchantenetwork.ca
Demande de proposition :Entrepreneur en commandite et collecte de fonds
Veuillez soumettre une proposition ne dépassant pas trois pages, plus, au moins trois références décrivant comment vous assumerez les responsabilités ci-dessus et décrivant votre expérience et vos qualifications professionnelles et personnelles. Les propositions doivent être soumises avant 17h HNR le 14 août 2020 (nouvelle date limite pour la réception des candidatures) à emmett@enchantenetwork.ca.
We are starting a series of consultations with our network, in order to inform our new strategic plan. More information about other consultations will be available in the coming months.
Our first consultation will be the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) consultation. It will take place on Zoom at 2-4pm EST on August 27th. This consultation is open to representatives from our member organizations, including staff, board members, volunteers, and the people who access their services. This consultation will be open only to people who identify with the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities.
All participants in the consultation will be paid an honorarium of $60.
This consultation will be moderated by our board member for Manitoba, Albert McLeod. Albert is the President of Two-Spirited People of Manitoba Inc.
In order to allow all participants to have enough time to speak, registration for this event will be capped at 15 people.
To register, please email Teddy Syrette (teddy@enchantenetwork.ca)
Although registration for this event will take place on a first come first serve basis, there will be spots reserved for Métis and Inuit participants, in order to ensure that we hear from different First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) perspectives from across Turtle Island.
For anyone (in the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities) who is unavailable at this time, or would prefer to give feedback via an alternative method, we have the following two options:
Filling out this survey. Survey responses can be anonymous if you wish, however anyone who opts into leaving their contact information will be entered into a prize draw for a $60 Visa gift card.
Having a phone conversation with the Indigenous Liaison for the Enchanté Network, Teddy Syrette. This may be scheduled by emailing teddy@enchantenetwork.ca.
Please note that you are able to provide feedback in more than one method (ie. by attending the Zoom consultation and/or filling the survey and/or calling Teddy).
If you would like to provide feedback on how we are running this consultation process, or if you simply would like to chat, please email our Executive Director Emmett Lamache at emmett@enchantenetwork.ca
Our network belongs to you — our member organizations — and we are looking forward to holding these conversations over the following months.
To our member organizations and to the broader 2Spirit and LGBTQ+ community,
This June is pride month, Indigenous History Month, as well as one of the most powerful periods of protest we have seen in a generation. Across North America, and all over the world, people are demanding an end to police brutality, and both anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racist violence.
While we celebrate Pride this June, we must acknowledge that LGBTQ+ communities have been complicit in racism—both inside and outside of our own spaces. Although 2Spirit, Indigi-queer, and QTBIPOC communities have always been at the core of our movement, there are far too many LGBTQ+ spaces created by, and for, white folks. From our parades, to Pride centres, to our grassroots movements, our work is often far too white—and our spaces can be unwelcoming, or even outright discriminatory, towards BIPOC people.
The Enchanté Network commits to using our relationships and our resources to help 2SLGBTQ+ organizations to make their spaces more equitable and diverse, and to support them in building capacity around anti-racist programs and education.
Today, we are announcing that our micro-grants program, which provides $110,000 to Canadian 2SLGBTQ centres and initiatives, will now include a unique stream of $36,650 dedicated directly to Indigenization, anti-racism, and anti-oppression initiatives in the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Details of this new funding stream will be released over the coming months. BIPOC engagement and decolonial frameworks are crucial parts of making 2SLGBTQ+ spaces inclusive and equitable, and we are proud to announce this new project.
In addition to this commitment, we will be improving our administrative processes surrounding the micro-grants in the future. In the spirit of accountability, we would like to acknowledge that we failed to distribute funds to our community within the promised timelines. We are sorry for any difficulties this caused and will ensure that the next delivery of the program – including the separate stream announced today – will have seamless support for all recipients.
The Enchanté Network is dedicated to supporting 2SLGBTQ+ communities that are building more inclusive spaces, services, and programs. Anti-racism and Indigenization/decolonial efforts must be properly resourced. The launch of our new dedicated funding stream is part of our commitment to supporting this work. We hope that by launching this new funding stream for 2Spirit, queer, and trans community organizations, including our own, will take meaningful steps towards building more inclusive spaces and deconstructing white supremacy.
The Enchanté Network has had a busy past few months, which included a successful launch of our Micro-Grants Program—with a total of 432 applications submitted from all 13 provinces and territories.
However, due to the rapidly evolving situation regarding COVID-19, we recognize that many of these applications are for event-based capacity building projects that may be disrupted by the current circumstances. As a result, the Enchanté Network has established the following contingency plan for our Micro-Grants program.
All applications submitted before our March 5th deadline will be considered under our original criteria. After the recipients are announced, any applicants that requested funding for projects that will be cancelled due to COVID-19 precautions, such as in-person events, will have the ability to submit an alternative proposal for approval on a case by case basis. Please note that any alternative proposals will still need to be based on capacity building projects. Our staff will be there—every step of the way—to support any successful applicants that need to resubmit alternative capacity building proposals for approval.
We truly understand that 2Spirit and LGBTQ+ community groups and service providers are facing significant challenges. In these difficult times, we encourage you to call your friends and loved ones, and closely adhere to advice from your local public health authority.
