A Pledge to our Community In Response to Current Events and Black Lives Matter

Our organization has been shaken to its core by the horrific killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Rashard Brooks, and the countless list of black lives lost at the hands of systemic racism and police brutality. We share the outrage, the pain, the anger, and the mourning expressed by our Black/African-American community members. We understand that it should not have taken the current events to have us make this statement and commitment we are coming to you with, today.

Our mission, since our founding, is to provide an easy access hub for safe, supportive spaces and services for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning/plus communities and to serve as a bridge to the greater community throughout Kern County. 

On reflection, we acknowledge that we have failed our Black/African-American LGBTQ+ and larger community. By leaving our focus unchecked and by not investing in anti-racist education as an organization consistently, we have allowed harmful exchanges and erasure to happen.

We apologize for not integrating anti-racism tools as daily programmatic methods for sustaining and evaluating programming at the Center and Annex. We commit to do better!

Our board and staff are dedicated and committed to both personal and organizational growth to better fulfill our mission to serve our entire community. Toward that purpose, we pledge to make specific and visible improvements, including:  

• We will, by October 2020, require all staff, board members, and current volunteers to attend anti-racism training. We will commit to educate ourselves individually and as an organization so that we can identify and eradicate systemic bias continuously in all of our programs and activities.
•  We will begin a support group for Black, Indigenous, and other POC to build community and have protected space in discussion.
• We will expand and provide renewed energy to upgrade our deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and commit to becoming an organization and community where Black/African-American, Indigenous, and other POC will feel valued, prioritized, and welcomed.
• We will provide programming that unpacks racial bias by highlighting the intersections of race and being LGBTQ+; celebrating the diverse history and culture of Black/African-American and other POC/Indigenous peoples in America who often were founders of our modern LGBTQ+ experience.
• We will start a program focused on intersectionality and intentional inclusivity with a book club intended for non-Black/African-American LGBTQ+ people in our community to learn in guided conversation about systemic racism, the ways we may unknowingly participate in it, and ways to work on becoming anti-racist for the betterment of our LGBTQ+ and broader communities. 

We are always open to feedback and can be reached at info@thecenterbak.org or execdirector@thecenterbak.org, or by phone at (661) 404-5209. We will review our progress toward our pledges annually and highlight our inclusive programming and events on our annual Impact Statement.

These commitments are just the beginning. As we currently know, individual and organizational improvements spring from a dedication to lifelong learning, which only comes when hearts and minds are open and committed to change and growth. We, the staff and board of the Center, promise that we will do better and are committed to the truth that Black Lives Matter.

---

​The Center for Sexuality & Gender Diversity is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community organization, founded in 2011, that provides a safe and welcoming environment with support and services to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and allies. EIN 45-3709449 - Contributions are tax-deductable as allowed by law.

The Center | 902 18th St. in downtown Bakersfield | 661.843.7995
The Annex | 841 Mohawk St., Suite 260 | 661.404.75209
www.thecenterbak.org

---