Inclusion Statement
As members of the LGBTQ+ Youth In Care Network we commit to creating and maintaining an inclusive space for everyone who is a member of our network, or interacts with it in any way. The following principles are non-negotiable for all who wish to be a part of our network or partner with us to support LGBTQ+ young people in the care system.
We recognise that our network members, the young people who we are working to support and members of the LGBTQ+ and care experienced communities more widely are a diverse group and experience different forms of oppression & violence. These include transphobia, transmisogyny, homophobia, biphobia, racism, ableism, poverty, islamophobia and antisemitism, as well as others. We also recognise that these oppressions do not operate separately from each other, and that this must be acknowledged to create an inclusive space.
Our network is not a space where the rights, identities or experiences of members or the young people we are working to support will be debated. Our network is a trans inclusive and affirmative space and the questioning of young people’s right to define their own genders and receive affirming support to live in the way they chose does not have a place. Our network is committed to listening to LGBTQ+ care experienced people and responding to the support they tell us they need, or would have needed when they were younger.
Our principles of inclusivity apply to how we interact with each other as network members as well as how we work with and advocate for care experienced LGBTQ+ people.