Hey All!
The Global DIY esk8 community is huge, and diverse. As the community grows and more people engage in online communication about esk8, we’re all charged with creating a welcoming environment for newcomers. Every one of us was, at some point, brand new to this world. Someone out there (probably someone online) welcomed us and helped us to find our way. Remember how good that felt when it happened to you?
But what if you came to an online forum, eager to learn and to make friends, and found that something about you didn’t fit? Your race, your gender expression, or ethnicity? What if you found that people made fun of people “like you?” openly in their posts? That’d suck, right?
Yes it would suck, and we won’t let that happen to anyone here.
I’m sharing this now because over the past few months I’ve seen posts suggesting that there is some fear and confusion regarding the diversity of people’s sexual identity and gender expression. Moreover, folks don’t seem to know the language that is now used and accepted as the norm when we talk about it.
I offer below a few quick resources about this stuff. If you haven’t “brushed up” on your language or awareness of the terms that people use to express themselves, these might help. Give them a quick read if you can.
Our forum rules help to guide our discussions and remove the most egregious examples of homo-and-trans-phobia that pop up, but rules and flags alone don’t help us to grow as a community (or to learn as individuals). The rules tells us what we can’t say. The resources below provide the language that you can use, if the need arises, to interact with our diverse community in a positive way.
These might not be the perfect resources, but I think they’re a good start. Peace!
First, the “GenderBread Person” - an infographic that introduces some of the concepts of gender identity at a high level:
Second, lists of terms that are important to know:
https://transstudent.org/about/definitions/
Finally, some text from Planned Parenthood about Gender Identity:
