An Important end-of-year update for our communities

To the members of the LGBTQIA+ communities of the Delaware Valley,

We are following up as we promised to give an update in response to concerns and issues raisedabout the Queering the Quarantine session scheduled with Rob Jordan, President of the Philadelphia Log Cabin Republicans. The Log Cabin Republicans and the Liberty City Democrats were scheduled to provide an opportunity for discussion from multiple perspectives

in the leadup to the November, 2020 election.For those who are interested in more background, please see our statement of September 25th, 2020 at this link. In sum, we did not have a firewall to protect against the scheduling of programs that might be dangerous for vulnerable members of our communities. Now, and moving forward, we commit to a transparent approach for repair. 

Some of the things we’ve done in immediate response are:

  • Paused the Queering the Quarantine program 

  • Hired a full-time staff member who will be responsible for program oversight

  • Contracted with a community leader to provide additional program support

  • Engaged the William Way’s Center Equity Committee in developing our plan

  • Began building out a broader outreach plan

We believe these activities represent genuine and appropriate steps in the right direction. We have posted the complete list of activities completed and several other proactive measures we made on our website.  We will continue to update this list as we move forward. Click here to see that list. 

We know that we have a lot of work to do and we are committed to doing it. This statement is one small piece of the long-term commitment the Center makes to being a proactive member of Philadelphia's LGBTQIA+ communities. We express gratitude and appreciation for the feedback we have received over the past three months, which we have been addressing with commitment and resolve. 

It has become clear that the Center staff, board, and our town halls alone cannot adequately identify the harms caused by us. We do not believe we have heard from all communities we know we serve and wish to better understand. Our commitment is to continue to do additional outreach, especially to those voices we have not heard from yet. We are also developing new forms of outreach to our communities—and we look forward to meeting with those communities on their terms, not ours.

As of November 23, 2020, Darius McLean (he/hem/hiz) has joined our team as the new Director of the Trans Resource Center and Empowerment Programs. Darius brings over 10 years of experience developing programs with and for LGBTQ+ people, specifically within Black and Brown diasporic communities. Mikah Thomas (he/they), a 2020-2021 HRC Fellow for Activate: Building the Capacity of Leaders on the frontlines, will be working alongside Darius. Mikah is a community advocate and emerging leader in LGBTQ programming here in Philadelphia. Darius and Mikah’s passion and expertise can help us better serve the most vulnerable communities in Philadelphia. With the important addition of these new staff members, we will create and implement new protocols to ensure harm is not caused in the future. 

The Center deeply desires to move forward through actions that respond to the specific needs of the communities we serve. This incident and the initial reactionary methods employed as a response have revealed how we can still miss the mark even with the best intentions. With this knowledge, we commit to being  a more conscientious organization within the city of Philadelphia. The changes this city underwent this summer and the lessons revealed (and still being revealed) demand more from us.

This statement is our end-of-year update about the current and ongoing work we are doing to prevent harmful actions on our part. This statement promises that we will continue doing the work, and any input you would like to offer is encouraged. Contact information is below. The Center invites you to walk with us on this journey. 

With gratitude,

Chris Bartlett
Executive Director


Ways to reach the Center with your concerns:

Email for staff: info@waygay.org
Email for board: wwboard@waygay.org
Phone: 215-732-2220
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waygayphiladelphia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waygayphilly/

Chris Bartlett