Community guidelines

At Vine & Fig, we like to keep it simple. Here are our Ten Commandments for your engagement with our community.

1. It’s okay to be queer and to do queer
We fully affirm LGBTQIA+ Catholics in their identities and life choices.

2. Cultivate a safe and brave space
We do not discriminate, mock, bully, taunt, harass or stalk, or share personal information outside of Slack.

3. Do not promote non-affirming stances
We discuss the topic of celibacy and non-affirming stances to better understand how we can engage with people on this topic. We never tolerate any of our members promoting non-affirming or mandatory celibate stances, anti-queerness, queer phobia, transphobia, or other forms of sexual and gender oppression. We appreciate that these topics can be harmful to our fellow community members.

4. Choose a person’s reality over your own fragility
When our members show vulnerability by sharing their stories, we work to value and understand these stories, even when they touch upon things we find difficult.

5. Do not explain a person's reality to them
Under no circumstance do we speak in a manner that implies that we understand more about a person’s identity, life, experience or reality than that person.

6. Always assume positive intent
We know that our intentions can get lost in the translation of a chat room, and because of that we assume that everyone’s contributions come from a place of warmth and tenderness.

7. Expect to grow
We look to listen, learn, expand, explore, and grow, and come here to engage with people who have experienced lives entirely different from ours.

8. Make new community members feel welcome
We thank members for joining us, we listen to their stories, we welcome them to the club, involve them in conversations, and provide help if they need it (knowing where our friendship ends and professional help begins).

9. Lift up members who are part of marginalized groups
We are intimately familiar with, and committed to anti-racist, queer-affirming, trans-inclusionary dynamics, community building, and rhetoric. Our community members are invited to ask questions to learn and do so in a way that honours those in our margins.

10. Use best practices when engaging on Slack
Thread your comment, do not “Also send to #channel”, keep your comments brief, and to-the-point, and make sure you've read the official getting started guide by Slack

How to get help

If you run into a problem or need help, please don't hesitate to reach out to a member of the Vine & Fig leadership team. We keep track of stuff like that through our Community Complaint form.

While everyone tries to do their best to follow these guidelines, we are all human, and we make mistakes. What's most important to us, is that you feel safe. If you don't, tell us. We'll make sure to help sort things out. Individuals who violate these guidelines will be warned of their behavior. Further action, including removal from the community will occur for repeated offenses.