Err on the side of compassion. When you aren’t sure if what you said could be oppressive, hold your tongue.
Your joke is never as important as the safety of our members. We will not tolerate jokes that sexualize, exoticize, or otherwise marginalize members of our community.
Engage in self-criticism before you speak, or the group will have to do that work for you. That will be uncomfortable for everyone, tiring for the group, and embarrassing for you. Therefore, think before speaking, and if there is a chance it will hurt others, it should be carefully premeditated and probably omitted.
When possible, prefer direct statements over indirect statements like irony or sarcasm. Many right-wing provocateurs rely on being ambiguously offensive to foment discontent among the left. If we can’t tell, we will assume you are being serious.
Avoid talking about topics that could trigger past traumatic experiences unless you are doing so with the utmost respectfulness. For example, do not lightly discuss sexual assault or instances of oppressive violence.
If you violate these guidelines, depending on the severity and frequency of the offense, we will either assume good faith and approach you in private, confront you in public, ask you to leave, and/or initiate official disciplinary procedures based on national guidelines.
If there are guidelines that we did not include, that you would like to see in this document, please let leadership know or send an email to the Harassment and Grievance Officers.
Does it have to be directed and repeated to be harassment?
No. A person does not need to be the direct target of the harassing statement to be affected by it. It does not need to happen multiple times before it becomes a problem.
What if someone harasses me?
Please see the DSA’s official resolution on harassment. Boulder DSA has official Harassment Grievance Officers (HGOs) who may be contacted privately over email.