Policies and Community Guidelines

As we continue to grow into a great author-focused community, we want to maintain a collaborative and helpful environment where we can all learn and excel in our writing endeavors. To do that, we need to establish some guidelines and policies to protect this community and help culture intelligent discourse.


Slack Community Guidelines

Malicious Behavior Will Not be Tolerated.

Community Support - #SharingIsCaring

We Believe in Diversity & Inclusion

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IRP's Code of Conduct


Introduction

The Inclusive Romance Project (IRP) is committed to providing an inclusive and safe environment for people of all races, gender identities, gender expressions, sexual orientations, physical abilities, physical appearances, neuro(a)typicality, socioeconomic backgrounds, life experiences, political affiliation, nationalities, ages, religions, and beliefs. We celebrate our unique differences and expect this in our writing. 

We put forth this code of conduct not because we anticipate bad behavior, but because we believe in the already exceptional level of respect among this organization. We believe that articulating our values and accountabilities to one another reinforces that respect and provides us with clear avenues to correct our culture should it ever go astray. We commit to enforce and evolve this code as IRP grows.


Expected Behaviors 

Unacceptable Behaviors

Discrimination and harassment are expressly prohibited. Harassment may include, but is not limited to, intimidation; stalking; unwanted recording or photography; inappropriate physical contact; use of sexual or discriminatory imagery, comments, or jokes; intentional or repeated misgendering; sexist, racist, ableist, ageist or otherwise discriminatory or derogatory language; and unwelcome sexual attention.

In order to provide such an environment, we commit to being considerate in our language use. Any behavior or language which is unwelcoming—whether or not it rises to the level of harassment—is also strongly discouraged.

Much exclusionary behavior takes the form of microaggressions—subtle put-downs which may be unconsciously delivered. Regardless of intent, microaggressions can have a significant negative impact on victims and have no place in our organization.

The same goes for tone policing, or responding negatively to the emotion behind a person’s message while ignoring its content (telling someone who is discussing an issue that makes them upset to “calm down” instead of responding to their concerns is an example of tone policing). Tone policing deflects from the validity of the communication by personally attacking the individual for expressing emotion. We don’t do that here.


Committing to improvement as an Inclusive Romance Project Member

We understand that none of us are perfect: It’s expected that all of us, regardless of our backgrounds, will from time to time fail to live up to our very high standards. What matters isn’t having a perfect track record, but owning up to your mistakes and making a clear and persistent effort to improve. We as a community of writers understand the importance of authentic conversation and “assuming good intentions” only protects those who may offend, not the individuals who may be offended. 

If you are approached as having (consciously or otherwise) acted in a way that might make your colleagues and fellow members feel unwelcome, refrain from being defensive; remember that if someone calls you out, it likely took a great deal of courage for them to do so. The best way to respect that courage is to acknowledge your mistake, apologize, and move on—with a renewed commitment to do better. That said, repeated and/or severe violations of this code can and will be addressed by Kharma Kelley, and can lead to disciplinary actions. 

We believe that everyone deserves a HEA and our organization is meant to help all our writers thrive. 


Don’t be a Bystander; If you see something, say something.

Sometimes, you’ll be a witness to something that seems like it isn’t aligned with our values. Err on the side of caring for your colleagues in situations like these. Even if an incident seems minor, reach out to the person impacted by it to check in. We’d also appreciate it if you would speak to a member of the  directly to voice your concerns. Depending on the circumstances, you may also want to speak directly to the person who has violated the code of conduct.

If you want to speak to a person impacted by an incident or to the person who has violated the code of conduct, but you’re unsure of how to navigate these interactions, try reaching out to the Community Coordinator, Mentorship Coordinator—these conversations are tricky, and I’d like to help you figure out how best to approach them.