The safety and well-being of youth is our top priority for all programs and activities associated with Beloved Arise. As such, a religious, ethical, or spiritual community on the Community Map on the Beloved Arise website must prioritize youth safety and have established standard protocols to protect youth from abuse, exploitation, neglect, and harm. This document is designed as an addendum to your community’s youth safety protocols to address guidelines specific to creating a safe, inclusive, equitable, and loving environment for LGBTQIA+ youth. 

DEFINITIONS 

For the purposes of this document, we define the following terms as follows: 

• religious, ethical, or spiritual community: a group of people who gather to engage in religious, ethical, or spiritual practice, community, and discussion, including, but not limited to “places of worship,” “community centers,” or “communities of practice”. 
  
  
• affirming: Communities that honor and celebrate LGBTQIA+ people as equal members of their community, and offer the same rights and access to all rituals and customs as non LGBTQIA+ members.
  
  
• queer: A short-hand for all identities included in the LGBTQIA+ community. 
  
  
• queer youth of faith: Youth and young adults who identify as LGBTQIA+ and who identify as being committed to a religious, ethical, or spiritual tradition. 

This document must be signed by the primary representative of the religious, ethical, or spiritual community.

Commitments 

Your religious, ethical, or spiritual community commits to the following:

1. We uphold an affirming belief system or theology that celebrates LGBTQIA+ people as equal members of our community. In doing so, we will not condone or tolerate doctrines or sentiments that marginalize or condemn LGBTQIA+ people. Additionally, myself and my religious, ethical, or spiritual community believes and shares that LGBTQIA+ folks’ sexuality and gender identity is a gift that does not need to be changed or converted, but instead embraced and loved. 
   
   
2. We uphold a commitment to equality in the treatment of all LGBTQIA+ community members with the same access to the rituals, rites, and marriages of the tradition.
   
   
3. We intentionally cultivate a loving environment where LGBTQIA+ youth and others feel safe, welcome, respected, supported, and celebrated for who they are. In doing so, we will not condone or tolerate queer-phobic behaviors from youth or adults in our community. 
   
   
4. We will respect and support all aspects of a youth’s identity, their desire to express their identity (including chosen pronouns), and their right to disclose or not disclose their identity with others. 
   
   
5. We will implement guidelines and protocols within our community that prevent, report, and address abuse (and suspected abuse) towards youth, including but not limited to: 
   Physical Abuse: non-accidental bodily injury through physical contact or mistreatment.
   
   
   • Sexual Abuse: any form of sexual contact or exploitation in which a child/youth is being used for the sexual stimulation of the perpetrator. It includes behaviors that involve touching and non-touching aspects. Sexual behavior between a child and an adult is always considered to be forced whether or not the child consents to it. 
     
     
   • Emotional Abuse: any language directed toward a youth by an adult that is intended to cause emotional anxiety, pain, or other severe emotional disturbance. It is a mental or emotional injury to a child that results in an observable and material impairment in the youth’s growth, development, or psychological functioning. 
     
     
   • Spiritual Abuse: to use doctrine, authority, or faith-practice to accuse, berate, critique, attack, belittle, condemn, or produce guilt in the victim. 
     
     
   • Neglect: the failure to provide for a child's basic needs or the failure to protect a youth from harm.
     
     
6. I will ensure all teachers, speakers, musicians, volunteer leaders, and other community members invited to engage with youth understand these commitments and adhere to them. 

Contact Information

E: hello@belovedarise.org W: belovedarise.org