Bits from the Diversity Team

To: debian-devel-announce@lists.debian.org

Subject: Bits from the Diversity Team

From: Rhonda D'Vine <rhonda@debian.org>

Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2019 14:30:05 +0200

Message-id: <[🔎] 20190417123005.7bcvxilktmsqg7b7@snog.deb.at>

Mail-followup-to: debian-devel@lists.debian.org

You might have heard about this effort already, as it's been in discussions for a while. At the end of DebConf16, I was approached by some people asking whether I would like to start a team for LGBTIQA+ people within Debian, along similar lines and with similar goals as the Debian Women project. The idea was to create a welcoming space for, and increase visibility of, underrepresented gender and sexual minorities within the Debian project. It was also to make it clear that the Diversity Statement[1] isn't just words, and that the Code of Conduct[2] is a genuinely important part of our community. [1] https://www.debian.org/intro/diversity [2] https://www.debian.org/code_of_conduct Since then, the IRC channel #debian-diversity has been formed and we have had a discussion session there. We have also had productive sessions at both DebConf17 and DebConf18, where we tried to find out what people expect from this group, and how to move forward. The Debian project always has and always will welcome contributions from people who are willing to work on a constructive level with each other, without discrimination. Through discussions with different people it became clear that calling it the Diversity Team, or rather, Diversity Effort, would be the best fitting name. Our aims aren't limited to specific gender or sexual minority groups and our efforts are specifically meant to be intersectional, and meant to be a combined force, regardless of one's social status, racial background, sexual orientation, gender identity or adherence to body or mental state or norms. We stand for a respectful and welcoming environment. We can be proud of what we managed to produce over the last 25 years. Let's continue to build on these foundations, and make it clear that the Debian community is open and welcoming. An email address has been created to be able to reach the Diversity team in private. If you seek support, feel free to reach out to us at <diversity@debian.org>. We have also started to draft a Team page[3] on the wiki. Currently, we are in close contact with the DebConf19 Local Team from Curitiba, so that we can try to ensure that those who would like to attend the next DebConf can feel as safe as possible. We see you, we are worried too, but we think that hiding is not the right reaction to what's going on right now. [3] https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Diversity For the team, offering hugs, Rhonda -- Fühlst du dich mutlos, fass endlich Mut, los | Fühlst du dich hilflos, geh raus und hilf, los | Wir sind Helden Fühlst du dich machtlos, geh raus und mach, los | 23.55: Alles auf Anfang Fühlst du dich haltlos, such Halt und lass los |