Safe Community Guidelines

Q Christian Fellowship cultivates spaces where people can experience the freedom to be their authentic self, to pursue spiritual connection with others, and to grow in an environment that celebrates differences and diversity. We acknowledge that the cultivation of safety within the Q Christian Fellowship community requires high levels of intentionality and ownership. It is our hope that the following guidelines will give the Q Christian Fellowship community tangible tools to primarily prevent or secondarily address any incidents of sexual offense, above and beyond applicable legal requirements, that threaten the sense of safety that is so vital to our community.

The creation and promotion of this set of Safe Community Guidelines recognizes human frailties. These guidelines are not meant to imply a lack of trust within our Q Christian Fellowship community members, but to communicate our deep commitments to protect each other and to cultivate safety. We recognize the vulnerability that can manifest in community where people may be experiencing new-found freedom in their sense of sexuality or gender, where people come from diverse backgrounds, including those who are survivors of sexual violence, and where people are sharing their lives with significant levels of emotional and spiritual intimacy.

One of the core values of our Centered Set of Sexual Ethics at Q Christian Fellowship is mutuality. We intentionally seek to share power where everyone feels empowered to make a difference in the community. We recognize, however, that individuals affiliated with or directly employed by the Organization may be perceived and/or granted a sense of authority that inevitably impacts how we cultivate a sense of safety together.

Q Christian Community Members would include any individual that engages with the organization either online or in person through the Organization's content, mission and events.

Q Christian Representatives would include:

  • QCF Staff

  • QCF Contractors

  • QCF Board Members

  • QCF Volunteers in Leadership Roles (i.e. Community Group leaders, Conference Team leaders, Affinity leaders, etc.)

While we do not want to place undue restrictions on the above representatives on dating and/or engaging intimately or romantically with Q Christian Community Members, we recognize that, there is the potential that romantic and/or intimate relationships between staff, contractors, board members, volunteers, or Q Christian Community Members could negatively impact our community and/or mission.

In light of the perceived and/or actual power differential between Q Christian Representatives and Q Christian Community Members, we ask that individuals acting in the above leadership roles adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Q Christian Staff, Contractors and Board Members are expected to refrain from initiating and/or engaging in sexual activity (interpreted broadly and in good faith) in a new relational context with anyone participating in a QCF event, during the same QCF event in which they met. Questions to consider, if answered yes, please refrain from sexual (or physically private/intimate activity):

    • Could my using a proximity app or other social media messaging tools during conference create the potential for sexual/intimate physical contact with a conference participant?

    • Could there be a perceived or actual power differential if contacting someone on a proximity app or other social media messaging tools during conference?

    • Prior to engaging in any sexual activity, "Is this a new relationship (not existing prior to this event) with this Q Christian Community Member? If so, refrain from engaging in sexual activity.

  • In all circumstances, Q Christian Staff and Contractors are asked to keep the Executive Director and the Board Chair informed about any romantic, sexual or otherwise intimate relationship with another Q Christian Representative or Q Christian Community Members.

  • All Q Christian Representatives are asked to consider any possible conflict of interest before entering into an intimate relationship with Q Christian Community Members and other Q Christian Representatives. Questions to consider:

    • Is there a direct working connection between you? If so, disclose to Executive Director and Board Chair prior to proceeding with sexual/intimate relationship.

    • Does one have a supervisory role with the other? If so, refrain from engaging in sexual/intimate relationship while supervisory role exists.

    • Are there contracts that you need to negotiate with the other? If so, disclose to Executive Director and Board Chair prior to proceeding with sexual/intimate relationship.

    • Has the receiving person consented in advance to receiving a communication or interaction which involves nudity or suggestive displays of my body or others’? If not, refrain from doing so.

  • All Q Christian Representatives are asked to consider the health and safety of Community members, and also the overall reputation of QCF when navigating intimate relationships that may have connection to QCF. Questions to consider:

    • Is there the vulnerability of being newly out or not out of the closet or side B (having an ethics involving celibacy)?

    • Is there a significant imbalance of income or social capital or life experience?

    • Is there a clear and shared understanding of giving and receiving consent?

    • Are there any power dynamics that affect the integrity of consent such as age/experience/income disparities?

    • Am I oversharing stories that involve my sexual experiences or history? Consider whether Community Members are introverts/extroverts, whether doing so may trigger past traumas and whether they have actively sought to receive this information.

    • In group contexts, consider that your role with Q Christian may affect how your sharing of sexual experiences, preferences and history may be perceived given your role as a leader within the community. Have you accounted for any perceived differences in social status and sexual ethics as you are sharing?

  • All Q Christian Representatives are asked to align their decisions with the values expressed in Q Christian's Centered Set of Sexual Ethics, when engaging with Q Christian Community Members and other Q Christian Representatives. Questions to consider:

    • Have you talked together about what values you prioritize? If you have not discussed this, then refrain from engaging in sexual or physically intimate activity.

    • How will you express these values together? If you have not discussed this, then refrain from engaging in sexual or physically intimate activity.

    • Are you devaluing, or teasing a Community member for having a differing sexual ethic? If so, refrain from making any such comments.

    • How will you ensure that each party experiences mutual respect and clear expectations from the relationship?

    • Have you accepted and valued a ‘no’ without pressing and revisiting the issue more than once? Refrain from any and all repeated advances after a Community Member has said no.

  • Q Christian Staff, Contractors and Board Members are asked to assess the risk of accusation of sexual harassment prior to engaging in intimate relations with other Q Christian Representatives or Q Christian Community Members. Questions to consider:

    • Can you produce evidence of the consensual nature of the relationship?

    • To what extent is alcohol involved?

    • Is there a perceived power differential between you and the involved person(s)?

    • Have they said ‘no’? Have you accepted and valued a ‘no’ without pressing and revisiting the issue more than once? Refrain from any and all repeated advances after a Community Member has said no.

    • Is community engagement a part of your role as staff? If so, refrain from conflating this role by initiating sexually with Community Members without prior disclosure to the Executive Director and Chair of the Board.

    • Is soliciting funds a part of your role as staff? If so, refrain from conflating this role by engaging sexually with Community Members without prior disclosure to the Executive Director and Chair of the Board.

Reporting Procedure

Q Christian Fellowship has an open door policy and suggests that staff, contractors, community members share their questions, concerns, suggestions or complaints with their staff contact, supervisor or the Executive Director, as appropriate. If you are not comfortable speaking with your staff contact or supervisor or you are not satisfied with that individual’s response, you are encouraged to speak with either the Executive Director or the chair of the Organization’s Board of Directors. Supervisors and managers are required to report complaints or concerns about suspected ethical and legal violations in writing to Q Christian Fellowship's Board Chair, who has the responsibility to investigate all reported complaints. Reports can be submitted directly to the Board Chair at boardchair@qchristian.org.