Earlier today, a group of us who organise vegan social events got together for a conversation about something that’s been on our minds for a while.
We care deeply about the community we’ve built and the spaces we co-create, and we know that with that comes a responsibility to make them safer, more welcoming, and free from the harmful patterns we see out in the wider world.
Keep reading below for the full rundown of our conversation.
Let’s be real. Oppression doesn’t stop at the door just because something is vegan.
Misogyny, toxic masculinity, queerphobia, racism, and ableism are all harmful forces that don’t magically disappear because we’re sipping oat flat whites at a social event or gobbling plant-based canapés while playing board games. If we don’t actively work to challenge these forces, they’ll show up and make themselves at home.
That’s why a group of us sat down to talk openly about what kind of community we want to nurture and how we can support each other to keep our events aligned with those values.
We were not trying to write a constitution. We didn’t create hard rules. But we did want to have a shared understanding amongst us. A kind of loose social contract that helps guide how we show up for each other and what we do when things go wrong.
Some of the behaviours and patterns we want to actively challenge include:
- Dictatorship or authoritarian leadership styles
- Inconsistency in how we handle harm
- Toxic masculinity and the way some men are prioritised or centred
- Misogyny
- Queerphobia and the dominance of heteronormative attitudes
- Racism
- Ableism
And we agreed that the values we want our community spaces to be rooted in include:
- Respect
- Compassion
- Inclusivity
- Anti-oppression
- Progressiveness
- Trustworthiness
- Transparency
These aren’t boxes to tick or badges to wear.
They’re living values that we want to return to again and again. They guide how we gather, how we speak to each other, how we respond when harm happens, and how we look after our attendees and each other.
We also talked through a general approach for how we deal with situations where someone’s actions go against the wellbeing of the group. It’s not about public call-outs or harsh punishment, but about protecting our spaces, being honest, and holding each other accountable with care.
If something goes wrong there’s a process for responding, whether that means a quiet word, a direct chat about behaviour, or asking someone to take a break from the space. It’s all done with the wellbeing of the group in mind, and always with the intention of care and learning.
These kinds of conversations aren’t always easy, but they’re necessary. Our communities deserve better than silence when harm shows up. We want our events to be places where people feel seen, respected, and safe. That means being willing to talk about the hard stuff, to challenge oppressive behaviour, and to support one another in learning how to do better.
If you’re organising community events (vegan or otherwise) I hope you’ll join us in thinking about how we can all create spaces that are safe for all humans.
You can click here to find out about upcoming events I’m hosting or attending, such as the monthly London Vegan Social.
If you would like to become an active participant in a broad range of vegan events in and around London, please consider joining the London Vegan Network WhatsApp group for regular updates. You can join different group chats to find out about picnics, vegan socials, board game meets, Queer get togethers, and a lot more!
You can order my book ‘Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t’ online now. It has been out a while now but is still a good read. You can also listen to the Audiobook read by me!
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