Bay Area Inclusion

Mission Statement
Dedicated to exploring misunderstandings about gender identity and sexual orientation especially as those misunderstandings lead to violence and other recognized social ills.

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We believe that being gay is more complex than just being a person whose identity is partially determined by their attraction to the same sex. For all people, gender and sexual attraction are important parts of identity. So, just as is the case with cissexual people, gay identity is also a part of how we interact with and shape our world as queer academics, activists, artists, homemakers, parents, professionals, students, teachers, etc. (adapted from the “Femme Collective Mission Statement”). However, gay people cannot and should not be defined by their sexuality alone any more than their “straight” counterparts should be.

We believe that the suspicions between races, sexes, ages, and folks of different sexual orientations are born of misunderstanding and fear and can therefore be reconciled and even made productive through education, understanding, exposure, and dialogue. We are resolved that intolerance and the violence that intolerance brings are only representative of a small minority of Gulf Coast residents and that reconciliation is desirable and desired. Therefore, we are a people resolved to learn from each other, and we are committed to finding and raising as many occasions for education as possible.

At BAI Community Action Alliance, we hope to provide resources for people of all genders, colors, ethnicities, abilities, and sexualities who are interested in a deeper understanding of LGBTQI identity, culture, and history, and to work with people who are interested in learning, teaching, connecting, and building community geared towards progressive social change. (adapted from the “Femme Collective Mission Statement”).

We are dedicated to: creating a gay-positive environment throughout the community; intervening the culture of silence that allows homophobia and other manifestations of misunderstandings about sexual orientation and gender diversity to flourish; selecting programming to honor differences in ethnicities, physical abilities, and gender expressions; working toward the full social and political enfranchisement of the GLBTQI population. We recognize that these “goods,” these desirables, these goals, are not separate and finite; we find them intimately linked. We hope that together we can create a spaces and opportunities to explore many of the realities of living together in a complex and diverse world.

We come together as individuals and as community to do what we can to eradicate the culture of silence, violence, individual hubris, and apathy, and in its place to build a culture of tolerance, modesty, creativity, and productivity.

We vow to help protect the youth of the Gulf Coast, all of whom – gay and straight – are subject to the violence's inherent in unchecked homophobia.

We believe that the most productive, richest, and most effective way to these ends is through service. It is through servant leadership and community building and individual creativity that we live true community, that we demonstrate and put tolerance to work, and that we live our common humanity.