This visions statement comes from the SONG affiliate group in Durham, NC. It has been compiled by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. I am not sure how to introduce it, maybe it speaks for itself.
This is the bad gay, queer dangerous capital of the universe. Where our joyful resistance teaches us to stand here, embrace each other and be the change the bravery of our ancestors demands
This is a chosen family, supportive and open, loving and wild. We are youth, we are elders, we are connected across generations through questioning and faith.
We are queer and gender queer, which means we are always exploring and holding new ground. Love is our primary resource with which we sustain our communities and transform our world. We are rebellious and intentional with our love, pushing daily into new meanings of love until it becomes overwhelmingly obvious that LOVE MEANS EVERYTHING.
This is a place of lustful awareness, where erotic difference and sex positivity teach us what it means to be free and fabulous.
This is where we share our skills and resources, enjoy each other, laugh, make music out of madness and grow our yeses into work and purpose.
This is a space of accountability and shared values. We aspire for clarity, honesty and open-ness and we strive to be clear about our boundaries.
This is a place free of stigma around physical/mental illness or disability, where we love our bodies and listen to the brilliance that comes into the world shaped by our uniqueness.
This is a member-led movement where we walk our talk, speak up even when it’s hard, encourage each other’s growing voices, hold each other through the contours of life, take risks and stay together.
This is a space that centers the needs and the insight of those most affected by the deadly injustices that our vision has outgrown.
This is a space rooted in spirit and land, where our histories are lovingly present as we envision and reach new ground. This is a space built by our living and sustained by our desire to be embodied together.
This is a place where we build culture by reading together, eating together, remembering and sharing our sacred stories.
We meet here regularly to remember who we said we were and to fall in love all over again.
From here, we show the world what love looks like when you live it, eat it, breathe it, bathe in it, sleep in it and wake up singing in it too. From here, we are building an interconnected movement that will shift the world into loving alignment in our lifetimes.
Welcome home.
