Equity Statement
The Lavender Library, Archives and Cultural Exchange (LLACE) acknowledges the land which we occupy as the traditional home of the Nisenan, Maidu, and Miwok tribal nations. LLACE stands in solidarity with indigenous people and the legacy of indigenous nations who honor gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation beyond the settler colonial paradigm.
LLACE is committed to creating a community space rooted in social justice, equity, healing, and collective liberation. LLACE fundamentally believes in the power of the people. LLACE recognizes serving our community means that our work must be intersectional across the expansive identities and lived experiences of LGBTQIATwoSpirit+ people: race, ethnicity, social class, gender identity, sexual orientation, body size, ability, neurodivergence, religion, immigration status, foster youth, beyond the nuclear family and monogamy, formerly incarcerated, unhoused, substance usage, and much more. LLACE recognizes that LGBTQIATwoSpirit+ spaces have historically centered assimilative white gays and lesbians; it is critical to name our organization’s own history rooted in whiteness and privilege. LLACE acknowledges the legacy of Black and Brown Trans Women of Color that collectively built the foundation for the queer liberation movement.
In combating all the forms of oppression that stem from white supremacy and anti-Black racism, LLACE is committed to an anti-racist framework and practice by centering and uplifting Black, Indigenous, Queer and Trans People of Color (BIQTPOC) in our leadership, in programs, our collections/materials, and in every area of our organization.
Commitments
LLACE has been working at every front, at all ends with the power that we have by:
Transforming our organizational structure to be more inclusive and equitable for volunteers to fully participate and have an impact.
Transforming, expanding, and evolving our collection/materials (creating a youth and young adult section, investing in books by BIQTPOC authors, revamping our collections policy)
Transforming our physical space (more accessible, comfortable, welcoming, etc.)
Transforming the events and programs to be more engaging and representative of everyone in our larger LGBTQIATwoSpirit+ community
Actions
We identify these four pillars as critical infrastructure needed to achieve our commitments to racial equity:
how we are (organization structure)
who we are (our leadership, volunteers, patrons and community members)
where we are (our physical space)
what we are (collection AND events)
Existing Actions:
Re-designing the space with local queer art and renovating the entire library
Restructuring our organization and building committees: Operations, Collection, Engagement, Events, Fundraising, and Communications
Eliminating barriers to participate in or access LLACE programs and content with a membership requirement
Aiming to become sustained by the community so that the library will be free of memberships
Creating a board representative of our community
Board members and volunteers are expected to uphold, advocate for, and abide by our equity commitments
Being informed by the community of what type of materials are wanted/available in the library (inclusive collection that represents the community we serve, with an emphasis on BIQTPOC)
Sex positive and body positive space and resources that affirm the entire spectrum of sexuality without stigma or exclusion of asexuality
Adding more material to our library in different languages, ASL, audio books, tablets, laptops (accessibility)
Building a young adult section/children section of the library
Partnering with more community collectives
LLACE is at a pivotal point in our legacy, as we are ensuring our foundation is rooted in anti-oppressive values, we practice compassion and humility for ourselves and one another. LLACE is committed to constant evaluation of our practices in order to maintain accountability toward racial equity and anti-racist work in our space and the larger Sacramento community.