Boundless POLICY ON RACE PLAY
As we learn and grow from experience, the people around us, and the evidence that surrounds us daily, throughout our lives and in the world, we as Boundless organizers are always reevaluating our positions, mores, and policies based on what is needed by our community.
The purposes of community are many, but one very important purpose of community is to protect the most vulnerable within it. It’s the duty of those who are least vulnerable and in the positions of power to have a greater sense of care and responsibility for those in the community with less power, less representation, and less privilege.
While always keeping in mind that consenting adults are responsible for themselves, the places they choose to go, and the activities they choose to pursue, and while personal responsibility and agency are invaluable and essential, we believe that additional steps to care for community need to be implemented when even those amongst us with the strongest agency may still be harmed.
While our policies have always disallowed implied consent of any kind, and our policies at events have always had strict consequences for othering language used to cause harm intentionally, Boundless Events is announcing a formal policy that it will not allow race play at our events.
The parameters for the ban on race play at Boundless events are as follows:
- There will be no use of racial epithets or ethnic slurs during our events, at all. Degradation or humiliation centered on racial traits, ethnicity, culture, religion, or racial/cultural identity are never permitted.
- People of the global majority (Black, Indigenous, people of color, and others) may negotiate (with support if needed) a scene’s boundaries and their role. If they choose to engage in D/s play or power exchange play, it will be at their discretion. Participants who are white/European will respect and adhere to the boundaries set by people of the global majority.
- When engaging in power exchange play, please consider the privileges you experience, and the company you are surrounded by, as well as the image you are projecting.
- People of the global majority are to be addressed by their chosen or pre-negotiated terms only.
- All participants will respect the consent and agency of each other at all times. There is no implied consent within Boundless Community culture regardless of race, role, status, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, age, or experience level.
- White/European people will defer to the lived experience of people of the global majority when determining what is and is not “race play”.
- People of the global majority who are submissives and degradees are not, by default, accepting of any forms of denigration, and the terms must be set and respected before any play can begin.
- Scenes in which race or ethnicity are the focus of sexual titillation such as “BBC” or “queen of spades” scenes are not permitted. Cuck/hotwife is permitted, and gangbangs are permitted, but the racial overtones and language are not.
- Racial fetishization is not permitted. (See link for more information: The Real Difference Between Racial Preference And Racial Fetishism | by Petiri Ira | Equality Includes You | Medium)
These parameters are subject to change as we learn and grow, and were developed under the consultation of people of the global majority who are members of the kink community. We have chosen to omit some specific racial language in these rules as they may be triggering to some community members.
If there are any questions or clarification needed, please ask at conduct@boundlessevents.org.
We hope you will support us in making the kink community safely accessible for an expansive and beautiful network of folks.
Contact the Conduct Committee
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Conduct Committee at conduct@boundlessevents.org at any time.
Terminology
We would like to clarify the terminology we use, and who is included in the named groups discussed in this policy:
- People of The Global Majority is a collective term for non-white[1] people of African, Asian, Latin American descent[2],who constitute approximately 85 percent of the global population. It has been used as an alternative to terms which are seen as racialized[3] like “ethnic minority“[4] and “person of color“[5] (POC), or more regional terms like “visible minority“[6] in Canada and “Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic“[7] (BAME) in the United Kingdom. It roughly corresponds to people whose heritage can be traced back to nations of the Global South.[8]
- White/European: (often still referred to as Caucasian[9]) is a racialized classification[10] of people generally used for those of mostly European[11] ancestry. It is also a skin color[12] specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity, point of view, appearance, etc.
A Note on Personal Agency
Boundless Events acknowledges the rights of individuals to practice their own kinks privately and will continue to uphold this belief. That said, race play is unique in that, when done in a less private space, such as a play party or event, it has an effect much like second hand smoke; harmful to those in proximity. Because this harm is severe to the people of the global majority who are members of the kink community, as responsible community organizers, we will not allow race play to happen in our event spaces.
Boundless Events will always be proponents of self expression through kink, but we do not have an obligation to provide space for all forms of play. So far, our limitations on play in our spaces have had to do with safety and liability, such as our ban on breath play, fire play, and weapon play. These are all in place because the venues we use do not allow them or because we are not equipped to deal with a major medical emergency such as a cardiac arrest, a severe burn, or a discharged weapon. In many ways, our race play ban is for the same reason: we simply are not willing to allow the risk of harm that may occur when a valuable member of community, who is a member of the global majority, has a racially-centered incident at one of our events.
Questions on this Policy
We are happy to answer any questions regarding this new policy, which is effective immediately. Some anticipated questions are as follows:
Q: Was there an expressed need for this?
A: Yes, people of the global majority who are members of our community asked that this be done, and overwhelmingly support the decision.
Q: Was there a specific incident at one of your events that prompted this?
A: No. No incidents of a racial nature during a scene have been reported to us at this time. We recognize that unreported events may have occurred.
Q: How can I find out more about the intersections of race and kink?
A: We will be offering educational opportunities regarding the topic of race and kink, taught by instructors who are people of the global majority. We also recognize the need for some people of the global majority within the kink community to participate in trauma-informed consensual kink (TICK) at their own discretion, and hope that our organization can help to provide space for that. We have also included a non-exhaustive list of resources.
Q: What are the parameters of this ban and how are they being communicated?
A: These parameters will be posted on our website, in our orientations, and available at all of our events for review.
If there are any questions, or specificity around examples is needed, please ask for clarification at conduct@boundlessevents.org.
NOTES
1. White People, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_people
2. Global Majority, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_majority#cite_note-thestar-1
3. Racialization, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racialization
4. Minority Group, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minority
5. Person of Color, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_color
6. Collective Terms for Minority Ethnic Groups in the United Kingdom, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAME
7. Global North and Global South, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_South
9. Caucasian Race, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race
10. Race (Human Categorization), Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(human_categorization)
11. Ethnic Groups in Europe, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_in_Europe
12. Human Skin Color, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_skin_color
Resources
1. Inclusive Lanuage Guide | Oregon Health & Science University
2. Trauma Informed Consensual Kink: BDSM Consent Centering the Black Kinky Experience | Center for Body Autonomy
3. Do Black Lives Matter in Kink and Leather Communities? | San Francisco AIDS Foundation
4. Kink-based Anti-Racism Training—One on One | Goddess Briq House
5. The Whiteness of BDSM | Tashra (The Alternatice Sexualities Health Research Alliance)
6. ‘Playing’ With Race: BDSM, Race Play, and Whiteness in Kink | Morgan Oddie, Panic at the Discourse
7. Anti-Racism Equity Diversity and Inclusion Glossary | Medical College of Wisconsin