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Our Mission
Our mission is to instill pride, celebrate unity, and embrace diversity and inclusiveness in our LGBTQ* community and allies, and to provide a support network and educational advocacy group dedicated to increasing awareness and acceptance.
Objectives:
- To create visibility and promote full human and civil rights through education, celebrations, and networking to the extent allowed by our nonprofit status.
- To provide a support network for the LGBTQ* community and its allies.
- To serve as an educational service and resource to LGBTQ* individuals, to their allies and to the community at large.
- To advocate within the Fayetteville area for increased awareness and acceptance of the LGBTQ* community.
- To work toward a future without discrimination where all people have equal rights under the law by producing LGBTQ* PRIDE events that inspire, educate, commemorate and celebrate our diverse community.
- To model diversity and inclusion within our organization and for the people we serve.
- To maintain an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all. Specifically, historically marginalized communities including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
- To respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages, and ensure that all voices are valued and heard.
Why the Asterisk?
Early in the founding of Fayetteville PRIDE, we needed to define ourselves and our community for our official paperwork. This led to a dilemma on the appropriate acronym to represent our community. Writing LGBT or LGBTQ felt like we were excluding part of the community, and went against our stated goal to be inclusive. Yet, it was impractical to write the currently recommended 12 letter LGBTQQIP2SAA. And what if we add to or change the acronym again in the future? Is someone always going to feel excluded?
It was suggested that we could use an asterisk in our mission statement and official documents, with an added footnote acknowledging the missing letters and welcoming everyone. This seemed like a way to move forward, and the focus shifted to the wording of our statement. But through this process, the definition of the asterisk symbol itself stood out.
The asterisk is used “to represent that which has been omitted or left out,” and it acknowledges that omission and makes it visible. It struck us that the asterisk not only symbolized our acronyms’ missing letters, but also characterized our community. We are too often left out of the cultural and political conversations about sexual preference and gender identities. We have too long been omitted from legal protections and equal rights.
The asterisk represents us all. Let people see the asterisk and have the courage to ask what it means.
We will be seen.
We will be represented.
We will be *.
It was suggested that we could use an asterisk in our mission statement and official documents, with an added footnote acknowledging the missing letters and welcoming everyone. This seemed like a way to move forward, and the focus shifted to the wording of our statement. But through this process, the definition of the asterisk symbol itself stood out.
The asterisk is used “to represent that which has been omitted or left out,” and it acknowledges that omission and makes it visible. It struck us that the asterisk not only symbolized our acronyms’ missing letters, but also characterized our community. We are too often left out of the cultural and political conversations about sexual preference and gender identities. We have too long been omitted from legal protections and equal rights.
The asterisk represents us all. Let people see the asterisk and have the courage to ask what it means.
We will be seen.
We will be represented.
We will be *.
Fayetteville PRIDE is a non-profit organization as described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.