November 9, 2016

Hi friends,

We never expected to be writing this email today, but here we are. We hope that you are doing everything you can to take care of yourselves today, and we are starting to think of ways that we can take care of each other. One thing that came to mind was a statement about the Board Games & Bars mission to be a safe, inclusive space.

When we started this weekly-to-fortnightly game night four years ago, we saw it as a fun way to gather our friends while playing some board games, both classic and new. We wanted it to be a low-commitment thing, where people could drop in and out as they’re able, and to always feel welcome. Over the past few years, BG&B grew into something we didn’t expect.

Every week, we’re happy to see a new and diverse group of game players. BG&B is a living community that creates memorable experiences for all of us - the bars and board games are largely incidental. We take great pride when people come back week after week, when they bring their friends, when they tell us they miss BG&B while it’s on hiatus.

And though this was never meant to be a “political” entity, given this week’s events, we feel it has to be.

We’d like to take this opportunity to declare BG&B as a safe space for members of any and all oppressed groups. This includes (but is certainly not limited to) people of color, LGBTQ+ people, women, people of ALL gender identities, people of NO gender identity, immigrants, undocumented people, Muslims, sexual assault survivors, people with disabilities, people with mental illnesses, just to name a few.

While we haven’t explicitly stated this in the past, we want to make clear that there is a zero tolerance policy for microaggressions, hateful language, or any kind of violence against oppressed groups. If you ever feel unsafe or uncomfortable by something that happens at a game night, please speak up. If you’d like to address it in the moment, we will have your back 100%. Otherwise, please talk to us privately. If you feel more comfortable contacting one of us rather than both, or emailing rather than texting or speaking in person, that is perfectly fine. Your safety and your well-being are important to us. Even if you think something might be too small to bring up, tell us. Whether it’s a card in Cards Against Humanity (we’ve ripped up cards before and will do it again!), or an unintentional but still hurtful comment from one of us or another game night attendee, we will listen and we will try to make it right.

You matter. We love you. We are glad to have you as part of BG&B. Thank you for coming to play games with us and for bugging us when we haven’t scheduled a game night in a while and for being part of something we can look forward to during this very difficult time. And, because we can’t say this enough, you matter. We love you.

~Nolan and Kate