The Winter Witchcamp Organizers and (as of this writing) 407 other groups and individuals have co-signed the following statement, in addition to the original signers. (See all signers and/or add your signature here.)

In response to recent conversations around a pagan event in San Francisco, as well as ongoing struggles with trans-exclusionary beliefs, words, and actions, a group of majority white, disabled, trans, and nonbinary witches from the Upper Mississippi River Reclaiming community came together on August 11, 2018, to write this statement. We invite other Reclaiming witches, groups, and communities to co-sign below.

Transphobia has no place in Reclaiming

Given that the Reclaiming Principles of Unity state that “we honor all genders and gender histories,” we clearly assert that trans exclusionary beliefs, words, and actions are not in integrity with the Principles of Unity.

Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Nonbinary people are real. We are exactly who we say we are. We get to define our own genders for ourselves and expect others in community to honor and embrace this.

We know that transphobia and cisgenderism are the air we breathe in the settler-colonial, racist, white supremacist, ableist, classist, dominant discourses where we live. We also acknowledge that this systemic oppression is part of our tradition’s roots. Challenging this is our ongoing work, such as when we modified the Principles of Unity in 2012.

As witches, we know transformation is possible, if there is will and commitment to learning and using the tools of accountability.

We want to be clear that trans and nonbinary people are part of the integral fabric of our tradition as ancestors, elders, teachers, visionaries, organizers, community members, and descendants.

In crafting this statement, and in our ongoing work, we are driven by love as a commitment to dismantling transphobia and cisgenderism in our Reclaiming tradition, both in our bio-regional communities and on a global level.

We invite one another to assess and share our resources, and to hold each other accountable, knowing that we are all vital and connected.

Signed August 11, 2018

Alex Iantaffi, Diana Melisabee Moncur, Doe, Eddy Rivers, Eli Bruna Effinger-Weintraub, Galen Sunshine, Jennifer Byers, Johannah, Lior Effinger-Weintraub, Max Gries, Root Holden, Song (Nanette) Echols, Tere Parsley Starnes

Glossary of terms

• ableist: prejudice and/or discrimination against disabled people, including the assumption that non-disabled people are the norm and as such superior to/better than disabled people.
• accountability: taking responsibility for one’s actions, words and beliefs.
• cisgenderism: a belief system based on the idea that there are only two genders (male/female) and that this is ‘natural’, making cis people (those whose sex assigned at birth aligns with their gender identity) the norm.
• dominant discourses: sets of ideas that are promoted through social rules, media, legal systems and other social structures and relationships.
• settler-colonial: a type of colonialism that tries to replace Indigenous populations with an invasive society of settlers from another place.
• systemic oppression: discrimination and oppression of groups that share specific social identities through social, legal, architectural, educational and other structures.
• transphobia: a term to indicate fear of, discrimination against, and violence towards trans people.