Signing this petition signifies you want Positive Images to add public comments to the agenda of the Board of Directors meetings. It does not necessarily endorse any of the following which comes from my perspective.

As a policy, this is needed because

• Listening to people speak shows that they matter.
• We have the right to attend and meaningfully contribute to any meeting set to benefit us. Nothing about us without us. Autistic people often have our lives planned for us denying us autonomy. As an organization that supports queer people, you should allow queer people to contribute.
• Autistic perspectives are often ignored. Providing a space to voice our concerns empowers us to speak for ourselves.
• Autistic people have varying difficulties with different communication methods. Unless all are provided, some people will be marginalized.
• In the face of marginalization, being seen is an essential part of suicide prevention. Many of us know if we died no one would notice. We deserve to be seen because we matter. Excluding us shows us that we don't.
• Allowing us to comment on plans prevents exclusionary events. For example, I volunteered at an event with PI and I had to leave because the music was too loud.
• Accepting written comments but not live verbal ones is exploiting autistic people. It is getting the product of our labor without the full reward of community.
• If the only comments they have to attend to are those sent by email and those emails are not even read at meetings (both suggested to by the board), they get to ignore them. E-mail tends to be a black hole for many organizations. What gets sent never comes back. If we see you listen, we know you heard us.
• Public comment is how you get public accountability, The message is not just for boards but for everyone. A written “public comment” sent to board members by email, as suggested, is not public at all. We should not have to resort to protests and petitions.

As an accommodation, I needed this because

• Public comments get things done. I am being abused and the only reason the North Bay Regional Center is finally helping me leave my abuser is because I made a public comment at their board meeting. 
• Many of my emails to organizations get ignored, including when I reported abuse at my work to North Bay Regional Center.
• At the time I requested it, it was the only event Positive Images did regularly that I could attend because I had to work weekends. This would have significantly improved the quality of my life as I am marginalized by the queer community.
• After having spent almost 25 years without any friends, I reached out for help to some people at Queer Student Alliance at Sonoma State University that I felt safe with. For my effort, I got handcuffed and taken away from jail because it is illegal to even appear to be thinking about suicide. When I got out the person who reported me didn’t want anything to do with me. I reached out again to their board in hopes they would help me make a friend but they denied me. I tried to start a Loneliness Club and they responded by putting an article in the newspaper about how they are there for each other, using words from my club flyer. They were there for each other but not for me.
• I tried to become part of the Letter People and asked for help feeling safe there by having someone to sit and talk with me. After struggling to get the accommodation, they finally did but the person spent very little time with me. The venue was too loud for me to hear anything so I just gave up on them. They advertise themselves as having “Radical Acceptance.” Ha.
• I tried to be a part of TransLife but they won't even let me go to their board meetings. They accept volunteers but that’s just free labor. Taking orders is not being part of a community. Communities should be run by all the community members, not a select elite.
• After being ignored and abused by numerous individual queer people I have met, I implicitly fear queer people now, my own people. Among the many issues is assuming I am doing things to hurt people because I want to, not because I am limited in abilities because of my disabilities. With this and the ghosting and manipulation, ableism is rampant in the queer community.
• There is no place in the world where I can feel safe. If any place should be safe for me. It should be Positive Images. Among other changes they should have programs for intellectual and developmentally disabled people who’s needs get ignored.

The Board of Directors’ denial was unethical because

• By denying public comments, they are avoiding the discomfort of hearing about the hardships PI causes and fails to address. They are placing their discomfort over the hardships of others. They get to avoid the faces of those they hurt. Activists rely on causing the discomfort of showing the consequences of actions.
• By denying accommodation, they are showing they value their convenience over my hardship. My suffering is not worth their listening to two sentences. Inclusion is inconvenient. If one does not believe in inconvenience, they do not believe in inclusion.
• They are wrong in saying they don't have the time. Even if their meetings go over 2 hours by a few minutes, obviously it wont pose a hardship. If they insist on the 2 hour limit, it is their duty to manage their time better, not my duty to be ignored. I started out asking for 5 minutes which might have been unreasonable, but I went down to 1 minute which was denied, and then two sentences which was denied. If I asked for one word, I bet I would be denied too. My life is worth a two sentence comment per month despite how they make me feel it isn’t. There are ways to reduce meeting time. They could prioritize feedback from the people they serve and instead submit information to each other prior to the meetings. Board meetings are most effective when the time is taken up by actual discussion rather than presentation.
• My request was ignored for two months and was only responded to because I showed up to a board meeting. If they felt any responsibility, I would hope they would use it to give me the two sentences.
• “Our board is a volunteer run board, and our time is not compensated for.” Not being paid is not an excuse not to provide an accommodation that is free. If they are unwilling to listen to the needs of their community, they should not be board members. We have a duty to act ethically whether we are getting paid or not.
• “In response to your concerns, we are planning forum spaces outside of our board meetings for the board and staff to receive periodic feedback from LGBTQIA+ community members, with particular attention to queer and trans autistic people. We will make sure that this happens with a lot of advance notice and check in to align it with your schedule.“ I haven't heard from them since.
• Using the fact that it's common for other boards to avoid public comments is not a reasonable excuse. Abuse, neglect, oppression, and marginalization are common. We should still work to change that.
• There is no reasonable excuse for not allowing a moment of your time from an organization with the vision: We envision a Sonoma County where all LGBTQIA+ people are valued, compassionate community members, building a just society. It is not my behavior that needs to be redirected, it is theirs. When the establishment tries to do this, there is a reason. They know the other methods won’t work.
• If I have to struggle this much to get the smallest of accommodations (in terms of time), what hope do disabled people have of getting bigger ones? This world is upside down. It’s a world where people will not do the smallest things that will make big differences in lives. The powerful should be flexible to the needs of the powerless. It’s not on us to be ignored for their convenience.