Statement in Support of Black Lives
Updated June 14, 2020

The Effing Foundation for Sex-Positivity is in full solidarity with the Black community and recognizes that dismantling systemic and institutional racism is necessary to affirm the fundamental human rights of Black people.

The United States is a country which was founded on violence against Black people and the exploitation of their labor. From the start of colonization through the present day, violence has continued to be used against Black people as a means of control and oppression through many institutions, including our law enforcement system, our healthcare system, and our education system.

While many white people are only now beginning to understand the impact that centuries of institutional racism and oppression have had on Black people, we recognize that Black people have been fighting for their human rights for hundreds of years. We empathize with the anger, frustration, and exhaustion of Black individuals and communities, who deal with the toxic effects of systemic racism and the resulting harm that occurs as a result. 

All Black Lives Matter: This includes queer Black people, trans Black people, disabled Black people, Black sex workers, and particularly Black people who live at the intersection of these marginalized identities.

We support efforts to demilitarize, defund, and dismantle the US police system: No Black person should EVER be murdered by police or die while in police custody, and we must continue to fight for those whose lives have been lost, including Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd.

At this time, we ask our non-Black supporters and allies to educate themselves about the history of racism in America and the ongoing Black struggle for human rights; and to offer direct financial support to Black individuals, Black businesses, and Black-led nonprofit organizations as they are able. Some people and projects to consider, which have been previously supported by the Effing Foundation, include:

ART

• Jaki Griot, founder and editor of Perverts of Color Zine (California)-- a bi-monthly publication dedicated to kinky people of color celebrating the diversity of perversity!
• J Mase III (he/him; Seattle, WA) and Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi (she/her; Washington, DC), co-editors of The Black Trans Prayer Book – The #BlackTransPrayerBook is an interfaith, multi-dimensional, artistic and theological work that collects the stories, poems, prayers, meditations, and incantations of Black TGNC contributors. 
• Kevin A. Patterson (he/him), author and co-founder with Alana Phelan (she/her) of For Hire Enterprises (Philadelphia, PA) – Two books about polyamorous relationships. The first book offers education about common polyamorous mistakes (including several personal stories that correspond with each mistake) and how to address them through research, communication, respect, and emotional literacy. 
• Lola Rose Eros (she/he/they; LA) of eros&persephone (NSFW) -- an exploration of the human psyche through the lens of sexuality as a series of short videos by a Black transmasculinefemme self-taught artist; the stories include concepts such as safer sex practices, enthusiastic consent, scene negotiation, queer identities, gender expression, relationship dynamics, kink, and fetish.
• Saira Barbaric (he/they/she/xie), co-founder with Alistair Fyrn (he/him and they/them) of Scumtrust Productions (Seattle, WA) – Scumtrust Productions is a collective working to shift the gaze of porn away from hetero-patriarchal norms. By building worlds that focus on the pleasure and beauty of marginalized identities and bodies, Scumtrust aims to affect the paradigm of desirability in adult entertainment.
• Sean Saifa Wall (he/him; Atlanta, GA) – This collaboration between disabled artist Riva Lehrer and Black activist and researcher Sean Saifa Wall takes the form of a nude portrait. This painting of Sean Saifa Wall pushes the edge of our understanding of intersex bodies, while returning the gaze to a Black intersex body, as the only representation of a Black intersex person to date was by Dr. Jonathan Neill at the University of Pennsylvania in 1831.

EDUCATION

• Candace Liger (she/they; Greensboro, NC), founder of Project Blackbird’s #ConsentConscious – In order to combat sexual violence, we must look at sexual violence holistically, including the dynamics of power, pathways of pleasure, and what is healthy consent. 
• Dalychia (she/her) and Rafaella (she/her), creators of Afrosexology (St. Louis, MO) -- education, exploration, and reclaiming of Black sexuality through a new video series featuring Black people of varying genders and sexual orientations discussing their sexualities.
• Grace B. Freedom (she/they; San Jose) of My Black (GR)ACE, by – Bringing visibility to the Black gray/demisexual (ace) experience through the creation of written works that describe personal experiences in centering Black joy, Black pleasure and Black rest. 
• HonestlyNae (Aurora, CO) -- HonestlyNae is your personal sexuality educator here to provide normalization, explanation, and melanated representation.
• Hunter Ashleigh, founder of Free Figure Revolution (Atlanta, GA) – The "Queer Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Survey" addresses the lack of representation, nuance, and information on the depths of domestic violence and sexual assault within the gender, sexuality, and race spectrum. 
• Jimanekia Eborn (she/her; Los Angeles, CA), founder and host of Trauma Queen -- a podcast mini-series focused on normalizing the conversation around sexual assault. Answering the ultimate question: How can we collectively continue to heal?
• Omisade Burney-Scott (she/her; Durham, NC), creator and host of The Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause – The Black Girls' Guide to Surviving Menopause is a multi-media dialogue project seeking to curate and share the experiences, stories, and realities of Black women and femmes over 50. This is a curated intergenerational exchange, a space for exploration, mentorship, intimacy and vulnerability around life, identity and change.
• Ruby Bouie Johnson (she/her; Dallas, TX), CEO and Founder of PolyDallas Millennium Symposium -- PolyDallas Millennium is a sex-positive sexual health symposium that is a platform for marginalized and oppressed groups. We provide education on ethical non-monogamous relationships in an oppressive and stigmatizing society. 
• Yoseñio V. Lewis (he/him; San Francisco, CA) -- Yoseñio V. Lewis is a Latino of African Descent female-to-male transsexual who has been a social justice activist since he was 13 years old. A health educator, speaker, writer, performer, trainer, facilitator, out poly and kinky person and a spiritual hugger, Yoseñio is a Board Member of TASHRA—The Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance.

COMMUNITY CARE

• Ignacio Rivera (they/them; NYC) and Aredvi Azad (they/them; NYC) are the founders of The HEAL Project, whose mission is to prevent and end childhood sexual abuse (CSA) through healing the wounds of sexual oppression and embracing sexual liberation. 
• Sylvia Rivera Center for Social Justice (Reno, NV) – The Sylvia Rivera Center for Social Justice is committed to providing advocacy, outreach, education, mental health, and other services rooted in social justice, to underserved and marginalized communities within the Greater Reno area with a specialization in LGBTQ+ communities of color.

What are the values of the Effing Foundation?

Core values modeled by the Effing Foundation (both as an organization, and as individual staff, volunteers, Advisors, and Board members) and our grant applicants/grantees include:

• Sex-positivity: Our definition of "sex-positivity" affirms the idea that consent-based, harm-reductive, health-informed sexuality is a fundamental human right. While related to sexual activity, sex-positivity also addresses ethics, values, identity, relationships and many other intersectional issues. We support asexual, demisexual, and other people on the asexual spectrum as part of our sex-positivity.
• Art and education: As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, our focus is on promoting sex-positive projects which have artistic and/or educational value.
• Scientific accuracy: Information provided as part of sexual education should be scientifically accurate and based in fact.
• Inclusivity: To uphold sexuality as a right for all people, we support art and education that are inclusive of a wide range of potentially intersecting identities, including people of color, people of all physical and mental capabilities, people of all (a)sexual orientations, people of all genders and gender expressions, and intersex people, among others. We advocate for the use of language which is inclusive and mindful of marginalization. For example, information provided as part of sexual education should use body-centered language instead of gendered language (such as "penis owner" and "vulva owner" or "innies" and "outies"; avoid "men" and "women" or "female-bodied" and "male-bodied" when talking about people who have particular genitals.)
• Sex worker solidarity: We recognize that sex work is work and that sex worker rights are fundamental to human rights.
• Justice: We fight against racism, heterosexism, cissexism, ableism, sizeism, and other -isms, both in terms of individual bias and in terms of institutional systems of oppression.
• Equity: We recognize that different individuals and groups may need different support based on multiple axes of marginalization, and we work to provide that support accordingly.

We recognize that these core values are ideals for our community to strive toward, since no individual can perfectly embody them. Our commitment to exploring and understanding sex-positivity includes a commitment to question these definitions, both in theory and practice, so that pleasure can become more accessible and equitable over time.