Following the sharing of Sail Canada Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Action Plan that came out of the Strategic Plan, Sail Canada invited World Sailing to work together to support, protect and include all communities, including LGBTQI2S+, into our sport.
Dear David Graham and World Sailing Board of Directors
As we watch world sporting federations enacting policies and making decisions that are deliberately harmful and exclusive of specific communities, we want to express our hope that World Sailing will use this as an opportunity to present ourselves as courageous sport leaders whose values, policies and processes are rooted in the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity and belonging.
Specifically, we call on World Sailing to endorse human rights, and uphold the safety of LGBTQI2S+ communities. We feel strongly that as our international governing sport body, World Sailing must make a statement confirming that sailing remains inclusive of and accessible to all participants ÛÒ athletes, coaches, officials, and administrators ÛÒ at all levels of the sport..
Over the past 18 months, Sail Canada has been convening leaders from the sailing community across Canada as part of an Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (IDE) Committee. We have recently created and published our Action Plan available at www.sailing.ca/inclusion-diversity-and-equity for how we will actively move our organization, and the sport of sailing in Canada forward. We are working to improve the culture of our sport and are committed to creating an inclusive, diverse and equitable experience in sailing for all. This includes supporting the LGBTQI2S+ community as we make this move forward.
This is an opportunity for sailing to stand with LGBTQI2S+ communities. This is an opportunity to be clear about the policies and practices World Sailing stands by, and their expectations for host countries. These practices must be embedded into hosting criteria so that we never have to choose between participating or not participating, if it means sending participants into unsafe environments based on their identities as part of the LGBTQI2S+ community.
Sail Canada is interested in contributing to World SailingÛªs approach. We will stand as allies with you to produce a statement and to contribute to policy and practice changes as we go forward.
Sincerely,
Don Adams & Sail Canada Board of Directors
Sail Canada
Sail to Win – Sail for Life – Sail for All
