TIE Statement and Policy Regarding Minors in Workshops
March 28, 2023
TIE Guiding Principle #1: Look out for the most vulnerable people in the room.
Bigoted and closed-minded lawmakers have always exercised their access to levers of legislative power to harm marginalized communities. Over the past few years, in addition to targeting reproductive justice, lawmakers have specifically targeted Black, Brown, queer, and trans people. There have always been very real threats to the lives and livelihoods of people who educate on race, racism, power, sex, gender, sexuality, and consent. Those threats are currently being codified in law, policy, and executive action in a number of states under the guise of protecting minors from “inappropriate” ideas.
Theatrical Intimacy Education stands in solidarity with all of our instructors whose lives and work are targeted by this current wave of violent anti-trans and racist legislation. We will always defend their right to share their research and we are proud to be in the company of these educators.
While we have focused on educating adults, we do not believe that the topics covered in our workshops are inherently explicit, sexual, or inappropriate for minors to encounter if given the appropriate context and guidance. As an organization, we believe in comprehensive, age-appropriate education on sex, gender, race, racism, power, consent, and our collective and individual histories. We are a company of educators and artists, not lawyers or lawmakers, but we know that oppressive policies cause real harm to our communities.
To protect our team, we formally announce a policy that all workshop participants must be 18 or older. While we will continue to create workshops designed for minors on a case-by-case basis for organizations that serve them, our publicly available Digital offerings and Workshop Weekends have always been intended for adults. We are formalizing this 18+ policy in response to the policies that could put our faculty in potential legal jeopardy.
Access to artistic and educational spaces for caregivers and parents is critical and necessary. We are in the process of figuring out how to support our faculty and caregivers, but while we are in this process, we need to protect our instructors in any way we can. Many of our team members and both of our founders are parents. Caregivers, parents, and people that share spaces with minors, we encourage you to make the choice that is best for you with regard to your participation in a way that does not put our instructors at risk.
Due to these circumstances, beginning March 28, 2023, all workshop participants agree to the following:
All Digital Workshop participants and Workshop Weekend participants must be 18 years of age or older.
By registering, the registrant ensures that the participant and all other present parties are over the age of 18. Theatrical Intimacy Education instructors are not responsible for verifying the age of participants. They are not liable for minors encountering the material in a workshop or any other format, regardless of the state or locality.
In addition to this policy, TIE continues to support and uplift the faculty and community members most impacted by these laws by creating internal pathways to safe refuge states, paying our team members fairly for their labor, providing access to digital teaching space that can be accessed from anywhere, and providing additional financial support whenever we can. As always, we are following the lead of queer, trans, Black, and Brown artists and scholars in and allied to our organization and donating to organizations that directly support these impacted communities.
If you have any questions, please reach out.
This statement was written by Chelsea Pace and Raja Benz with the support of Laura Rikard and the Theatrical Intimacy Education team