Mission
The mission of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee is to identify strategies and provide recommendations to International Pride Softball leadership and delegates that promote a culture of inclusion, acceptance, and diversity for all its members regardless of race, creed, economic background, immigration status, gender identity and sexual orientation, and especially people of color, women, transgender and nonbinary people, people with visible and non-visible disabilities, people in recovery, and others who have been historically denied the ability to participate in softball. Our goal is to enhance the experience of inclusion of its diverse membership and to further expand upon International Pride Softball core values.
International Pride Softball Statement in Affirmation of Black Lives:
International Pride Softball believes in the importance of equality, justice, fair treatment, and inclusivity within our softball community. We stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and are committed to fostering an environment where everyone feels valued, supported, and protected—in our community, tournaments, and events.
In our pursuit of this goal, we pledge to:
- Create a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for all players and partners, especially our Black athletes.
- Seek out and engage with Black community networks locally and internationally to enhance our recruitment efforts for Black LGBTQ+ athletes.
- Actively work to identify any policy, practice, or behavior at International Pride Softball that reflects racism and dismantle them, holding ourselves accountable in these efforts.
- Use our platform to advocate for racial justice in areas that intersect with concerns affecting the Black LGBTQ+ community.
These actions are integral to our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion within our beloved community of LGBTQ+ softball. At International Pride Softball, we are dedicated to upholding these values and ensuring that Black lives are respected and valued in every aspect of our organization.
International Pride Softball believes that all individuals, regardless of their gender identity or expression, deserve to live authentically and without fear of discrimination or prejudice. Transgender, non-binary, and two-spirit people are an integral part of our diverse human experience, and their identities should be respected, celebrated, and protected. Everyone has the right to express their gender in a way that feels true to themselves, and we believe it is crucial that International Pride Softball fosters an environment of inclusivity, acceptance, and affirmation for all genders.
International Pride Softball will actively take steps to ensure the inclusion and support of transgender, non-binary, and two-spirit individuals on and off the field. This includes implementing policies that explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression, continuing to expand and enhance our footprint on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and offering gender-neutral facilities and forms to accommodate all identities. Additionally, International Pride Softball will actively look to seek out and amplify the voices of trans, non-binary, and two-spirit individuals in decision-making processes, and advocate for legal protections against discrimination at the local and international level.
In our ongoing commitment to inclusivity and diversity, International Pride Softball stands firmly against the alarming and misguided hate crimes targeting members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Discrimination and violence have no place in our society and certainly not within iPrideSoftball. As part of our unwavering position against hate, bigotry, and xenophobia, iPrideSoftball is dedicated to actively identifying and dismantling any anti-AAPI policies, practices, or behaviors in our organization. We pledge to hold ourselves accountable in these efforts and provide constant support and a safe space for our members in the AAPI community. Together, we must speak out, educate ourselves, and take meaningful action to build a more inclusive and compassionate world.
International Pride Softball wishes to acknowledge and honor the Indigenous communities of this region, and recognize that Las Vegas is situated on the traditional homelands of the Nuwu (noo·woo) and Southern Paiute (pai·oot) People. We also recognize and respect the 27 sovereign tribal nations in the state of Nevada.
We offer gratitude for the land itself, for those who have stewarded it for generations, and for the opportunity to visit, meet, play, and be in community with this land.
We encourage everyone in this space to engage in continued learning about the Indigenous peoples who work and live on this land since time immemorial – including the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe and the Moapa (moh·aa·puh) Band of Paiutes.
Sources: University of Nevada Las Vegas and the Association for the Study of Higher Education
