Code of Conduct

YIMBY Action is committed to fostering a supportive, safe, and welcoming environment for everyone. Regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, physical ability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, age, race, national origin, ethnic origin, nationality, immigration status, language, economic power, religion or lack thereof, party affiliation or level of political involvement, or other identity marker. We reserve the right to deny access to our spaces to individuals who have been determined to have acted inappropriately.

While we expect all members to respect others at all times, we acknowledge that misconduct does occur and requires disciplinary action to maintain a safe and welcoming environment. We also acknowledge that there are different levels of misconduct and that some situations call for a simple one-on-one discussion while others require stricter disciplinary action.

This page is an outline of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, as well as consequences for violating the YIMBY / YIMBY Action Code of Conduct and the process by which those consequences are enacted.

YIMBY / YIMBY Action expects all Members, Leads, and Board Members to:

We expect members to be civil and courteous to each other both in person and in digital spaces when representing YIMBY. We ask that our members and those who organize with us direct strong feelings at problems and ideas, not individuals. If you have differences with individuals or groups in the YIMBY movement, the best place to debate is directly or on our Slack, not on external platforms.

Ask for consent when using the images or words of others. Be respectful of their privacy. Understand that in general, the conversations we have within YIMBY spaces are held in confidence.

YIMBY Action is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for all of our members. We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. This code of conduct applies to all YIMBY Action spaces offline and online, including meetings, happy hours and other events, Slack, and social media. Anyone who violates this code of conduct will be investigated by the moderation team.

Harassment and Antagonism include but are not limited to:

Offensive direct comments or slurs related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, physical ability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, age, race, national origin, ethnic origin, nationality, immigration status, language, economic power, religion or lack thereof, level of political involvement, or other identity markers.
Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including food, health, parenting, romantic and/or sexual relationships, drugs, and employment.
Questioning or challenging someone’s stated self-identity or chosen labels, even if they conflict with your views.
Deliberate use of misgendering pronouns, or the use of “dead” or rejected names.
Physical contact without consent.
Threats, acts, or incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm.
Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following.
Sustained disruption of discussion.
Unwelcome sexual advances or attention.
Continued one-on-one communication after requests for it to cease.
Sharing or threatening to post other people’s personally identifying information (“outing” or “doxxing”). “Sharing” includes posting on social media, publishing, sending via email, or flyering. This applies even when a person’s information is already publicly available. Personally identifying information includes people’s contact information (phone, email, address) and identity-stealing information (Mother’s maiden name, birthday, social security number, credit card number, bank account number).
Using the images or words of someone without their emphatic, affirmative consent or against their will, including screenshots of words in non-public places
Anything else that would reasonably constitute harassment

Debate around political ideology, practice, and strategy is encouraged in our spaces. Assume that all comments are made in good faith. Be respectful, use healthy forms of discourse, and be open to new ideas. We are all still growing; supporting ourselves in this means making room for disagreement, compromise, and mutual respect. We are all passionate about our causes and we must recognize when our strong feelings make it hard to take others’ comments in good faith. In these moments, we expect people to be allowed to peacefully walk away from the conversation.

Respect that people have differences of opinion and that every decision carries a trade-off and numerous costs. There is seldom a right answer, especially in political activism.

We are people and we all make mistakes. Practice calling in versus calling out others as a way to nurture our YIMBY spaces while we grow and learn from our mistakes to build a better, more inclusive movement. Respect that calling out is still a valid way to make people accountable and consider how the individuals who are calling people out may have or are currently experiencing oppression.

As a political movement, we need cohesion of vision. While healthy debate is essential to progress, disruption and co-option of our work are counterproductive and harmful. The housing shortage is so much bigger than us.

Reporting Code of Conduct Violations

If you are being harassed by another member, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please submit a Code Conduct violation report using the form below.

We respect confidentiality to protect victims of abuse. At our discretion, we may publicly name a person about whom we’ve received harassment complaints, or privately warn third parties about them, if we believe that doing so will increase the safety of our members or the general public. We will not name harassment victims without their affirmative consent.

We prioritize the safety of marginalized people and will not act on complaints about corrective communications. These communications could include:

Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone,” “go away,” or “I’m not discussing this with you.”
Criticizing or identifying oppressive behavior or assumptions that are racist, classist, sexist, misogynist, cissexist, queerphobic, or otherwise oppressive, such as “that comment was a bit racist,” “that joke is misogynistic,” etc.

CONSEQUENCES FOR CODE OF CONDUCT VIOLATIONS

Participants asked to stop any unacceptable behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant continues to engage in unacceptable behavior, the moderation team may take any action we deem appropriate, up to and including expulsion from all YIMBY Action spaces and identification of the participant as a harasser to our members.

We acknowledge that there are different levels of misconduct and that some situations call for a simple intervention while others require stricter disciplinary action. When a complaint is received, the moderation team will assess what actions might be appropriate. Interventions might include:

Posting in the Slack to ask everyone to take a pause
Having a short conversation with the member to issue a warning
Temporarily rescinding membership
Banning someone from becoming a Lead
Banning someone from YIMBY Action membership
Banning someone from all YIMBY Action events & membership

Process

YIMBY / YIMBY Action moderation team receives complaints.
The team meets with the complainant to ask questions and ascertain desired outcomes. We will make every attempt to maintain the privacy of all parties, whenever possible.
The team meets with the accused member to discuss the complaints against them and gather any relevant information.
The team decides on a course of action, and then informs the complainant and accused member of these decisions.