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Vetting Members

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We're seeking open feedback on our Community Blueprints until June 10!

If you want a say in how this community will operate, you can add your feedback at the bottom of this page.

To peruse the rest of our Community Blueprints, click here.


Our Vetting Process

We vet every member of our community.

Everyone is vetted by our Vetting Team. This is a group of Members who have been a part of DT4T for 6+ months and have been additionally vetted for their position on the Vetting Team.

To apply for Membership to DT4T, prospective members may fill out the following form:

Member Vetting Form

Questions marked with an asterisk are required.

First, we'll ask some basic questions to get to know you.

  • First name (preferred)*
  • Last name (preferred)
  • Pronouns
  • Email address*
  • Phone number*
  • Location (city, state/province)*
  • Year of birth (to verify you're over 18)*
  • Do you identify as disabled, chronically ill, Mad, neurodivergent, and/or crippled?
    • Yes
    • No
  • Do you identify as queer (LGBTQIA2S+) or questioning?
    • Yes
    • No

Next, we'll ask about your airborne disease precautions.

At DT4T, we recognize that airborne diseases—and especially COVID—are grave threats to our community's wellbeing. A requirement for membership is masking in all public spaces.

  • Describe your usual airborne disease precautions. When and where do you mask? How do you make your risk assessments? What precautions do you put in place for socializing?
  • Do you always wear a KN95 mask (or better) when riding public transportation?*
    • Yes
    • No
    • N/A
  • Do you always wear a KN95 mask (or better) while shopping?*
    • Yes
    • No
    • N/A
  • Do you always wear a KN95 mask (or better) at your place of work?*
    • Yes
    • No
    • N/A
  • Do you attend events or gatherings that don't require masks?*
    • Often
    • Sometimes
    • Never
  • Do you eat at restaurants?*
    • Often
    • Sometimes
    • Never

Next up are some questions about safety and conflict.

At DT4T, it's important to us that all Members are committed to nonviolent conflict resolution and are capable of putting it into practice.

  • When someone upsets you, do you usually tell them?*
    • Always
    • Sometimes
    • Rarely
    • Never
  • Are you comfortable saying sorry when you feel you're in the wrong?*
    • Always
    • Sometimes
    • Rarely
    • Never
  • Is it easy for you to resolve problems with your close friends?*
    • Always
    • Sometimes
    • Rarely
    • Never
  • How often is it too late when you realize you overreacted in a stressful situation?*
    • Always
    • Sometimes
    • Rarely
    • Never
  • Are you easily overwhelmed by your emotions?*
    • Always
    • Sometimes
    • Rarely
    • Never
  • Do you avoid uncomfortable situations, even when they're important?*
    • Always
    • Sometimes
    • Rarely
    • Never

Next, we have some questions about your resourcing and your capacity to contribute to an intentional community like DT4T.

We want to understand if you are emotionally available to show up yourself and for others.

  • How easy is it for you to ask for help when you need it?*
    • Very easy
    • Easy
    • Somewhat hard
    • Very hard
    • Impossible
  • Do you feel safe in your current living situation?*
    • Yes
    • No
  • How much autonomy do you have over your current living situation?*
    • I control my space and how I use it.
    • I share my space comfortably.
    • I share my space but it's not safe for me.
    • I live under someone else's rules but it works out fine
    • I live under someone else's rules and it's not safe for me.
  • Are your actions often controlled by other people or circumstances?*
    • Always
    • Sometimes
    • Rarely
    • Never
  • What does your personal healing practice look like? (select all that apply)*
    • Therapy
    • Spirituality
    • Journaling
    • Shadow work
    • Other
  • What or whom keeps you hopeful when you're feeling low?*
  • Think of the people you prioritize in your personal life (such as family relationships, monogamous partners, spouses, and hierarchical polycules). How will you make sure you're showing the same compassion and urgency to your fellow Members that you give to your existing relationships?

You're almost done! Before you go, we want to know how you see yourself participating in our community.

  • How do you hope you'll benefit from being a part of DT4T?
  • How do you hope to contribute to this community? What resources and/or skills do you have to share?
  • What are some access problems you've noticed in other queer or disabled spaces? How would you address them, if you had the power?
  • Have you done any other organizing work that you want to tell us about? Please share social media handles!

Just a few final questions for safety!

  • Have you ever worked in the military, in a police department, or in a role that supports military or police functions? (if you select "yes," three follow-up questions will auto-populate)*
    • Yes
    • No
  • (if Yes) How have you atoned for your participation in state violence?
  • (if Yes) How have your values evolved since then?
  • (if Yes) Why should DT4T Members trust you to keep them safe?
  • Do you believe in Zionism or the ethno-state of Israel?

That's it, all done!

  • Is there anything else you'd like us to know about you?

If someone’s answers indicate they might not be a good fit, the Vetting Team contacts them to explain why and to ask for more information. For example, if someone indicates that they frequently eat out at restaurants, we would inform them that doing so is misaligned with DT4T’s values and ask if it’s a habit they’d change if they were granted membership. The Vetting Team uses their best judgment to assess if the answers to their follow-up questions assuage their concerns.

If someone is rejected, they are invited to apply again after a waiting period of 9 months.

For Members who require assistance to access the DT4T app or to attend Events and Gatherings, we also vet their aides.

Since these people will be privy to Members-only spaces, it’s important that we know who they are and that we can trust them to keep us safe.

Members who need to give their aides access to DT4T spaces must have their aides fill out the following form:

Aide Vetting Form

Questions marked with an asterisk are required. 

  • First name (legal)*
  • Last name (legal)*
  • Name of Member you assist*
  • Email address
  • Phone number*
  • What is your experience around queer people?
    • I am queer and/or trans.
    • I spend a lot of time in queer circles.
    • I’ve spent a little time in queer circles.
    • I’ve never spent much time around queer people.
  • Do you have any questions we can answer for you about being in queer and trans-centric spaces?
  • Do you have any questions we can answer for you about being part of an intentional community?
  • Do you have any questions we can answer for you about being in leftist spaces?
  • Do you swear to keep everything you see and hear in DT4T spaces confidential?*
    • Yes
    • No
  • Do you swear never to share any Member's personally identifiable information with anyone?*
    • Yes
    • No

There are a few Automatic Disqualifications for Membership.

There are very few reasons we’d disqualify someone from seeking membership. They are:

  • Active participation in the military, law enforcement, or in a role that supports military or law-enforcement functions
    • Former military and police who have sincerely atoned for their role in state violence may apply.
  • Belief in Zionism and the ethno-state of Israel
  • Personal history of hosting events and refusing to accommodate access requests
  • Personal history of lying about infectious disease precautions

Flagging Potential Risks

We keep track of potential risks to our community.

To help make sure we don’t welcome dangerous parties into our community, all members are encouraged to flag the names of potential future applicants who might be unsafe agitators or abusers. In order to make it through our vetting process, those applicants must take accountability for their past actions and demonstrate a newfound ability to be a safe community member.

This system is not for flagging people we just don’t like. This system is to weed out manipulators, sexual abusers, people who have lied about infectious disease precautions, people whom we believe are capable of harming other Members, and people whom we would feel unsafe—not just uncomfortable—sharing space with. It’s for alerting the Vetting Team to people who refused to take accountability for harm they caused in the past—despite our best efforts at de-escalation and repair—because if someone is unwilling or unable to participate in nonviolent conflict resolution, they are a danger to our entire community.

Any member can submit the following form at any time to add a name to the Vetting Team’s list of potential risks to our community. The form can be submitted anonymously, but that limits the actions the Vetting Team can take to support the member if the other person does eventually apply.

Form to flag a non-Member as potentially unsafe

Questions marked with an asterisk are required. 

  • Name (optional, if you want to submit anonymously)
  • Full name of person who poses a potential risk if they join*
  • Other names and aliases
  • Links to their public social media profiles (to help us verify they’re the same person; we will not contact them unless they apply for membership)
  • Their email address (to help us verify they’re the same person; we will not contact them unless they apply for membership)*
  • Their phone number (to help us verify they’re the same person; we will not contact them unless they apply for membership)*
  • What is your relationship to this person?*
  • What kind of risk do you believe they would pose to the DT4T community if they joined? How might they harm our Members?*
  • What have they done to make you believe they might harm our Members?*
  • What would accountability need to look like for you to feel safe being in community with them again? What would you need to see from them?*
  • If they apply for Membership, we will inform them that a Member flagged their name and tell them what you've shared with us about the situation. We'll ask for their point of view and seek the accountability you're requesting. What else would you like us to do? (select all that apply; none are possible if submitted anonymously)*
    • Alert you that they applied
    • Inform them that you’re the one who flagged them
    • Facilitate a private conversation between you two
    • Facilitate a mediation with a Member of the Conflict Team

If someone on the list applies for membership, the Vetting Team contacts the applicant to say that their name was flagged. We tell them what the member shared about the situation and ask for their side of the story. We give them the chance to take accountability in the manner the member indicated on the form.

If the applicant offers that accountability and the Vetting Team determines they are qualified for Membership based on their application, the applicant is approved. Even if the existing Member still feels uncomfortable, we recognize that discomfort is different from real danger. We believe everyone has the power to change, and when genuine accountability is offered, we accept it graciously.

If someone causes harm once they’ve been approved for Membership, it will be resolved through the Conflict Resolution process.



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