What does “inclusive” mean?

 Inclusive doesn’t mean that we have to include everybody who asks to join; it means that we don’t exclude whole classes of people due to their innate or acquired characteristics (such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or physical characteristics). 

Some people may not be suited to Wicca because they are drawn to a different path. Some people might not be suited to coven life because they don’t play well with others, or because they are not kind and considerate of others.

Inclusive covens definitely have the right to exclude anyone with bigoted views such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, fatphobia etc. As Karl Popper pointed out, the paradox of tolerance is that it cannot tolerate intolerance. 

Some people may not be a good fit for your coven because they have a very different approach to the divine / deities than you, or are interested in a different mythology. 

I think I can safely say that I coined the phrase inclusive Wicca, and although I wasn’t the first person to practice in an inclusive way, I was the first person to write a book with the phrase in the title. I started the Facebook groups to discuss as a community what it should look like. We came up with the description of what an inclusive coven looks like as a community. It should be clear by now what people mean when they say they practice inclusive Wicca. It doesn’t just mean that you have some gay people in your coven. Nor does it mean that absolutely anyone can become an initiate of Wicca. It certainly doesn’t mean that we have to include bigoted people in our circles. 

It means that you have expanded your practice to include symbolism that represents all genders and sexual orientations, and that your practice doesn’t structurally exclude LGBTQ2SIA people, disabled people, or BIPOC people.





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