GDC POLICIES & PROCEDURES
GDC STATEMENT OF OPERATING POLICY
1. MEMBERSHIP AND COMMUNITY OF INTEREST
Our affiliates include gay fathers’ groups, gay and lesbian parents’ groups and individuals acting as local contacts in areas where there are no such groups currently in existence. We support and welcome as members gay fathers, lovers of gay fathers, and gay men who are committed to adopting children or providing foster care. Members of Gay Dads Canada are presently limited to these categories of support. GDC recognizes that our local member groups will continue to observe their own local requirements for membership.
2. SUPPORT FOR LOCAL GROUPS
In order to provide support for existing groups and to act as a catalyst in the forming of new local groups GDC will:
2-1. Provide funding, organizational, and marketing support for gay fathers groups who provide encouragement, assistance, and information to existing, new and potential gay father support groups.
2-2. GDC will act as a clearing house for the collection and dissemination of information and resources on gay parenting.
2-3. GDC will establish a Canadian wide network of local representatives and/or groups to assist individuals in forming new groups or to assist them on a one-on-one basis if group formation is not feasible.
3. EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
GDC will strive to educate the general public as well as the gay community about the vast numbers of gay fathers and lesbian mothers that are fully effective parents. GDC’s work towards educating professionals and the general public will focus on:
3-1. Encouraging valid research on gay parenting and the dissemination of the results of such research.
3-2. Providing and supporting speakers for gay and non-gay groups.
3-3. Engaging in outreach with gay and non-gay media.
4. LEGISLATION OUTREACH
GDC shall support the passage of any legislation designed to eliminate the effects of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or sexual choice. GDC will be particularly devoted to supporting laws and rulings which take a stand against the forbidding of consideration of sexual orientation or sexual choice in matters of divorce, separation, alimony, child support, child care, foster care, visitation, and custody.
GDC CODE OF CONFIDENTIALITY
GAY DADS CANADA, ALL OF its LOCAL COMMUNITY AFFILITATED GROUPS AND ALL MEMBERS THEREOF ARE REQUIRED TO ADHERE TO A CODE OF CONFIDENTIALITY ASCRIBING THAT ALL MATTERS DISCUSSED AND NAMES OF PARTICIPANTS IN ALL SUCH MEETINGS REMAIN CONFIDENTIAL. ALL GAY FATHER MEETINGS MUST ALWAYS IS A SAFE PLACE TO TALK OPENLY ABOUT PERSONAL MATTERS AND ISSUES. THE PRIVACY OF EACH PARTICIPANT MUST AT ALL TIMES BE RESPECTED BY ALL PARTICIPANTS. NO IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS, WHATSOEVER, SHALL BE USED WHEN DISCUSSING ANY ASPECT OF GAY FATHERS, SUCH AS SURNAMES, PROFESSIONS, OR EMPLOYERS.
GDC CODE OF MUTUAL RESPECT
GAY DADS CANADA RECOGNIZES THAT TO ACHIEVE ITS MISSION OF SUPPORTING ALL GAY FATHERS, THE ENVIRONMENT IT PROVIDES AND/OR SUPPORTS WITHIN ITS’ AFFLICATED LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUPS MUST BE ONE THAT ALWAYS DEMONSTRATES RESPECT, DIGNITY, EQUALITY AND SAFETY FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE GAY FATHERS SUPPORT COMMUNITY.
PURPOSE OF OUR MUTUAL RESPECT POLICY!
THE PURPOSE OF THE GDC MUTUAL RESPECT POLICY IS TO MAINTAIN A SAFE AND OPEN ENVIRONMENT AT ALL MEETINGS, FREE FROM ANY ACT OF HARASSMENT OR INTIMIDATION. THIS POLICY IS INTEDED TO ACT AS A CLEAR STATEMENT OF GAY DADS CANADA AND ALL OF TIS’ AFFILICATED COMMUNITY GROUP’S COMMITMENT AND DETERMINATION TO ACT RESPONSIBLY AGAINST ANY ICIDENT AND TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THERE IS A ZERO TOLERANCE LEVEL FOR HARASSMENT.
OBJECTIVES OF OUR MUTUAL RESPECT POLICY!
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE GAY DADS MUTUAL RESPECT POLICY IS INTENDED TO REFLECT:
A DEMONSTRATION AND PROMOTION OF THE COMMITMENT OF GAY DADS CANADA TO PROTECT THE DIGNITY AND RIGHTS OF ITS GAY FATHERS, COMMUNITY GROUPS, AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS;
AN EDUCATION OF ITS’ GAY FATHERS, COMMUNITY GROUPS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE GAY COMMUNITY AT LARGE TO THE FACT THAT HARASSEMENT IS PROHIBITED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO;
A PROCEDURE WHICH ALLOWS FOR THE TAKING OF IMMEDIATE ACTION AND TO PROVIDE CONFIDENTIAL, IMPARTIAL AND EFFECTIVE ACTIONS TO RESOLVE COMPLAINTS IN WAYS THAT RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF ALL PARTIES CONCERNED;
A PROCEDURE THAT PROVIDES APPROPIATE REMEDIES TO COMPLAINANTS IN REGONITION OF THE IMPACTS OF HARASSMENT;
A PROCEDURE THAT IDENTIFIES THE VARIOUS ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF A HARASSMENT-FREE ENVIRONMENT; WHILE
PROVIDING APPROPIATE RESPONSES AND CONSEQUENCES IF AND WHEN HARASSMENT OCCURRS.
GAY DADS OF CANADA COMMITS TO TIMELY INVESTIGATIONS THAT ARE THROUGH, OBJECTIVE AND FAIR TO ALL AFFECTED PARTIES. ALL COMPLAINTS WILL BE TREATED WITH DESCRETION AND RESPECT FOR ALL PERSONS INVOLVED; HOWEVER, ANONYMOUS COMPLAINTS WILL NOT BE INVESTIGATED. ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTATION WILL BE MAINTAINED IN STRICT CONFIDENCE, SUBJECT TO GAY DADS CANADA’S ABILITY TO CONDUCT A FULL AND THOROUGH INVESTIGATION.
CONSEQUENCES OF BREACHING EITHER THE CODE OF CONFIDENTIALITY OR THE CODE OF MUTUAL RESPECT MAY INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
REMOVAL FROM A GAY DADS CANADA ACTIVITY OR PROGRAM;
REMOVAL FROM A GAY DADS CANADA SPONSORED MEETING FOR A PERIOD OF TIME;
EXPULSION FROM GAY DADS CANADA AND/OR ITS’ AFFLICATED GROUPS.
"This policy states Gay Dads Canada's position on discrimination. This policy applies to all Gay Dads Canada employees, volunteers, members, clients, and affiliated groups.
"Gay Dads Canada does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, height, weight, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, and marital status.
"This policy also applies to internal promotions, training, opportunities for advancement, terminations, outside vendors, organization members and customers, service clients, use of contractors and consultants, and dealings with the general public."
GDC Privacy Policy
GAY DADS CANADA recognizes the importance of protecting information we may collect from visitors to our web site. We respect your privacy. Our policy is to use the information we acquire from visitors to our site for internal purposes only, and we maintain appropriate security measures to keep this information private.
This policy does not apply to web sites or content of third parties or other organizations to which our site links. You should carefully examine the privacy policies of these third parties and organizations to determine their privacy practices.
Newsletters and Other Communications from Us.
Our community members may receive newsletters, email communications, or communications through other channels for, among other purposes, the promotion and marketing of a service from our community partners, and we may also offer other visitors to our sites the opportunity to sign up to receive such information. When there is a separate sign-up for newsletters, our community partners ask for contact information such as name and email address, and, sometimes, demographic and profile information. By visiting our sites, you affirmatively consent to our collection and use of your data. We use this information in the same manner as we use the contact information in the Registration process described above. We may offer our users the choice whether to receive mailings from others that we think will be of interest. Recipients of our mailings can unsubscribe by following instructions that may appear at the end of email communications. Note that in order to keep our registered users informed about the operation of our services, we may send occassional emails and announcements that are needed for the proper functioning and administration of our sites and service. You certainly won't receive a ton of emails you don't want or will have to read.
Personal information
We do not sell or make available your personal information to any third parties. If you tell us you do not wish to have this information used as a basis for further contact, we will respect those wishes. We do keep track of the domains from which people visit for 12 months. We analyze this data for trends and statistics, and use the information to make our site more interesting for our visitors. Then we discard the information. We do not partner with or have special relationships with any ad server companies.
GAY DADS CANADA takes precautions to keep the visitor information disclosed to us secure, and such information will not be disclosed to third parties for commercial purposes. To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and to ensure the appropriate use of information, we have in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect.
Code of Ethics
We believe that information is intrinsically a valuable commodity, and that all information should be free, and freely available. We believe in people who are informed rather than blinkered.
Our website is Family Friendly. It contains no porn pictures, adult advertising or links making it suitable for all ages.
We absolutely endorse and comply with all regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, disability or age, and we shall make no discrimination of any kind on our website.
Access to our website will remain free and not require any payment or subscription of membership to access it.
Our website will have no political, religious or sectarian bias (and will refuse to publish any material that encourages such attitudes), but will endeavour to provide an equal forum to all persuasions.
Much of the material found on the Internet is trivial, derivative, plagiaristic or downright stolen. We frown on such practices and are committed to the creation of a website which has real and original value and that enriches the Internet Gay Dads Community.
We wholeheartedly disapprove of unsolicited e-mail (so-called UCE or "spam") and the flimsy pretexts some webmasters make to send unsolicited email.
Communities
Some of our sites may enable you to participate in public services such as discussion boards. Please use discretion when posting personal information about yourself when using these services. Be aware that when you disclose personal information at these sites, such as your name, member name, e-mail address, etc., the information may be collected and used by others to send unsolicited e-mail. The services are open to the public, and what you post there can be seen by anyone and is not protected. Gay Dads Canada cannot control the comments that you may receive while you participate in forum boards. You may find other people's comments to be offensive, harmful or inaccurate. We do our best remove these comments when they appear.
Cookies
"Cookies" are small text files a web site can use to recognize repeat visitors, facilitate the visitor's ongoing access to and use of the site, and allow a site to track usage behavior and compile aggregate data that will allow content improvements. Cookies are not programs that copy themselves to a visitor's system and damage files. Generally cookies work by assigning a unique number to the visitor that has no meaning outside the assigning site. If a visitor does not want information collected through the use of cookies, there is a simple procedure in most browsers that allows the visitor to deny or accept the cookie feature. The Gay Dads Canada web site uses one cookie for the navigation menu to keep settings consistent from page to page.
Copyright Notice
Gay Dads Canada’s Web site in its entirety is copyrighted by Capa Corporation.
Acceptable Use Guidelines
The Gay Dads Canada Logo or any event connection may not be used for any commercial or fundraising purposes whatsoever without express permission by Gay Dads Canada. Vendors interested in obtaining a license to use the Gay Dads Canada logo or any event connection for merchandise or other commercial purposes should contact Gay Dads Canada for further information.
Permission is freely granted to create, record or reference copies of pages of this web site for research and study. You may download, print, and make copies of these materials for research, teaching and private study. Many of the materials on the site are designed to be printed and distributed locally for purposes of activism or personal use and may be distributed widely as long as they provide proper attribution.
Commercial print reproduction in print publication or duplication of the materials on this web site, including use through mirroring or use on another web site must be requested in advance.
Non-commercial print reproduction such as for use by community activists and student and non-commercial newspapers or student course work is granted on a blanket basis and must be accompanied by the following statement:
© Copyright 2008 (or other year indicated)Gay Dads Canada. Reprinted with permission of Gay Dads Canada
Links to Other Sites
As stated above, Gay Dads Canada's privacy policy does not apply to web sites of other individuals or organizations to which this site links. Such sites are independently owned and controlled. Those sites may use cookies or collect data or personal information in a manner inconsistent with our privacy policy. Each visitor should carefully examine the privacy policies of other organizations to determine their privacy practices. Gay Dads Canada accepts no responsibility for the content or privacy policies of linked sites.
Legal Disclosures
Gay Dads Canada may disclose personal information if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to protect the safety of any individual or our rights and property. Gay Dads Canada may also disclose personal information if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against a person or entity that may be causing injury or interference with Gay Dads Canada's rights or property (eg: hacking, copyright violation, etc...). In addition, Gay Dads Canada may disclose personal information if we believe in good faith that we are required to do so by law.
Privacy Contact Information
By email:
p_f_cogan@hotmail.com
By mail:
GAY DADS CANADA
9 Morningside Avenue
Suite 7
Toronto, Ontario, M6S 1C1
By phone:
(416) 767-7351
External Link Policy
This site includes links to a number of web sites operated by other individuals or organizations. Gay Dads Canada accepts no responsibility for the content of linked sites. Gay Dads Canada has no control over the content or practices of linked sites. Accordingly, visitors to our site cannot hold Gay Dads Canada responsible for the availability, accuracy, appropriateness, copyright compliance, legality, or any other aspect of content located on or through any such linked sites.
The inclusion of a link on our site does not constitute an endorsement or opinion regarding the linked site, the operator of such site, or any products, services, advertisements, or content available on or through such site, nor does it signify a partnership or association between Gay Dads Canada and the operator of the linked site.
Businesses or web sites listed here are not necessarily owned or operated by people of any particular ethnicity or sexual orientation.
Link Swaps
Gay Dads Canada will evaluate any request for inclusion of a link on our site. For-profit organizations may request inclusion of their link but, if the decision is made to include it, it may be posted as a text link, not a direct link. We reserve the right to deny any request for inclusion of a link.
Acceptance of Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions
By using this site, you signify your agreement to the terms and conditions of the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use this site. If we decide to change our privacy policy in whole or in part, we will inform you by posting a notice on our website. Changes will go into effect on the date posted in the notice. The new policy will apply to all current and past users of our website and will replace any prior policies that are inconsistent Your continued use of Gay Dads Canada website following the posting of any changes to these terms shall mean that you have accepted those changes.