Anti-Discrimination Policy

1. Our position

BCS Latin Dance does not discriminate — in who we teach, who we hire, who we let through the door, what we charge, or how we treat people once they are here. Discrimination and discriminatory harassment are prohibited, and that applies to students, guests, volunteers, instructors and the owner alike.

2. Protected grounds

Nobody will be treated differently because of:

• Race, colour, ancestry, place of origin or nationality
• Indigenous identity
• Religion or creed
• Marital status or family status
• Physical or mental disability
• Sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression
• Age
• Language, or economic or social condition

3. What discrimination looks like here

It is rarely a sign on the door. In a dance school it usually looks like:

• Refusing to teach someone, or making them feel unwelcome enough to stop coming
• Charging someone differently, or quietly not telling them about a discount everyone else was told about
• Refusing to dance with someone because of their race, age, size, disability or perceived sexuality — and dressing it up as "we're not a match"
• Comments about someone's accent, body, religious dress or ability, however lightly meant
• Leaving someone out of the rotation, the photographs, the performance group or the group chat
• Refusing to use someone's name or pronouns
• Hiring, promoting or dropping an instructor on any of the grounds above

4. Lead and follow are not gendered

Worth its own heading, because it is the most common place a Latin dance class quietly discriminates. Anyone can lead. Anyone can follow. Anyone can learn both. We do not assign roles by gender, we do not require partners to be of any particular combination, and same-gender partnerships are ordinary here rather than tolerated. If a rotation needs balancing, we balance it by role, not by who is a man and who is a woman.

5. Accommodation

Where someone needs an adjustment to take part, we make it — up to the point where it would genuinely not be workable for a small operation like ours. We would much rather be asked than have someone assume the answer is no.

Things we can usually do, and have:

• Disability and mobility — seated or low-impact versions of a move, a slower rotation, a chair at the side, room to sit out, choosing a venue with step-free access when we can
• Hearing or vision — standing where you can see, counting out loud, demonstrating rather than describing, or the reverse
• Chronic pain, injury or pregnancy — no spins, no dips, shorter sessions, breaks whenever needed
• Neurodivergence — a quieter corner, advance notice of what a class will cover, no obligation to make eye contact or small talk
• Religious observance — dress that suits your practice, no-contact or limited-contact participation, dates and times worked around where possible
• Family status — a child sitting quietly at the side, or a class time that works around care
• Scent sensitivity — we ask everyone to go easy on perfume and cologne
• Cost — talk to Paul. Money should not be the reason someone cannot dance, and that conversation stays private.

You do not owe us a diagnosis or a doctor's note to ask for a reasonable adjustment. We only ask for enough information to work out what would actually help.

6. Gender identity and expression

• We use the name and pronouns you tell us, from the moment you tell us. Getting it wrong occasionally is human; refusing to try is discrimination.
• Use the washroom that matches your gender, at any venue we run at.
• Dance the role you want, in whatever you are comfortable wearing.
• Nobody has to explain, justify or disclose anything about their gender to take part.

7. Reporting

8. Consequences

The same ladder as the Code of Conduct: a conversation, a documented warning, removal from an event, exclusion from classes and socials, or the end of a working relationship. Fees are not refunded to someone excluded for discriminatory conduct.