Forum, or originally Zegg Forum, is a relational practice that comes from the New Culture movement. It has one central concern: the relationship between one person speaking (Presenter) and the group listening (Group).

That sounds simple. What it produces is anything but.

In Forum, the Presenter steps into the center and shares what's alive for them. 

The Group holds that with full attention. The facilitator’s primary purpose is to help the Presenter go deeper, and help the Group stay present, collaborative, and involved rather than reactive or disconnected. Over time, what was hidden underneath everything else gets a chance to surface. Real feelings find room. Genuine connection forms because the usual layers of performance and management aren't operating.

This is not therapy. It is not a support group in the traditional sense. It is not a space where someone tells you how to feel or what to do with what you're carrying.

It is a practice that was specifically designed by and for communities—people who choose to be in relationship with each other over time. The depth of what Forum produces comes from returning to it. One circle begins something. The next one continues it. That's why this is a monthly gathering with a limited number of seats.

Forum is movement-based. You will be on your feet, moving through the space. The movement is purposeful and central to this process—it's how the practice works. Talking while you move changes what you can access. Forum is also meant to be accessible—the movement invited is only the movement you are comfortable doing and that lives within your physical ability.

Forum is consent-driven at every level. Nothing will be asked of you that you haven't agreed to, from intervention to the lightest touch. You will never be pushed past a stopping point you haven't chosen. The facilitator will check in with you before anything is done. 

You can pause, redirect, or stop entirely at any moment.

Forum can also be activating. Strong emotions are welcome into the circle, and some of the stretch you experience as part of the container happens in those moments. The collective holds the intensity, and the individual may still need more support. We hold space for the need to be noticed, expressed, and met with respect to your individual preferences.

You’re someone who shows up for others. You organize, you advocate, you hold space for your community, and you carry the particular weight of doing that while also wishing you were being held, too.

Being a queer activist is its own specific experience. It's not the same as being part of the queer community. It's not the same as being an activist, even if we also understand each other well. The intersection is its own territory, and most spaces—including many LGBTQ+-affirming spaces—don’t seem to provide the empathy that lands most powerfully inside of this experience.

This is a space that aims to invite that possibility in, facilitated between you and your intersecting peers.

We're here to be in the room together and let what's actually present surface. The fear, the exhaustion, the grief, the anger, the love that keeps bringing you back to this work despite everything—it has a central place here. We're not going to organize, strategize, or produce anything, though such conversations often follow this kind of circle. We’re definitely not aiming for magical healing, or swaying anyone’s convictions. 

Differences of opinion, approach, and identity within the larger activist community are expected and welcome. What this space asks is that your feelings matter more than your positions. Strong views are allowed their place...they're just beside the point, an important detail outside of this space. Your primary intersection here is the exhaustion, the fear, and all the heaviness that you live with every day of the fight.

Not much to say...you're living it.

The discrimination feels more dangerous than it has in recent memory, especially for those of you navigating more hostile environments—rural areas, workplaces, family situations where being visibly queer puts you at genuine risk. Even when you find a therapist you can afford, finding one who actually understands the activist experience—not just the queer experience, but this specific intersection—is its own separate and often defeating project.

You need people who already know.

There is none.

Money is welcome if you want to contribute to the sustainability of this offering. It is completely optional and never required. The exchange, if you want to think of it that way, is your effortful presence when you're here. 

And, for those who are called to it, support behind the scenes as we build this out.

Forum is a community-based practice, and therefore facilitated following the same principles that live within the circle.

For the first several gatherings, Rebecca Noble is the lead facilitator. You can find out more about her on her website, linked here. She will work alongside 1-3 trusted and vetted helpers and co-facilitators, there to hold the space, the Group, and the Presenter right along with her—staying attuned in this process requires layered attention. Having several other experienced facilitators helps hold both the collective and the individual experiences unfolding within the circle.

The facilitator’s primary purpose is to hold the relationship between the Presenter and the Group. They help the Presenter re-orient to their surroundings, explore their movements, and disrupt patterns they notice—all with your consent.

A facilitator does not impose their opinion or a solution to the problems you bring to the circle. They will not lead with their beliefs, much less advice. In this case, Rebecca has been invited in to intentionally operate as an outsider in order to give the organizers permission to be present within their own peer group.

Note: Long-term, there will be opportunities to learn how to facilitate Forum yourself. If you’re interested, please let us know when you sign up.

What happens in this room stays in this room. That is a condition of this space, a rule that comes with some firm boundaries if broken.

This means: What a Presenter shares is not repeated outside the circle, not summarized to people who weren't there, not posted, screenshotted, or referenced in any form without that person's explicit consent.

This applies to everyone in the room, including the facilitation team.

Strong emotions may arise in this space—grief, anger, fear, relief. This is expected and held. Big emotional expressions are not a problem here. It is often the thing the space is for. There is no correct way to feel, much less to show up to a Forum.

If something arises that requires a different kind of support—crisis, conflict between participants, anything that wants or needs to be addressed outside the circle rather than inside it—the facilitator will name it directly and respond accordingly.

By showing up, you are agreeing to hold what you witness for other people with the same care you'd want them to hold what you share.

If you have physical access needs, sensory needs, or anything that would help you be more fully present in this space, please reach out before the event. We will do our best to accommodate, and we'll be honest with you if something isn't possible for this particular gathering.

The space is movement-based by design, but not all movement looks the same. You are always invited to participate in the way your body can.

Doors open at 6:00.

We begin at 6:30, or as close to it as the room allows.

The first part of the evening is orientation: you, the space, and the people you're in it with. We'll settle, breathe, and find the ground before anything else begins. This isn't filler. Entering a space deliberately is its own practice.

From there, we move into Forum proper. Someone steps in. The group holds them. Things happen that don't happen in ordinary conversation. The specific rituals around the circle are introduced, and we work our way up to the longer shares.

We close either when the circle is complete, with some time to spare to mingle and decompress in togetherness, or we allow the circle to close with enough time to catch our breath and head off into the night with a fresh perspective on things.

This first circles are capped at 30 people.

If you want to be considered for a spot, sign up here. Confirmation and practical details will come directly to you no later than 24-48 hours before the event.

Rebecca: serendipitous.shift@gmail.com or learn more at www.serendipitous-shift.com/forum-facilitation

Noel N.: hurricane_noel@proton.me

Noel H.: noellyheatherland@gmail.com

Arie P.: ariesafari101@gmail.com