All Are Welcome

Community Commitment

As a public gathering place for the brilliantly diverse community, we at the Appell Center see it as our top priority to ensure that all of our patrons, performers, staff and guests feel welcome – regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, race, religion or sexual orientation. The performing arts are designed to unite everyone in shared experiences and expand all of our horizons. Filling our house with those of diverse backgrounds and perspectives makes our entire organization stronger. When Louis Appell Jr. set out to revive the Strand and Capitol Theatres back in the 1970’s, his vision was two-fold:

1. To design theatres so beautiful that every person who walked through the doors felt they were about to experience something special.

2. To build accessible, inclusive theatres that every single member of the community could enjoy.

What are personal pronouns and why do they matter?

We at the Appell Center for the Performing Arts see it as our duty to carry on that very important vision through all of our programming selections, education programs as well as our community outreach initiatives. We invite the entire community to think of our house like your very own! We are here to serve you. Within these walls you will be always be welcome, safe… and above all, entertained!

In English, whether we realize it or not, people frequently refer to us using pronouns when speaking about us. Often, when speaking of a singular human in the third person, these pronouns have a gender implied -- such as “he” to refer to a man/boy or “she” to refer to a woman/girl. These associations are not always accurate or helpful.

Often, people make assumptions about the gender of another person based on the person’s appearance or name. These assumptions aren’t always correct, and the act of making an assumption (even if correct) sends a potentially harmful message -- that people have to look a certain way to demonstrate the gender that they are or are not.

Using someone’s correct personal pronouns is a way to respect them and create an inclusive environment, just as using a person’s name can be a way to respect them. Just as it can be offensive or even harassing to make up a nickname for someone and call them that nickname against their will, it can be offensive or harassing to guess at someone’s pronouns and refer to them using those pronouns if that is not how that person wants to be known. Or, worse, actively choosing to ignore the pronouns someone has stated that they go by could imply the oppressive notion that intersex, transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people do not or should not exist.

When we refer to "personal" pronouns, we don't mean that these pronouns are necessarily private information (generally they are not), we mean that they are pronouns referring to a unique and individual person.

Reference: MyPronouns.org.