Dear Rory,
*Thank you for bringing up this important issue. We recognize the very legitimate concern you raised and deeply regret any challenges this may present to some in our community. This was not our intention.When our working group made the decision, we were proud to announce the first ever HOT Summit at one of our project sites, and the first ever HOT Summit in Africa. One of the primary reasons for the decision was inclusivity: with a number of our colleagues and community members being unfairly denied visas in the last two years, this was a unique opportunity to rotate the Summit to a non-North America/Europe location. Our goal was simply to welcome so many of our friends and community members who may have been previously left out; at the same time fostering the growth and expansion of OpenStreetMap and FOSS in Africa.Community input was requested at all stages of the process as we began meeting more than three months ago. This included open group meetings and a community survey in which over 110 people participated. Unfortunately, this is the first time the issue has been raised and highlights the importance of increasing diversity of all kinds in the HOT and FOSS4G communities and Working Groups.We will take the following actions based on your message: - Review the code of conduct to make sure it communicates correctly (we welcome you and others to help with this and/or join our Working Group)- Add specific travel guidance to the website on safety and security- Make a commitment to ensure this is part of the discussion when deciding the location for all of our future Summits, invite others to join and help discussAgain, we welcome help and participation from all community members in making the event as inclusive as we, as a combined FOSS4G and HOT community, possibly can. The joint vision behind locating the Summit in Africa is indeed inclusivity and opening opportunities for traditionally underrepresented groups. HOT strives for equal opportunities and inclusivity in all our projects and activities. If you’d like to join Summit Working Group, you can do so here: https://groups.google.com/a/hotosm.org/d/forum/summit <https://groups.google.com/a/hotosm.org/d/forum/summit>We are also happy to answer questions from any individuals who may not want to message a public list. Please reach out to sum...@hotosm.org <sum...@hotosm.org>.- The HOT Summit Working Group and FOSS4G 2018 Organizing Committee* On 16 Feb 2018 11:10 am, "Rory McCann" <r...@technomancy.org> wrote: > > Hi, > > So the HOT Summit is in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. But, erm, it's illegal > to be gay in Tanzania[1]. Travel advice from the UK[2] and US[3] > governments repeats that: "Homosexuality is not tolerated". > > The code of conduct for this conference[4] is (mostly) excellent, it > covers "sexual orientation". But that's impossible in a country with > such laws. > > (IMO) this conference cannot be a safe space for LGBTQ people[5]. We > have the strange situation of HOT saying "This is a safe space for LGBTQ > people, but follow the law which makes your existence illegal"[6]. I am > flabbergasted at how HOT can think this can be a safe space, and HOT > runs the risk of looking like they don't know what a safe space is... > > There's nothing wrong (IMO) with a CoC adapted to local laws[7]. But > please be honest. The conference venue is homophobic. HOT should delete > the "sexual orientation" parts from your CoC. SotM Africa 2017 in Uganda > had a similar CoC[8], and similar laws. There is talk about (good) CoCs > being mandatory for events, and if this is what passes as a CoC, then > we've already given up. > > There's an argument about how far to go ("This country's > anti-discrimination law doesn't go as far as my home country! Racist > country!"), but I think there should be *a* line. Let's talk about that. > "Illegal to be gay or trans[9]" is (IMO) a good line for LGBTQ issues. > > It looks like limiting LGBTQ attendance wasn't a deal breaker for HOT, > or that diversity/inclusivity just isn't thought about much, which is sad. > > -- > Rory > > [1] Technically same-sex sex is illegal, and so is having a same-sex > spouse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Tanzania > [2] https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/tanzania/local-laws > -and-customs > [3] > https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international- > travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Tanzania.html > [4] http://2018.foss4g.org/code-of-conduct.html > [5] Same-sex sex is illegal in TZ, along with having a same sex spouse. > I haven't see anything on trans laws, but I think we can guess. > [6] https://twitter.com/hotosm/status/964252343318532096 > [7] I propose: "If the event covers a region where it's legal to > be gay, then the event cannot be held in a place where it's illegal to > be gay." This makes SotM Africa (or global SotM) in Uganda wrong, but SotM > Tanzania in Tanzania OK. "SotM East Africa" in Uganda would be OK. > [8] > https://web.archive.org/web/20170710101126/http://sotmafrica > .org:80/registration/code-of-conduct/ > <https://web.archive.org/web/20170710101126/http:/sotmafrica.org:80/registration/code-of-conduct/> > [9] "illegal to be trans" is often laws against "crossdressing". This is > happening now in Aceh, Indonesia, and the modern Gay Pride parades > sprung from such a law in New York, USA in 1969. > > (I've been to Tanzania a few times, and it's a great country, Dar & > Zanzibar are wonderful tourist destinations, and I totally recommend the > area. But LGBTQ folk need to be careful.) > > > On 14/02/18 01:49, Tyler Radford wrote: > > Dear HOT Community, > > > You are invited to the 2018 HOT Summit at FOSS4G, August 29-31in Dar es > Salaam, Tanzania! > > > This year we again had a great selection of potential locations for the > HOT Summit and were faced with a hard decision as we were very keen to have > a joint event with both the OpenStreetMap and FOSS4G communities. As a > first time chance to hold the Summit in a HOT project location, and through > a wonderful partnership we are pleased to bring the HOT Summit to FOSS4G > this year. HOT will lead the “Widening Access and Humanitarian Mapping” > conference track. We welcome you to Tanzania -- home to our flagship Ramani > Huria and Data Zetu projects. > > > The Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) conference is > the yearly gathering of the OSGeo community and this year they are looking > to bring impact stories to their audience. With humanitarian and disaster > response use of FOSS, especially in regards to geospatial, the HOT > community brings an amazing showcase to an already impressive conference > program. We can’t wait to see the collaboration between these open > communities. > > > Key Dates: > > * > > Coming Soon: Discounted Ticket Sales for HOT community > > * > > March 21: Presentation Submission > <http://2018.foss4g.org/programme.html>Deadline > > * > > August 27-28: FOSS4G Pre-Conference Workshops > > > > * > > August 29-31: FOSS4G and HOT Summit Main Conference > > * > > September 1-2: FOSS4G Code Sprints and Community Events > > > Stay tuned to http://2018.foss4g.orgfor more information on FOSS4G and > the HOT Summit. > > > --The 2018 HOT Summit Working Group > > * > <https://donate.hotosm.org> > > > _______________________________________________ > HOT mailing list > HOT@openstreetmap.org > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot > > > > _______________________________________________ > HOT mailing list > HOT@openstreetmap.org > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot > > _______________________________________________ > HOT mailing list > HOT@openstreetmap.org > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot > >
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