[Foundation-l] [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2008 will happen in Alexandria, Egypt

[GerardM]

Hoi,
I have looked up LGBT.. great those four letter acronyms.. with the TLD's
and add languages and you have a nice muddle.
Thanks,
    GerardM

On 10/10/07, Oldak Quill <oldakquill at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 10/10/2007, Aude <audevivere at gmail.com> wrote:
> > In this thread, I see people raising the issues regarding the Egyptian
> > government.  As we know, it's not a democracy and the Egyptian people
> did
> > not choose the government.  The government there is more repressive, but
> not
> > so much so (like Burma) that we can't have Wikimania there.  To penalize
> > Egyptian Wikimedians (and those from Jordan and other nearby places),
> for
> > what their government does is not cool with me.
>
> Deciding to not hold Wikimania in a particular country is not
> penalisation of those who live there. People from that country would
> be free to attend Wikimania, where ever it is held.
>
> > At the same time, I know plenty of people from Europe, Canada, the
> Middle
> > East and elsewhere in the world... I don't necessarily approve of things
> my
> > government does, and it's important that they distinguish me (as an
> > individual American), from what my government does (including providing
> > enormous amounts of aid to the Egyptian government and other
> undemocratic
> > regimes).
> >
> > http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0412/p07s01-wome.html
> > http://www1.usaid.gov/our_work/features/egypt/
> >
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR2006061201286.html
> >
> > Thinking about that, if you are not happy with repressive things the
> > Egyptian government does, maybe it's time to write congress, ask
> questions
> > of the U.S. presidential candidates, etc. about our policy of supporting
> > such regimes.
> >
> > http://www.house.gov/writerep/
> > http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
>
> My objection to Egypt is more pragmatic than this. The fact that GLBT
> Wikimedians may be put in danger of arrest (and female Wikimedians in
> danger of harassment) by holding the conference in Egypt is enough to
> rule it out by my standards. This worry is particularly apparent if
> GLBT Wikimedians wish to attend the conference with their partners.
> Are two people of the same sex allowed to share double rooms in hotels
> in Egypt?
>
> Prosecution of homosexuality in Egypt:
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4302213,00.html
>
> en.wikipedia's "LGBT rights in Egypt" article
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Egypt) details arrests of
> gay tourists in Egypt.
>
> --
> Oldak Quill (oldakquill at gmail.com)
>
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