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

[David Strauss]

Ray Saintonge wrote:
> Mark Williamson wrote:
>> Can you guarantee the safety of a male-to-female pre-op transsexual in
>> Alexandria or Cairo?
> Do you have any data about the number who would otherwise want to attend 
> Wikimania at an equivalent distance from home and expense?  ... or is 
> this just a made-up problem?

It's quite demeaning to ask people who face discrimination to stand up
and be counted. It's objectifying, and it's not acceptable to allow
discrimination even in the presumed absence of the target group. Often,
a target group will silently watch and exclude itself once it discovers
that the reluctance to accommodate its needs is being discussed.

For example, someone might object to having a Confederate flag at a
party. If the response is asking, "Are there going to be black people?"
then it's more likely that black people considering coming to the party
will simply not come rather than object and come to an event where their
interests are clearly second-class.

It's probably clear by this point that I'm not a utilitarian. :-)

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