[Foundation-l] [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2008 will happen inAlexandria, Egypt

[Gatto Nero]

2007/10/12, Brian McNeil <brian.mcneil at wikinewsie.org>:
> Gatto Nero wrote:

> The actual way I've interpreted most comments (and I emphasise most, not
> all) of this nature has been "don't overtly display your sexuality". This
> applied to gay, bi, *and* heterosexuals.

Oh, come on: don't try to equiparate "being overtly heterosexual" with
"being overtly homosexual". It's totally different, from a cultural
point of view.
Being heterosexual has been the normality for a loooong time, and it's
very hard to be "overtly heterosexuals". It's not the same, and we
should understand this.
*Being overtly heterosexuals: fucking in the street
*Being overtly homosexuals: speaking with a squeaky voice, holding
another man's hand, sharing a double room...

They're not parallels.
It's minimizing.

> >* Don't take a double room
>
> I don't know if it is as bad as that. Is it a case of the hotel staff will
> look at you funny, or would it be worse than that?

No idea, but the idea of not being _allowed_ to ask for a double, if I
want to, it's absurd.
I can decide not to take a double, but I don't have to be obliged to.

> >* Don't flaunt your homosexuality
>
> This goes with what I said above; anywhere in the Middle East you don't
> openly flaunt any flavour of sexuality.

Read my answer above.

> I don't care how many LGBT Wikimedians there are. Pigeonholing ourselves
> into special interest groups with an axe to grind is counter-productive.
> We're all Wikimedians.

Exactly, and we have to take care of all.

> So the 2008 Wikimania caught some flak, and the jury is in hiding from an
> angry mob of homosexuals with torches and pitchforks. :-P Move on, factor
> the concerns into the 2009 process. Do we have a list of candidates for that
> yet? It would be far more productive to move on to critiquing the 2009
> candidates than bemoaning an issue with the 2008 choice.

On 2007, one of the question made to all the participants was "Are
there problems with the GLBT community, in your country?".
So they knew it.
The problem is the jury understimated the problem, _this year_. I hope
for the next year, but we're worsening.