[Foundation-l] Concern for the safety of Wikimanians in Alexandria

[Chad]

If the conference does end up staying in Alexandria,
which it probably will from the sounds of it, that seems
like it would be a great way to show community support
for each other!

-Chad

On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 1:30 PM, Andrew Whitworth <wknight8111 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 7:59 AM, Oldak Quill <oldakquill at gmail.com> wrote:
>  >  My concern isn't that homosexual Wikimedians will be in danger if they
>  >  don't tell anyone, it is that homosexual Wikimedians must actively
>  >  hide their sexuality.
>
>  I agree that this isn't entirely ideal, but when it comes to hiding
>  things the LGBT community won't be the only ones affected in
>  Alexandria, and you only need to hide this fact from the Egyptian
>  authorities, not from your fellow conference goers. I don't suspect
>  that atheists are going to want to make that viewpoint very public in
>  Alexandria either. Politics, which often do cross cross over into the
>  territories of morality and religion, should probably also be kept
>  under wraps too.
>
>
>  >  Does the "don't ask, don't tell" policy extend to not mentioning that
>  >  you have a partner to others? If a Wikimedian attends with a same-sex
>  >  partner, should they not tell people they are partners? Should they
>  >  not tell people they are staying in the same room?
>
>  For a long time, I referred to my now-fiance as my "friend". Saying
>  "I'm spending the night with my girlfriend" turned into the nonchalant
>  "I'm staying out tonight with friends". There are many reasons why I
>  wanted to obscure the truth then, and it was easy enough to do. You
>  can easily refer to your life-partner as your "friend" or as your
>  "companion" with enough ambiguity that you don't need to lie and you
>  don't need to go into any more detail. Again, is this ideal? no. But,
>  when you are in a foreign place you need to expect to make at least
>  some concessions.
>
>
>  >  The concern is that while heterosexual Wikimedians may attend with
>  >  their other-sex partner and let others know that they are partners,
>  >  homosexual Wikimedians wouldn't have the same freedom under a "don't
>  >  ask, don't tell" policy.
>
>  As a sign of mutual respect and compassion, maybe all wikimedians
>  should voluntarily give up  public displays of affection with their
>  significant others while in Alexandria. Even a small show of community
>  solidarity can go a long way to turn a lousy situation into a good
>  one.
>
>  --Andrew Whitworth
>
>
>
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