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<p>Mark, conference committee,</p>
<p>As an outsider reading this Code of Conduct, without knowing the
Tanzania anti-LGBT laws, this CoC would seem strange in the way
they are singling out LGBT. I think it would be useful to state it
up front what the legal situation is, and the limits to the FOSS4G
committee's ability to enforce the CoC or protect delegates from
local laws.<br>
</p>
<p>I think it would be good to have a statement noting something
like:<br>
</p>
<p>1. Participants should be mindful of LGBT local laws, which state
...<br>
</p>
<p>2. Participants should behave respectfully toward locals of the
country and dress and behave respectfully when in public.
Appropriate dress involves ...</p>
<p>3. While the OSGeo Foundation supports a safe conference
environment and will apply whatever means at its disposal to
support this (including removing people from the conference if
needed), participants should be aware of the limit's of the FOSS4G
committee's legal mandate to protect delegates. <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 1/4/18 1:16 am, Mark Iliffe wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:668B13CD-D13A-4133-A68E-3C0886C58BF0@gmail.com">
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Dear All,
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Following these discussions, I would warmly welcome
you all to contribute to the discussion on the CoC for this
year’s FOSS4G: <a
href="https://github.com/foss4g2018/foss4g2018/issues/65"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">https://github.com/foss4g2018/foss4g2018/issues/65</a> </div>
<div class="">
<div><br class="">
</div>
<div>Many thanks,</div>
<div><br class="">
</div>
<div>Mark</div>
<div><br class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">On 9 Mar 2018, at 13:44, Cameron Shorter <<a
href="mailto:cameron.shorter@gmail.com" class=""
moz-do-not-send="true">cameron.shorter@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<div class="">
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charset=utf-8" class="">
<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="">
<p class="">Mark and others on this list,</p>
<p class="">I'm seeing significant agreement here in
promoting diversity within OSGeo. I encourage anyone
who feels strongly about this should consider starting
to craft revised text for OSGeo policy documents.
Until that happens, we are all talk, no action, no
impact.<br class="">
</p>
<p class="">The process: Write draft changes to our
policy documents, invite review, get rough consensus
on wording, get the conference committee to vote to
accept the proposed changes, update the official
documents.</p>
<p class="">Documents that I think need reworking are:</p>
<p class=""><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/rfp/"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/rfp/</a><br
class="">
</p>
<p class=""><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_Handbook"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_Handbook</a></p>
<p class="">Warm regards, Cameron<br class="">
</p>
<br class="">
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 8/3/18 1:16 am, Mark
Iliffe wrote:<br class="">
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:C5206F04-6952-4E92-AAC0-01CF641C11CB@gmail.com"
class="">
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charset=utf-8" class="">
Dear María,
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Thanks for the update on this, we as
FOSS4G DLOC will follow and further participate with
interest.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">With regard to holding this conversation
slowly, may I kindly counsel that we proceed as
quickly and as openly as possible - to be clear, I
do not view this as a point of debate for Dar es
Salaam, but for our community as a whole - the
ripples of this conversation go far beyond FOSS4G
this year. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">The views and their number expressed
have reinforced my (personal) view that to our
credit, we have a great appetite for discussion on
this within our community regarding diversity and
inclusion - to proceed slowly in limited forums may
provide the signal that we are not taking this
seriously - we know this is <u style="font-weight:
bold;" class="">not</u> the case!! - but there is
a difference between fact and perception
unfortunately. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I am not asking for people to come out
of the closet to engage in this discussion;
Personally, I am not LGBT+, however, I have a direct
interest in making our community to be as inclusive
and representative of our world as much as possible,
this includes those in our community in relative
and/or absolute poverty (ie. those that utilise QGIS
to digitise their communities), or from
under-represented communities - I believe that we
can participate in this discussion not based on our
race, creed, gender, sexual orientation but on the
basis as we as a community stand weaker if one of us
is disadvantaged - can we not engage independently
as a member of humanity working towards inclusivity
and acceptance, instead of categorising ourselves? </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">This maybe a tone deaf view - and if so,
please accept my humble apologies - but we clearly
have a challenge here and while we cannot change the
laws of any nation that we are working on, we can
send the message to the OSGeo community that we are
listening and through the CoC/diversity
statement/working groups on LGBT+ etc. that <b
class=""><u class="">YOU ARE WELCOME IN THIS
COMMUNITY!</u></b></div>
<div class=""><b class=""><u class=""><br class="">
</u></b></div>
<div class="">This reinforces my personal view that we
need to ensure that all are kept aware of these
discussions - accordingly, I kindly request that we
keep this in the OSGeo discuss board and make the
F2F discussions in Bonn accessible for all and that
the board takes appropriate action to ensure that
this message is heard loud and clear throughout.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Many thanks,</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Mark</div>
<div class="">
<div class=""><br class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">On 7 Mar 2018, at 02:37, María
Arias de Reyna <<a
href="mailto:delawen@gmail.com" class=""
moz-do-not-send="true">delawen@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<div class="">
<div class="">Dear Mark,<br class="">
<br class="">
Thank you very much for your email.<br
class="">
<br class="">
I agree we should continue the discussion in
the open. Now we have a<br class="">
clear view of the current situation from the
board (and people<br class="">
following that list). A reason why I
personally haven't moved this<br class="">
quicker more open is because I don't want
OSGeo to be responsible of<br class="">
people coming out of the closet on the
community and then travelling<br class="">
to Tanzania and having problems because of
that. The risk is very low,<br class="">
as you have confirmed, but this is a very
sensitive issue in many<br class="">
countries. Everyone should be aware of this
before starting to point<br class="">
personal experiences, especially people
coming from privileged<br class="">
countries where being LGBT+ is not only
legal, but socially accepted.<br class="">
<br class="">
We have an OSGeo meeting in Bonn very soon
and I think that is a<br class="">
proper place to discuss this, as it will be
face to face and some<br class="">
people will be able to discuss this without
having to write their<br class="">
names anywhere. I agree there should be an
LGBT+ group inside OSGeo,<br class="">
and maybe we should provide the tools to
allow members from sensitive<br class="">
countries/personal situations to participate
anonymously. (How? I<br class="">
don't know yet.) And we should promote also
some kind of diversity<br class="">
advice group, where all kind of
discriminations can be addressed.<br
class="">
Maybe merge this idea with the CoC team?
Maybe a separated dedicated<br class="">
team? I don't know.<br class="">
<br class="">
Thanks for this and if you need some
immediate action from the board,<br class="">
just let us know.<br class="">
<br class="">
Regards,<br class="">
María.<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
On Wed, Mar 7, 2018 at 12:11 AM, Mark Iliffe
<<a href="mailto:markiliffe@gmail.com"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">markiliffe@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">Dear OSGeo
Board,<br class="">
<br class="">
On the 20th of February I wrote in
response to a concern raised on LGBT+<br
class="">
concerns in Dar es Salaam. To this, set
out the following four action<br class="">
points:<br class="">
<br class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">To help
move forward on this, we will 1. Ensure
that we provide guidance<br class="">
to those in our community on this issue;
2. Seek dialog within our community<br
class="">
on this issue, I am personally
contactable on this and fully welcome
any and<br class="">
all people who wish to discuss this on a
face-to-face (over VC) or any other<br
class="">
medium that the community would feel
better with; 3. Recommend that the<br
class="">
board puts in place guidance for future
OSGEO conferences other this issues;<br
class="">
4. Support the formation of an LGBT+
grouping within OSGEO to better support<br
class="">
appropriate guidance on this issue.<br
class="">
</blockquote>
<br class="">
<br class="">
To update on this:<br class="">
<br class="">
1. We are collaborating with Humanitarian
OpenStreetMap Team on this issue,<br
class="">
to ensure that the response to our mutual
communities are in lock-step on<br
class="">
this issue. Guidance will be published for
consultation for the conference<br
class="">
shortly;<br class="">
2. I have reached out to members of the
LGBT+ community that I know<br class="">
personally on a bilateral basis. I would
welcome further dialogue with the<br
class="">
OSGeo LGBT+ community on a bilateral,
private basis for people to voice<br
class="">
their concerns in confidence;<br class="">
<br class="">
Points 3 and 4 are of specific interest,
in the view of the LOC of FOSS4G<br
class="">
2018, as we can set policy direction for
our conference, but have no mandate<br
class="">
nor mechanism to set policy across OSGeo.
To this end, I would formally<br class="">
request, in my role of Chair of FOSS4G for
the OSGeo Board to provide<br class="">
direction to future FOSS4G conferences and
to further support and service<br class="">
this community within our wider community.<br
class="">
<br class="">
Clearly, there is a desire for LGBT+ to be
considered further in our<br class="">
community - as noted in the transcript of
the previous board meeting [1],<br
class="">
but I think this needs to be communicated
to our wider community - I see the<br
class="">
discussions on the OSGeo board mailing
list, though this may not have the<br
class="">
widest circulation. I am also available to
have a video conference with the<br
class="">
board, at their earliest possible
convenience if such an invitation was<br
class="">
extended.<br class="">
<br class="">
Finally, I really want to stress this for
our conference in Dar es Salaam<br
class="">
this year to our community: We want to
have the most inclusive conference<br
class="">
that we can possibly have. In the same way
that previous FOSS4G events in<br class="">
Boston and North Carolina have
demonstrated, our conferences have dealt
with<br class="">
challenges within the wider legislative
framework of their host country, we<br
class="">
as a community are welcoming to any and
all with open arms. We will publish<br
class="">
guidance for those travelling, and if you
still wish to participate but<br class="">
cannot come to Dar es Salaam, get in touch
with us - we will help you get<br class="">
involved! Our FOSS4G will only be
successful due to ALL the people in our<br
class="">
OSGeo community; we are a big and dynamic
family - we will reflect and live<br
class="">
that this year in Dar es Salaam, and I
hope in the many years to come.<br
class="">
<br class="">
Best,<br class="">
<br class="">
Mark<br class="">
<br class="">
[1] <a
href="https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_Meeting_2018-03-01"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_Meeting_2018-03-01</a><br
class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
---------- Forwarded message ----------<br
class="">
From: jorge.dejesus <<a
href="mailto:jorge.dejesus@geocat.net"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">jorge.dejesus@geocat.net</a>><br
class="">
Date: 21 February 2018 at 08:26<br
class="">
Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Conf] LGBT in Tanzania<br
class="">
To: <a
href="mailto:conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org</a><br
class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
Hi to all<br class="">
<br class="">
I was following the LGBT in Tanzania
discussion, and I am happy to see the<br
class="">
question added to the next RfP.<br
class="">
<br class="">
The discussion on LGBT rights and safety
requires a bit of common sense, I<br
class="">
am LGBT it is one part of my live as being
OsGEO member is another (one of<br
class="">
many) part(s), normally these two don't
intercept much, personally I think<br
class="">
this is why the LGBT community is present
in OsGEO but very invisible.<br class="">
What?? No LGBT birds of the feather in
FOSS4G ???<br class="">
<br class="">
Having a code of conduct that is non
discriminatory, we must take into<br
class="">
consideration the rights of minorities and
safety of ALL the participants of<br
class="">
and a OsGEO conference, the LOC have to do
their best for the safety. LOC<br
class="">
should also informed participants on what
are the real problems that<br class="">
participants may have to face, then is up
to the participants to decide if<br
class="">
they fell comfortable to to attend the
conference.<br class="">
<br class="">
Again, nice to see this topic discussed
and remember these comments are my 2<br
class="">
cents<br class="">
<br class="">
Enjoy your day<br class="">
Jorge<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
On 21-02-18 10:30, Till Adams wrote:<br
class="">
<br class="">
Darrell, @ohers,<br class="">
<br class="">
thanks for the sum up, I agree in
including such a question in the next<br
class="">
RfP. In order to preserve your proposal,
I've added your questionTill here:<br
class="">
<br class="">
<a href="https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Rfp"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Rfp</a><br
class="">
<br class="">
I will add this to the next RfP-text.<br
class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
Till<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
Am 20.02.2018 um 18:32 schrieb Darrell
Fuhriman:<br class="">
<br class="">
"FOSS4G attracts a global, diverse
community. Are there any laws, or<br
class="">
social norms, in your proposed location
that would make members of our<br class="">
community feel unsafe or unwelcome? That
could include, but is not<br class="">
limited to, anti-LGBTQ+ policies, policies
that would prevent the free<br class="">
exercise of religion, restrictions on
certain activities based on<br class="">
gender or other factor, etc?”<br class="">
<br class="">
_______________________________________________<br class="">
Conference_dev mailing list<br class="">
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moz-do-not-send="true">Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org</a><br
class="">
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href="https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev</a><br
class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
_______________________________________________<br class="">
Conference_dev mailing list<br class="">
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<br class="">
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Cameron Shorter
Technology Demystifier, Learnosity
Open Technologies Consultant
M +61 (0) 419 142 254</pre>
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</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Cameron Shorter
Technology Demystifier, Learnosity
Open Technologies Consultant
M +61 (0) 419 142 254</pre>
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