GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
blog.gopheracademy.com
GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
1–10 of 25 posts
Re: GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
#2I liked it better when organizations that weren't intrinsically political didn't get politically entangled with local politics at every opportunity... seems like a fad now (coming up with political reasons not to host your conference at X location or allow Y speaker to come and speak)
Re: GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
#3As a queer girl myself; I appreciate the support, along with any and all progress towards stopping this shameful backwards march America is madly dedicated to.
For a country that likes to jerk itself off about being the epitome of ‘freedom’, they sure do like to tell people what to do.
A country where I can get a gun without a background check - but potentially be arrested for an abortion - is the definition of ‘fucked up priorities’.
Saddening recent events have only proven this is more true than ever.
Re: GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
#4As a queer girl myself; I appreciate the support, along with any and all progress towards stopping this shameful backwards march America is madly dedicated to. For a country that likes to jerk itself off about being the epitome of ‘freedom’, they sure do like to tell people what to do. A country where I can get a gun without a background check - but potentially be arrested for an abortion - is the definition of ‘fuck…
Respectfully what does the 15 week abortion ban and the elementary school sex education restrictions have to do with safety in a tech conference?
Re: GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
#5I liked it better when organizations that weren't intrinsically political didn't get politically entangled with local politics at every opportunity... seems like a fad now (coming up with political reasons not to host your conference at X location or allow Y speaker to come and speak)
Any choice that affects people is inherently political.
You seem to be conflating this fact with the so-called "fad" of leveraging decisions for clout in an overtly partisan context.
Re: GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
#6As a queer girl myself; I appreciate the support, along with any and all progress towards stopping this shameful backwards march America is madly dedicated to. For a country that likes to jerk itself off about being the epitome of ‘freedom’, they sure do like to tell people what to do. A country where I can get a gun without a background check - but potentially be arrested for an abortion - is the definition of ‘fuck…
Respectfully what does the 15 week abortion ban and the elementary school sex education restrictions have to do with safety in a tech conference?
Pre-pending an arbitrary question with "respectfully" does not automatically make it more respectful. In this case, it seems to actually do the opposite.
Re: GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
Respectfully what does the 15 week abortion ban and the elementary school sex education restrictions have to do with safety in a tech conference?
Pre-pending an arbitrary question with "respectfully" does not automatically make it more respectful. In this case, it seems to actually do the opposite.
Apologies then, I'm trying to indicate that I'm curious about the reasoning behind this perspective and open to a good-faith discussion on it. Your decision to not engage with my question and instead criticize my articulation leads me to think this discussion won't happen.
Re: GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pre-pending an arbitrary question with "respectfully" does not automatically make it more respectful. In this case, it seems to actually do the opposite.
Apologies then, I'm trying to indicate that I'm curious about the reasoning behind this perspective and open to a good-faith discussion on it. Your decision to not engage with my question and instead criticize my articulation leads me to think this discussion won't happen.
The statement from GopherCon was about the alignment of values, and lostgame is expressing gratitude for moral support in a harsh social environment. Why do you frame your discussion in terms of safety when the thread is about the alignment of values and the support of people such as lostgame? Do you think your framing is a better one than what was provided in the thread so far?
Shall we talk more about conference security instead?
Re: GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
#9As a queer girl myself; I appreciate the support, along with any and all progress towards stopping this shameful backwards march America is madly dedicated to. For a country that likes to jerk itself off about being the epitome of ‘freedom’, they sure do like to tell people what to do. A country where I can get a gun without a background check - but potentially be arrested for an abortion - is the definition of ‘fuck…
Respectfully what does the 15 week abortion ban and the elementary school sex education restrictions have to do with safety in a tech conference?
I never said it was anything to do with safety. It's a statement against an oppressive move from a government increasingly uninterested in the people it governs.
However - here's where safety comes in. As a queer/trans woman, I don't particularly feel safe (at all, really) in the southern states (California excluded, I guess?) - Florida and Texas, especially.
People are actively, regularly violent towards LGTBQ+ people down there. And, of course - it's not the ban - it's the attitude behind it - and the people behind it who are dangerous, and are often violent people with guns.
I've rejected a handful of paid business travel opportunities because they were either in Texas or Florida. It's not worth it on the chance I run into some psychotic anti-gay Christian and their gun, demanding I get the hell out of their city...again. (Yes, this has already actually happened to me...)
Re: GopherCon pulls out of Florida due to “Don't Say Gay” and abortion restrictions
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apologies then, I'm trying to indicate that I'm curious about the reasoning behind this perspective and open to a good-faith discussion on it. Your decision to not engage with my question and instead criticize my articulation leads me to think this discussion won't happen.
The statement from GopherCon was about the alignment of values, and lostgame is expressing gratitude for moral support in a harsh social environment. Why do you frame your discussion in terms of safety when the thread is about the alignment of values and the support of people such as lostgame? Do you think your framing is a better one than what was provided in the thread so far? Shall we talk more about conference se…
The statement gave two reasons I can see for moving the venue, both were related to recent law changes in Florida:
> Florida no longer represents the safe and family-friendly destination we envisioned when we first selected the location.
> we feel a strong moral and ethical obligation to ensure that the location of GopherCon aligns with the values of our community.
The latter justification leads me to ask: how do we ascertain what our community values are? Why do these particular values weigh more than others?