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Re: Concerns about Singapore

2016-04-09 16:05:24
On Sat, 9 Apr 2016, Melinda Shore wrote:


That goes, I think, to the question of unenforceable laws (Lawrence 
v. Texas).  I'm interested in the question of where the line is 
between issues that the IETF needs to deal with and matters of 
personal conscience, and I tend to think it comes down to questions 
of whether or not meeting participants will be treated equally when 
it comes to public accommodation, etc.

As we're seeing, businesses are responding to the recent spate of 
anti-gay legislation and transphobic potty laws by announcing that 
they're not opening planned facilities in those states, not allowing 
their employees to take business travel there, and so on.  So, 
there's an actual question about whether or not the IETF would be 
able to meet in a place that's recently passed anti-gay legislation, 
given some corporate travel restrictions.  As far as I know there 
are no corporate bans on travel to Singapore, but civil liberties 
organizations like Civil Rights Watch have identified Singapore as a 
place where LGBT people still face active legal discrimination and 
it seems clear that there's a legitimate question about what sort of 
treatment some meeting participants can expect to receive.

Melinda

There are several sources online for this information, including the 
US State Department, but we are also actively seeking clarification 
from contacts in Singapore about these issues. So far, I am fairly
certain that our attendees won't notice any issues at all, but stay
tuned as we gather the facts.

Ole

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