This has been a wide-ranging conversation that I've been content to watch
quietly, but Andrew just stepped on the land mine ...
On Apr 10, 2016 01:36, "Andrew Allen" <aallen(_at_)blackberry(_dot_)com> wrote:
That's why I proposed that IETF check with the hotels that this isn't
going to be an issue. The other potential issue I foresee which needs
checking with the authorities is if there will be a problem with customs
and immigration forms with questions regarding marital status and number of
family members traveling with you.
Bingo.
I've been coming to the IETF since 1996, and I know a fair number of GLBTQ
IETF participants, but I knew most of them for years, and in a few cases
for more than a decade, before realizing that.
For my GLBTQ friends from the US, it has been relatively recent for most of
them to live their lives openly.
The gay man who automatically came to IETF meetings even ten years ago with
no "paper trail" ten years ago is now much more likely to show up with a
paper train now.
If he shows up with another man with the same last name, the same address
on IDs, each other as emergency contacts on every form that asks for that,
and (for extra credit) one or more kids with the same last name in tow,
it's a lot harder to miss in 2016 than it was in 2006, and at least some of
that is still visible even if he leaves the family at home.
Our friends who were forced to suffer in silence until recently would have
a much more difficult time doing that today, even if they wanted to.
Spencer