[Eg-oversight-board] North Carolina and the LGBT Community

[Rogan Hamby]

Chiming in as a random ex-board member, I applaud the common spirit of
wanting to address this issue.  I do think trying to do something
associated with the conference is pretty late in the game for it.  I think
addressing it in a wider statement as Galen proposed showing the
community's stance towards diversity is a better path to walk for now and
we could potentially announce that those changes have been made at the
conference.  It would make a statement now but also lay ground work for
this as a common understanding in the future.

I'm also going to ask a question that exposes my ignorance of the site
selection process for the conference.  Do we have anything that says we
will not consider a site that falls under a jurisdiction with this kind of
legislation in place?



On Thu, Mar 31, 2016 at 1:00 PM, Chris Sharp <csharp at georgialibraries.org>
wrote:

> +1 to Galen's suggestions and statement wording.
>
> On Thu, Mar 31, 2016 at 11:45 AM, Galen Charlton <gmc at esilibrary.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 31, 2016 at 10:48 AM, Grace Dunbar <gdunbar at esilibrary.com>
>> wrote:
>> > I'd love to do something similar but since we don't have a mission
>> > statement (?!?!) that details our support of free software, our
>> > encouragement of diversity, an our general code of conduct for
>> > the project... I think we'd have to take a slightly different tack
>> > in our statement.
>>
>> I agree with Grace that the EOB should consider adopting a broader
>> statement of the project's core values. In the short term, I suggest
>> that the EOB consider issuing a statement along these lines:
>>
>> _BEGIN_
>> Per the Evergreen Event Code of Conduct
>> [https://evergreen-ils.org/code-of-conduct/], Evergreen event
>> organizers are dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for
>> everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability,
>> physical appearance, body size, race, or religion. We do not tolerate
>> harassment of event participants in any form.
>>
>> It is now important to reemphasize that committment.
>>
>> In particular, the Evergreen Oversight Board is disappointed that the
>> North Carolina General Assembly has chosen to pass legislation that
>> nullifies city ordinances that protect LGBT individuals from
>> discrimination, including one such ordinance passed by the Raleigh
>> City Council. Since the 2016 Evergreen Conference is to be held in
>> Raleigh, the Oversight Board is taking the following steps to protect
>> conference attendees:
>>
>> * We are working with the conference venue and hotels to ensure that
>> their staff and organizations will not discriminate on the basis of
>> gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical
>> appearance, body size, race, or religion.
>> * We are informing the conference venue that had House Bill 2 been in
>> effect during the conference site selection period last year, the
>> Evergreen Project would not have chosen Raleigh.
>> * The Evergreen Conference will refund in full registrations from
>> individuals who feel that they can no longer safely attend the
>> conference.
>> _END_
>>
>> I also suggest to the EOB that the code of conduct be updated to
>> replace the two instances of the word "gender" with "gender, gender
>> identity and expression".
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Galen
>> --
>> Galen Charlton
>> Infrastructure and Added Services Manager
>> Equinox Software, Inc. / Open Your Library
>> email:  gmc at esilibrary.com
>> direct: +1 770-709-5581
>> cell:   +1 404-984-4366
>> skype:  gmcharlt
>> web:    http://www.esilibrary.com/
>> Supporting Koha and Evergreen: http://koha-community.org &
>> http://evergreen-ils.org
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Chris Sharp
> PINES System Administrator
> Georgia Public Library Service
> 1800 Century Place, Suite 150
> Atlanta, Georgia 30345
> (404) 235-7147
>
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