Re: Background on Singapore go/no go for IETF 100

[tom p. <[e-mail]>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Margaret Cullen" <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2016 12:09 AM


I understand that this is a very difficult situation, but I think you
have left something important out of your list of pros and cons.  If we
cancel the Singapore meeting, we get to say _this_ to the Singapore
government, who wants us to meet there enough that they have offered us
$150K in incentives for us to come there:

> “    Singapore laws against same-sex relationships between men and
>    preventing the recognition of same-sex marriages could create
>    difficulties for same-sex partners and their children; these have
>    discouraged affected members of our community from participating
>    at the IETF meeting in November of 2017 and have also influenced
>    others to decline to attend in principled solidarity with them.
>
>    Accordingly, the IETF has decided to postpone indefinitely the
meeting
>    in Singapore and is pursuing alternative venues.”

If, instead, we hold this milestone meeting in Singapore despite the
fact that these issues have been raised, we are sending the message that
we consider basic human rights violations to be no more of a
disincentive to visiting a particular venue than visa issues, cost
considerations, or other items that have been raised in this discussion
as examples of why “no venue is perfect”.

<tp>

Margaret

The other message we propagate is that we are world-class engineers who
can use their skills to enhance the world - USA, South America, China,
Far East ..... - but when it comes to politics, we are no better than
any other citizen (except, of course, those who have stood for office
and been elected by their fellow citizens - not I :-).

So as I am an engineer, I say

'Go'

Tom Petch


Margaret