[Osmf-talk] Should OSMF adopt a policy about State of the Map conference in places that are LGBTQ*/etc unsafe?

Christopher Beddow christopher.beddow at gmail.com
Fri Oct 8 07:41:54 UTC 2021


I am a but confused also, about what this looks like in practice. I'd
propose an example: the Islamic Republic of Iran has a good and effective
OSM community. They did a lot of collaborative mapping at the start of
COVID to add health centers to OSM, verify hospital locations, etc. Of
course, a number of global community members may disagree with the laws of
the country or the prevalent social views there, which could create an
unsafe, hostile, or at least inconvenient environment for members of the
global OSM community if they visited the country.

Is this proposal saying that local mappers in Iran could not hold a "State
of the Map Iran" same as "State of the Map France" does, but would instead
have to call it something else like "Iran Mapping Conference" and would not
be able to use OSM branding/logos?

Already they probably would have no access to OSMF funds but due to bigger
issues blocking that. I would say I support that community having a local
SotM, but I would not think it's a good idea to ever host a global SotM
there even if it offered visa on arrival to everyone, because of the local
laws and social customs that may cause friction, discomfort, or any range
of problems with the community. Better to go to, for example, Istanbul, and
invite the Iranian mappers, though that's not the same as Stockholm or
Mexico City--theres often always a "better" option depending what the
criteria are, whether it's social views, crime rates, civil unrest, air
quality, etc.

We can interchange this with many countries and communities, but maybe it
begs the question: is there a current list of who and where would be
affected by the stated policy? Rather than working in hypotheticals.

Chris

On Fri, Oct 8, 2021, 08:43 Tim Couwelier <tim.couwelier at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm not usually one to speak up, in matters of this sensitive nature.
> Without voicing a yes/no, I'd like to add a question: WHO gets judged? The
> venue site? The city? The hosting country? It's OSMF-chapter? By extension,
> does that rule out having official local chapters from certain areas?
>
> Sidenote: I feel a blanket 'diversity' aspect covers this particular
> aspect as well. The less we single out certain traits (gender, race,
> sexuality, culture, ..) and consider them normal (as really should be the
> case to begin with), the less resistance they are likely to get. It means
> not singling out individuals, for better or worse (be welcoming to all, and
> don't discriminate in either positive or negative direction).
>
>
> Op do 7 okt. 2021 om 22:28 schreef john whelan <jwhelan0112 at gmail.com>:
>
>> My idiotic idea is if we can map in many places and gently push the idea
>> of open data we can improve the lives of many people including some of the
>> poorest.
>>
>> By taking an official stance we may get a pushback from a few governments
>> which means less open data and less cooperation and open data and
>> OpenStreetMap does bring economic benefits to millions.
>>
>> Yes we could but I suspect the cost to many would be very high.
>>
>> Cheerio John
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 7, 2021, 15:26 Amanda McCann <amanda at technomancy.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Yeah, I've been chasing up people for a little while about this. No
>>> board decision yet, I've just constantly raised it at meetings, to get
>>> feedback from my fellow board members & SotM Committee members. I'm sure
>>> people are sick of me banging this drum 😂, but hey, it's good to check in
>>> with others. 🙂
>>>
>>> There's a few versions of the possible policies floating around among
>>> the board/WGs, and now I'm opening it up to wider OSM community (once I can
>>> remember to sign up to mailing lists with new email address 😉), before the
>>> board vote on any possible policy (or not!).
>>>
>>> FTR, here's some other policy formations:
>>>
>>> > OpenStreetMap welcomes and encourages participation by everyone. This
>>> is enshrined in our Diversity Statement
>>> https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Diversity_Statement. There are
>>> places in the world where people with certain attributes may face
>>> discrimination or are systematically made to feel unsafe.
>>> >
>>> > Applications to host a SotM should describe and assess the risks in
>>> that location for certain vulnerable populations, and certify that State of
>>> the Map will be safe for all attendees.
>>> >
>>> > The OSMF will not host a (global) SotM in a place where any segment of
>>> the population will be unsafe due to systematic or institutional
>>> discrimination. The OSMF will not grant a trademark licence for a “regional
>>> SotM” (e.g. “State of the Map [REGION]”), for an event in a place where any
>>> segment of the population will be unsafe due to systematic or institutional
>>> discrimination.
>>>
>>> or
>>>
>>> > OpenStreetMap welcomes and encourages participation by everyone. This
>>> is enshrined in our Diversity Statement
>>> https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Diversity_Statement. There are
>>> places where certain attributes of people are discriminated against, or
>>> made systematically unsafe.
>>> >
>>> > Applications to host a SotM should describe and assess the risks in
>>> your country for certain vulnerable populations, and go into detail on how
>>> the bid will ensure that State of the Map will be safe for all attendees.
>>> >
>>> > For this policy “widespread LGBTQ unacceptance” is a place where the
>>> local law criminilizes homosexuality and the law is not being ignored by
>>> the state.
>>> >
>>> > The OSMF will not host a (global) SotM in a place with “widespread
>>> LGBTQ unacceptance”. The OSMF will not grant a trademark licence for a
>>> “regional SotM” (e.g. “State of the Map [REGION]”), for an event in a place
>>> that has “widespread LGBTQ unacceptance” if there is a place in that region
>>> which is not “widespread LGBTQ unacceptance”.
>>>
>>> or Mikel's one below.
>>>
>>> On Thu, 07 Oct 2021 15:44 +02:00, Mikel Maron <mikel.maron at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> > Thanks for comments everyone. This topic has also been under
>>> discussion
>>> > with the OSMF Board and the SotM WG for the past 3 months. You can see
>>> > some of that in the minutes.
>>> >
>>> > *
>>> >
>>> https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Board/Minutes/2021-08-13#OSMF_policy_for_.E2.80.9CState_of_the_Map.E2.80.9D_trademark_grants_for_places_which_are_LGBTQ-unsafe
>>> > *
>>> >
>>> https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Board/Minutes/2021-08#OSMF_policy_for_.E2.80.9CState_of_the_Map.E2.80.9D_trademark_grants_for_places_which_are_LGBTQ-unsafe
>>> > *
>>> https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Board/Minutes/2021-09-10#OSMF_policy_for_.E2.80.9CState_of_the_Map.E2.80.9D_trademark_grants_for_places_which_are_LGBTQ-unsafe
>>> >
>>> > We landed on a short set of principles to guide a decision on this
>>> > topic. I think this is consistent with much of the discussion on this
>>> > thread.
>>> > * Safety of all attendees at OSMF events is paramount
>>> > * Decisions require good guidelines, but also flexibility and
>>> discussion
>>> > * Local events have different expectations than the global event
>>> > * All working groups need freedom to determine how to implement their
>>> > mandate
>>> >
>>> > In our September mid-month meeting we decided to formulate a motion to
>>> > vote on "a policy where safety is ensured for everyone who wants to
>>> > attend an OSM conference. How the policy will be implemented, will be
>>> > decided by the SotM-WG."
>>> >
>>> > Here is the current, non-final draft of that motion.
>>> >
>>> >> OpenStreetMap welcomes and encourages participation by everyone. This
>>> is enshrined in our Diversity Statement
>>> https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Diversity_Statement. There are
>>> places in the world where people with certain attributes may face
>>> discrimination or are systematically made to feel unsafe.
>>> >>
>>> >> Applications to host a SotM should describe and assess the risks in
>>> that location for certain vulnerable populations, and certify that State of
>>> the Map will be safe for all attendees.
>>> >>
>>> >> The OSMF will host global State of the Map conferences in places
>>> where the safety of all segments of the population is ensured. And in
>>> granting trademark licenses for local State of the Map conferences,
>>> organizers must address and do everything in their ability to ensure the
>>> safety of all segments of the population.
>>> >
>>> > Thank you
>>> > Mikel
>>> >
>>> > * Mikel Maron * +14152835207 @mikel s:mikelmaron
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On Thursday, October 7, 2021, 06:58:52 AM EDT, Niels Elgaard Larsen
>>> > <elgaard at agol.dk> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Amanda McCann:
>>> >> Hello OSM friends,
>>> >
>>> > Events should be as open as possible to everyone.
>>> > But I am not in favor of formal rules.
>>> >
>>> > There are a lot of considerations, and there may not be a place that
>>> works for
>>> > everything and everyone.
>>> >
>>> > E.g., some locations will exclude potential participants because of
>>> > visa requirements.
>>> >
>>> > Or the travel expenses will be too high for some.
>>> >
>>> > Or it will take too much time. E.g., if I travel to the US now, I
>>> first
>>> > have to spend
>>> > 14 days outside Schengen.
>>> >
>>> > Minoritized groups such as anti-vaxxers will have difficulties
>>> > attending events in
>>> > many regions for some time.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > We should rely on common sense.
>>> >
>>> >> So here's an idea... I've previously complained when an organisation
>>> holds an event in a place where it's “illegal to be gay” and claim that the
>>> event is a “safe space”. Since I'm on the OSMF Board, I would be wrong for
>>> me to continue to complain about other organisations and not try to suggest
>>> such a policy for the OSMF.
>>> >>
>>> >> The OSMF grants a trademark licence (for the “State of the Map”
>>> trademark which the OSMF legally owns) to regional event conferences, and
>>> legally, the OSMF runs the annual State of the Map conference.
>>> >>
>>> >> There are several different wordings of this policy possible. My
>>> initial idea of a policy is: “you can't have a SotM for [REGION] in a venue
>>> if same-sex sexual activity is illegal (& that's being enforced) there,
>>> *and* there is a place in [REGION] where that is legal (or illegal & not
>>> enforced)”. This covers bi/pan/queer/etc people.
>>> >>
>>> >> I can't easily think of a simple rule for trans/gender identity
>>> issues that's as clear cut for the very basic level (e.g. many countries
>>> have required gender segregated toilets for a long time and the laws
>>> requiring ”birth sex” are new and uncommon, legal gender recognition might
>>> not be so relevant for a visitor, etc) so I'll stick to this for now. I am
>>> OK with “State of the Map [COUNTRY]” happening in a country where it's
>>> illegal everywhere. My goal is to prevent anyone having a *legal downgrade*
>>> with “State of the Map”.
>>> >>
>>> >> Many in OSM have spent a long time improving things for minoritized
>>> groups, and maybe this is just another step in that process. I am only
>>> mentioning “illegal to be gay” because it's a simple, clear standard. I
>>> think it could be benefitial to include other standards too (e.g. I believe
>>> some countries forbid women from driving). I am focussing on LGBTQ+ issues
>>> because that affects me personally, and I know a lot about it. I encourage
>>> other minoritized people to speak up if they want.
>>> >>
>>> >> So what do yous, the wider OSM(F) community think about the OSMF
>>> adopting this policy (or something like it, or not adopting anything new
>>> policy)?
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Niels Elgaard Larsen
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > osmf-talk mailing list
>>> > osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
>>> > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > osmf-talk mailing list
>>> > osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
>>> > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk
>>>
>>> --
>>> Amanda
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> osmf-talk mailing list
>>> osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
>>> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk
>>>
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