General Background

APSA Siting Policy Decision

· Background Materials:

At its June 26, 2008 meeting, the APSA Council considered and voted on changes to APSA policy for siting meetings, with specific attention to issues raised by state laws that restrict rights to individuals in recognized same-sex unions, partnerships, and families. This special meeting followed a period of comment from APSA members, committees, and organized sections that the Council had requested at its April 2008 meeting.

APSA received over 850 comments from members in response to the Council request for feedback. At Council direction, President Pinderhughes had named a Council Committee on Siting to review this feedback and to consider other issues related to the siting questions. This Committee’s report touches on the history and chronology of these issues, summarizes the member feedback, and recommends a multi-part course of action that was largely adopted by the Council.

The June Council meeting included a period of extensive Council discussion of the issue that ranged over many quite complex perspectives. The main themes that emerged in the Council deliberation are also summarized below. Council action broadened APSA’s siting policy to focus directly on state laws restricting same sex partnership, in the context of local circumstances, and to articulate a strategy of public and intellectual engagement with cities and states where APSA meets. The Council voted to continue to meet in New Orleans in 2012, and acknowledged the diverse array of complex additional issues and values that guide APSA now and that may emerge in the future.