Four Elements of APSA's New Siting Policy

APSA Siting Policy Decision

· Introduction

· Background Materials:

Broadly stated, the policy decisions made by the Council have the following four elements:

The Council voted to take state and city policies into account when making a judgment about the location where APSA is to meet. (In the past APSA siting decisions were based only on local practices.) This change has very specific application to states with laws that severely restrict rights for same-sex unions. In these cases state policy is presumed to create an unwelcoming environment for APSA meeting participants unless local circumstances show otherwise.
The Council decided to engage with public entities in the sites APSA chooses for its meetings, as it will in the case of New Orleans. The Council discussion clarified that this type of engagement would not be limited to New Orleans, but would apply wherever the APSA meets.
The Council emphasized the need to engage intellectually. The Annual Meeting Program should incorporate scholarly content relevant to matters of concern, such as same-sex policies, socioeconomic inequality, poverty and other matters of consequence to the urban areas where we meet.
The Council voted to continue with APSA's meeting in 2012 in New Orleans, noting that New Orleans has a positive history of acting against barriers to discrimination, that local LGBT organizations have been unanimous in urging APSA to hold its meeting in New Orleans, and that APSA already has agreements there.