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Introduction

The American Political Science Association's 2012 Annual Meeting in New Orleans has stimulated an active discussion about meeting locations, inclusivity, and engagement. We understand that having the meeting in New Orleans may raise significant issues for our members.

In 2008, the APSA Council was asked to consider moving the meeting because of changes in Louisiana state law affecting LGBT members and their families. The APSA Council, led by then-President Dianne Pinderhughes, engaged in an extensive, year-long process of solicitation of member input and deliberation on holding the meeting in New Orleans and on broader meeting location policy. In response to the issues raised, the Council acted to revise the APSA meeting location ("siting") policy, while remaining in New Orleans for 2012. The "frequently asked questions" that follow here provide background and context for this decision. The full account of these deliberations and decisions are online here for member review, as they have been since the decision was made.

Among other criteria, the revised APSA's siting policy affirms that the Association will only hold its annual meeting in states that do not limit the rights afforded to recognized same-sex unions. The policy decision also expands the scope and purpose of the Association's community engagement in host cities during the meeting.

In an effort to make the information about the steps APSA has taken with respect to siting and engagement more accessible, I am providing answers to frequently asked questions about the siting policy, APSA decision-making, and the New Orleans meeting, including questions regarding safety for those attending the meeting.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at brintnall@apsanet.org. I look forward to seeing you at the 2012 meeting.

-- Michael Brintnall, Executive Director


Read the APSA Council letter regarding the 2012 Annual Meeting


Siting and APSA Policies

1. Has APSA specifically adopted a policy about not holding meetings in states that abridge the rights of gays and lesbians?

Yes.

The APSA Meeting Siting Policy Statement specifically addresses the recognition of same-sex unions and partnerships among its general objectives and principles in making siting decisions.

Specifically, the APSA Meeting Siting Policy Statement reads:
"In locating its future meetings, APSA presumes that states with legal restrictions on rights afforded recognized same-sex unions and partnerships create an unwelcoming environment for our members in cities where we might meet. We would notify authorities at all levels that these conditions make it difficult for us to site our meeting in these states. APSA would closely examine practices on a case-by-case basis in cities within these states to assess whether demonstrated positive local practices or other Association goals warrant holding our conferences there." (p.5)

To implement this policy the Council determined that APSA not meet in any state whose state law bars same-sex couples from marriage and might be read to cause more harm to those couples, based on determinations made by Lambda Legal. These states currently are Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma Arkansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, South Dakota, Georgia, Nebraska, Texas, Idaho, North Dakota, Utah, Kansas, Ohio, and Virginia. Read more about Lambda Legal's safety scale.

The policy allows that a city in one of these states might be considered as a meeting site only if APSA's Siting and Engagement Committee (see below), after a process of investigation and consultation, recommends meeting there, and if the site is approved by the APSA Council after wide consultation. The Meeting Siting Policy Statement outlines some of the criteria that might be considered in such decision (pp. 5-6), including positive local (e.g., municipal) practices such as adoption of anti-discrimination legislation for its employees, presence of equal opportunity legislation, opinions of and invitations to APSA from local civil rights and LGBT advocacy organizations.

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2. Has APSA also taken a position in its siting policy on other issues of concern?

Yes.

APSA added a provision to its Meeting Siting Policy Statement recognizing that its meetings raise the visibility of communities in which it meets and provide positive economic benefits for them. Specifically, the Association asserted that our presence can make a positive contribution for urban centers with high concentrations of racial and ethnic groups or with high levels of economic need, and that it will seek to work with minority contractors in its meeting sites wherever circumstances allow.

APSA had previously adopted siting provisions regarding unionized labor that are incorporated into the present Meeting Siting Policy. Additional considerations for siting decisions include: geographical rotation, urban settings, contiguous properties, low costs, partnerships with the convention and hospitality industry, high standards of professional conduct and non-discriminatory sites, a reasonable basis for all members to feel welcome, accessibility (including ADA compliance), and carbon neutrality/green meetings.

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3. What is APSA's overall siting policy and who approves it?

APSA siting policy is approved by the APSA Council. It is codified in the Meeting Siting Policy Statement that is available to all members online.

Generally, the policy addresses the manner in which the APSA's Annual Meeting is implemented, the venue in which it is held, its accessibility to participants, the means by which it is represented/communicated to the public, and the caliber of the scholarly and professional content.

The policy has been developed from approaches established by APSA's Annual Meeting Committee, work by the Annual Meeting Review Committee completed in 2007 that involved association wide consultation, and subsequent Council action, including the extensive deliberations pertaining to the New Orleans meeting site.

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4. What is APSA's annual meeting host city engagement policy and how is it carried out?

The new Meeting Siting Policy, adopted in conjunction with the deliberations about the New Orleans site, calls for enhanced community engagement with host cities on state and local issues of importance to APSA and its members. This may take the form, among other things, of a high profile speaker, a round table of community activists, and a politics-oriented tour of the city among other possibilities. In the context of New Orleans, the engagement will include a focus on civil rights for same-sex couple/partners and the economic development of the city. At the recent Seattle based meeting, engagement focused on the city's labor history.

To meet this commitment for engagement, and in conjunction with the adoption of the Meeting Siting Policy, the Council established a standing Siting and Engagement Committee (SEC) with nine members. Three members are appointed annually for three year terms, with one from the city where the meeting will be held in the third year of the term, one drawn from recommendations from APSA's Status Committees, and one appointed from across the membership. View the current committee members.

The Committee is responsible for reviewing siting options and making recommendations to the APSA Council. View the current Council.

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5. Are there specific engagement plans for 2012?

The Siting and Engagement Committee (SEC) proposes a strategy for all meetings that has the following elements:

A major address by a high profile speaker (writer, politician, community activist, journalist, academic) who is able to introduce APSA members to political issues in the community, and ideally to provide an overview that addresses the intersection of issues and communities. The APSA Council has approved a budget to support fees for such a speaker, as an exception to APSA's policy about speaker fees.

A round table of community activists, drawing from a range of issue and constituency backgrounds, asked to address a set of broad questions developed by the SEC.

A tour of the city, or some part of it, or the presentation of a visual guide to the city at the convention site, introducing members to aspects of the city not readily visible to convention-goers that are of relevance to political science scholars or to themes of our engagement agenda.

The SEC is currently in the process of reviewing and planning activities for New Orleans in 2012. For further information, or if you would like to get involved please contact Betsy Super at APSA at bsuper@apsanet.org or 202-483-2512.

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APSA decision-making regarding New Orleans

6. How was New Orleans originally selected as a host city?

APSA contracted to hold its meeting in New Orleans in 2003 as part of a regular rotation of meeting sites to provide venues in the south, and with special attention to its history of nondiscrimination policies for its LGBT citizens.

New Orleans was selected as a Southern venue at that time with a particular eye to the city's non-discrimination record. In 1991, New Orleans had adopted a gay non-discrimination ordinance; in 1993 it created as domestic partner registry, in 1997 the city provided domestic partner benefits to municipal workers, and in 1998 New Orleans was one of the earliest cities to add gender identity to the list of protected categories.

The decision at that time was consistent with policy APSA developed in 1990, "during Judith Shklar's presidency, and on the request of the Gay and Lesbian Caucus . . . to only meet in cities where all members are welcome. The contract language agreed upon focused on the behavior of the city with particular focus on discrimination in employment, housing, and access to public accommodations." APSA Siting Policy.

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7. Why is siting in the city of New Orleans controversial?

In 2004, after APSA had contracted to meet in New Orleans, the state of Louisiana adopted constitutional provisions restricting same-sex partnerships. Voters amended the Louisiana Constitution to place a ban on same sex marriage performed in the state that included proscriptions against recognizing the validity of marriages performed in other states and the rights derived with marriage or any form of domestic partnership.

In 2007, APSA's LGBT committee petitioned the APSA Council not to hold annual meetings in states that prohibit same-sex marriage. The Council sought additional information about the issues raised by this request. But, as described in the Council's Subcommittee on Siting report:

Before the LGBT Committee could respond to the Council request, a new issue emerged in the form of a petition circulated privately among the APSA membership calling for members to boycott the 2012 Meeting in New Orleans because of language in a relatively new state constitutional amendment that limits same-sex marriage and benefits. Because civil unions or marriages that were authorized in other states would not be recognized in Louisiana (and in 19 other states with similar language), boycott advocates asserted that this in turn would impede same-sex partners in recognized civil unions to attend the annual meeting safely as couples."

In particular, the concern expressed was that same-sex partners would be uncertain about having visitation privileges to a hospitalized partner; moreover, there were no guarantees in place to enable individuals to make medical decisions for an incapacitated partner.

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8. Why did APSA decide to keep the annual meeting in New Orleans?

At the start of 2008, President Pinderhughes named a Council Subcommittee on Siting, chaired by Anna Sampaio and including Susan Burgess and Dennis Thompson, to help organize information for the Council. Read the Subcommittee on Siting's 31 page report here.

The Council Subcommittee on Siting provided the following commentary on retaining the meeting in New Orleans, in conjunction with new siting policy, in this way:

...with the information at hand, we conclude that New Orleans has a positive history of acting against barriers to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation that has persisted following the State action. In our discussions we have sought to avoid a discussion of the issue in a manner that suggests a hierarchy of injustices, and to recognize the intersecting questions of race, ethnicity, sex, gender and class at work in these deliberations. We respectfully suggest that the Council adopt this approach as well. This approach has led us to suggest altering current policy to protect gay and lesbian members as noted above, while also recognizing that New Orleans has special significance for many of our members interested in observing and supporting its redevelopment in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We acknowledge the Association has important interests in a settled and stable decision about the site of meetings, respectful of our institutional partners. We recommend that APSA remain in New Orleans for its 2012 meeting. However any decisions about siting a future meeting in New Orleans should be subject to fresh scrutiny (p. 18).

In reaching a conclusion both to change siting policy and to remain in New Orleans in 2012, the Council followed a broad process of consultation and deliberation. The full membership was canvassed, as were committees and organized sections. 850 comments were submitted to the subcommittee, covering options including retaining current policy to focus only on city actions, addressing state policies on a case by case basis, and responding categorically to state policies restricting same sex partnerships.

In summarizing these comments, the Siting Committee reported:

The largest number of member responses favored retaining the current policy that bases the decision on the city not the state …. (p. 12).

In spite of the preponderance of member comments for the status quo, however, the Committee recommended a more affirmative response to change siting policy to consider as part of the siting calculus state laws like those on same-sex partnerships.

The Committee noted that the issues and legal climate that had led to an earlier focus only on city level policy had changed, and for APSA policy even to 'stay the same' in protecting civil rights of our members, we find we need to broaden our lens to include how state level policies may shape the city's ability to guarantee the health, safety, and freedom of expression that attendees must have in order to participate fully in the scholarly exchange of ideas (p. 17).

The Committee recommended that APSA stay in New Orleans under the current circumstances and that APSA develop a new program of engagement within the cities where we meet. The Council, after a day of deliberation, adopted these recommendations.

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9. How does APSA's policy compare to those of other social science associations?

The American Anthropological Association, the International Studies Association and the Association of American Law Schools have all met in New Orleans in the last year or so, and the National Communications Association is meeting there in November. The American Sociological Association met in Georgia in 2010, and the American Psychological Association will be in Florida in 2012. Both Georgia and Florida are at the same level of Lambda Legal's safety scale as Louisiana.

All have adopted some form of APSA's plan for a process of intellectual and community engagement. APSA has gone further in articulating its meeting siting policy than most other organizations, according to information in publicly available documents.

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Safety for LGBT Families at the New Orleans meeting

10. Has anything mitigated Louisiana's legal situation?

Two recent changes have affected the Louisiana legal situation. A federal Executive Order has extended a guarantee of equal hospital visitation rights for all unmarried couples in hospitals receiving Medicare funds. Also the Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled in support of unmarried couples, regardless of sexual orientation, for contract, property, and end of life decisions.

President Obama has issued an executive order to extend the guarantee of equal hospital visitation rights for all unmarried couples in hospitals receiving Medicare funds. The rule went into effect January 2011. According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:
"Under the regulations, hospitals may not place any restrictions on visitation based on sexual orientation. In addition, the hospitals must inform each patient of his or her right to receive visitors designated by the patient, 'including, but not limited to, a spouse, a domestic partner (including a same-sex domestic partner), another family member or a friend.' Any hospital found to violate the new rules risks losing a major source of revenue."

The end-of-life decision-making rights do require an extra step in New Orleans as in most areas of the country. Partners must establish a medical power of attorney between unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples. Many associations meeting in New Orleans have made these available on line to attendees as part of their convention planning, as APSA will do.

Also in 2006 the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that the state constitutional amendment did not affect existing rights of unmarried couples, though they did not overturn the constitutional amendment on same sex marriage. In the words of Chief Justice Calagero:
Nothing in the majority opinion would prohibit an unmarried couple from contracting to be co-owners of property, from designating each other as agents authorized to make critical end of life decisions, or leave property to each through wills. The majority opinion does not disturb or impair the fundamental contract and property rights possessed by all individuals, be they homosexual or heterosexual, married or unmarried.

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11. Where can I go to find out more?

Extensive materials about APSA's deliberations in both changing siting policy and making the decision to stay in New Orleans for 2012 are available here, here and here. You can also find a chronology of the decision-making process here.

Lambda Legal has a number of resources available on its website which may be of use. While this is not legal advice, they do provide a number of tool kits which may be used for planning purposes, including life and financial planning, information specific to Louisiana and contact information for their South Central Regional Office. These materials have been available online since the Council made its initial decision. If you have additional questions, please contact Michael Brintnall at brintnall@apsanet.org.

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12. I am concerned about attending but I don't want to adversely affect my sections panel allocations for 2013. What are my options?

In making its decision about the 2012 meeting, the APSA Council affirmed that APSA should approach the meeting in New Orleans with particular sensitivity to the needs of all members, and with respect for those members who may opt not to attend.

On application of this commitment is a Council decision not to make use of panel attendance numbers from the 2012 Annual Meeting for any future panel allocations. Instead, for 2013 the average of panel attendance at the 2010 and 2011 meetings, plus proposal submission data for both years, will be used in calculating the allocations for 2013. The 2013 Program Chairs will retain customary discretion to address any concerns about accuracy and equity in panels for their meeting.

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