[TriLUG] Palmer for another SC term; proposed amendment to the bylaws

[Steve Litt]

On Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:27:17 -0400
James Jones <jc.jones at tuftux.com> wrote:

> If we have to make rules for decent behavior, then perhaps we should
> all stay at home.

I just read the policy at http://trilug.org/anti-harassment, and it
looks pretty innocuous to me. All it does is put people on notice that
if they want to crack jokes about a given religion, race, nationality,
gender, or gender preference, TriLUG events or forums aren't the place
to do it.

The use of the word "may" in the policy gives plenty of leeway if
someone violates the policy, and it gives discretion to the board to
take into account the degree of violation. So the treatment of somebody
saying a certain movie actress is pretty would be quite different from
a loud, public statement commenting on the body parts of somebody in
attendance.

Look, we're all human. Probably most of us have told a very
prejudicial joke at one time or another, in very private circumstances,
where we believed we would offend nobody. In other words, "at home".
All this policy does is to say "leave those jokes at home, and tell
other jokes at TriLUG." I specifically noticed there are no policies
about Windows, Vim vs Emacs, or Apple fanboys, so tell all the jokes
you want about them at TriLUG events. No need to stay home, just let
jokes about gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability,
physical appearance, body size, race, religion, country of origin, age,
or technical background stay home.

> 
> One rule will just call for another rule and then we would spend all
> of our meeting time making rules.

On the contrary, I think a preexisting set of policies will prevent
endless discussions of what's right and what's wrong.


SteveT

Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
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