Hosting Conferences in Florida — TMS 2024
As you may be aware, the US can be united in providing freedom right now, but there is certainly something quite heterogenous about the experience of freedom across different states. Specifically, in Florida the Governor and a number of other legislators are using LGBTQ+ people, and their rights, as a political football to elevate themselves to higher office. As a gay-man, I find this abhorrent.
Now, as an academic in Canada (and yes, I chose Canada/Vancouver because it is inclusive and has significant cultural and political freedoms established in society) this would not usually be a big thing, except for my moments of solidarity towards LGBTQ+ people in Florida (and other states) — except my major professional society TMS (www.tms.org) has their next annual meeting (aka major conference, 3.5k materials engineering folks meeting up there to further their know-how and careers) in Florida, and I happen to be the Chair of the TMS PRIDE working group…
At the TMS 2023 meeting, held in San Diego (lovely place, fun to be queer there too), the working group asked me to write and send a thing… and here it is, which was sent today.
James Robinson has acknowledged receipt on behalf of the society, and we will see how things play out. Fingers crossed there can be some solidarity from our allies, and also from members who identify within the LGBTQ+ community too.
Dear Brad Boyce (President of TMS), Srinivas Chada (TMS Vice President), James Robinson (TMS Secretary/Executive Director),
cc: Mike Titus (TMS Director/Chair, Public & Governmental Affairs), Viola Acoff (TMS Director/Chair, Membership & Student Development), Jen Locke (Chair, TMS DEI Committee)
On behalf of the TMS PRIDE Working Group, I am writing to express concern about the upcoming TMS annual meeting which is due to be held in Florida. This letter is a result of a discussion at the TMS2023 meeting of our members, and highlights some of the significant concerns that were raised.
As you are aware, TMS PRIDE Working Group works to try to curate an inclusive and favorable community within TMS that supports people who identify within the LGBTQ+ communities. As a group, we have worked under the umbrella of the DEI committee to create events, lobby TMS for change, and create safe and inclusive spaces where people can gather and be free to be themselves.
This work is threatened by the fact that TMS is hosting it’s next annual meeting in Florida, a state which is currently of significant concern for members of the LGBTQ+ community. As the Human Rights Campaign noted on April 4th 2023[1] “the Florida Senate Passes Extreme Gender-Affirming Care Ban” in reference to Senate Bill 254, and the ACLU have highlighted that this bill would “strip trans children from their parents’ custody”[2]. This bill has direct and specific consequences for the TMS membership, as it would for example would prohibit any TMS member travelling to TMS to travel with their trans child.
This is compounded by Florida’s recent institutions support of further anti-LGBTQ+ rights and access to education. The Florida Board of Education has expanded the “Don’t say gay” bill (HB 1557) which prohibits teaching of sexual orientation or gender identity[3] for children and youth up to grade 12 (and echoes the institutional damage of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that existed in the US military, as well as Section 28 that caused significant damage in the UK).
These are two direct policies that threaten the rights of individual LGBTQ+ people, but they also signal to members of the LGBTQ+ community that their rights in Florida are not well protected, and there are threats to their safety. The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, is on record for several acts which have had direct and indirect costs for members of the LGBTQ+ community, including lack of support of survivors of the Pulse Nightclub shooting (the Pulse Nightclub was located in Orlando, Florida — where on June 12th 2016 Omar Mateen opened fire and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more — and is situated 11 miles from the Conference venue).
I further note that many Florida-based academic institutions are being audited by the state at present on their work and activities in the DEI space, and this threatens the inclusion of members from all marginalized communities within TMS who seek to network and benefit professionally from the TMS 2024 annual meeting (e.g. [4],[5],[6]).
As Cech and Waidzunas (Science Advances, 2021[7]) have studied, there is and has been systematic inequality for LGBTQ+ in STEM. They found that “Controlling for variation by demographic, discipline, and job factors, LGBTQ STEM professionals were more likely to experience career limitations, harassment, and professional devaluation than their non-LGBTQ peers. They [LGBTQ STEM professionals] also reported more frequent health difficulties and were more likely to intend to leave STEM.” and it is widely understood that the discriminatory nature of hosting major career building conferences in unsafe locations is one factor that impacts and can affect the unequal inclusion of individuals in STEM communities[8], and, in particular, members of the LGBTQ+ community.
As a member of TMS I am acutely aware of the financial constraints of TMS presently, and the wider challenges that professional societies face in light of the impact of reduced travel and social interactions in the wake of the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and so I am writing to you to ask you the following:
(1) What actions are TMS doing to ensure the safety of LGBTQ+ members at TMS 2024?
(2) What steps are TMS doing to consider the siting of future TMS conferences, in light of the rising concerns with regards to LGBTQ+ rights in states across the US? (e.g. HB 616 in Ohio, amongst the 340 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in state houses across the US[9]).
(3) What steps are TMS doing to provide solutions within an intersectional[10] framework of DEI actions, that will support people who are members of the LGBTQ+ community but also other minoritized and underrepresented groups?
The TMS Pride Working Group identified that there could be some actions that could be valuable to consider:
(a) A statement from TMS that recognizes the challenges of TMS hosting their annual meeting in Florida.
(b) Lobbying on behalf of TMS to highlight the impact of this Florida legislation on LGBTQ+ members of our society.
I recognise that there exist the DEI Committee, and the TMS PRIDE Working Group, who have been working for many years on improving and support the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the society. I would also like to highlight that the so-called ‘Minority Tax’ is clearly evident within TMS (and other professional societies and places of work). This tax limits those who are marginalized by the status quo, as they are asked to do extra work just to keep their voices heard and to create spaces that are suitable for them to survive.
As a professional society eager to foster community and centre the value of human-derived know-how and training in Materials, Minerals, and Mining, it is critical that TMS address these issues directly through its actions and resources. Through the annual meeting, and activities of the society, I hope that TMS provides forums and spaces that enable people to live-work-and-play in a way that will enable them to thrive and contribute their lived experiences, culture and expertise in a way that strengthens our community.
Regards,
Dr Ben Britton, Chair of TMS PRIDE Working Group (a subcommittee of the TMS DEI committee), and member of TMS
[1] https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/breaking-florida-senate-passes-extreme-gender-affirming-care-ban
[2] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/florida-republicans-trans-kids-parents-bill-b2323714.html
[3] https://www.npr.org/2022/03/28/1089221657/dont-say-gay-florida-desantis
[4] https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/20/florida-critical-race-theory-social-justice-social-studies-00034104
[5] https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-florida-state-government-race-and-ethnicity-b1d847ddc5e1f136b17f254f71fd15dc
[6] https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/04/21/florida-colleges-dei-bill-legislature/
[7] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe0933
[8] https://www.iop.org/about/publications/exploring-the-workplace-for-lgbtplus-physical-scientists
[9] https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/ohio-bills-among-record-breaking-number-of-anti-lgbtq-legislation-proposed-nationwide/
[10] Crenshaw, Kimberle (1989) “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics,” University of Chicago Legal Forum: Vol. 1989, Article 8. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8/
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