When we had to move a conference from Texas, we got some very angry comments from a section of membership. I didn't know how to make people, especially people who cannot get pregnant, understand the new reality.
One of the main professional orgs in my field keeps holding conferences in Texas and Florida and beyond the fact that those of us in California get zero travel reimbursement for those states my field is like 80% women and very queer. We're all scratching our heads over the decision making
The economics are rough for this if you've already scheduled them. We had to get large donations to cover the fee we paid to cancel (it would have bankrupted our association). But it's very odd not to share what you're doing to ensure people's safety.
Definitely frustrating to navigate on all sides. The one year some grad students went to Texas the organizer was a visiting scholar from out of the country and didn't realize they wouldn't be reimbursed, so our department had to scramble to find donor coverage for them since many had already paid
Oh I lived in Texas for 8 years, I definitely know. I had actually planned a big tenure party that my entire family, who lives in Texas, could attend when that conference would be there. But obviously once dobbs happened things needed to change.
