Protest of AIC Meeting in Denver

To my shame, I did not protest when a woman made a motion at the Toronto
AIC Business meeting advocating a boycott of Chicago, because the voters
of the state of Illinois failed to pass the ERA amendment to their state
constitution.  I voted against the motion, but it passed, and it was a
few years before AIC met in Chicago.

A few weeks ago, a person from the American Folklore Society posted me
privately about Oregon's Measure 9, our analogue to Colorado's Amendment
2.  There was sentiment against holding their annual conference in
Oregon, if the measure passed.

I told her, and I tell those reading this posting, that I do not believe
it is appropriate for a non-profit, educational organization to make a
political statement.  The individual members may certainly do so, and
should do so if their feeling in the matter is that strong.

During the weeks leading up to the vote on the matter in Oregon, I wore
the only political button I can recall having ever worn: "Straight, but
not Narrow".  A movement to force AIC to withdraw from meeting in
Colorado bespeaks a narrowmindedness equal to that which passed
Amendment 2, and it will have no support from me.

Jack C. Thompson

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 6:29
                Distributed: Thursday, November 26, 1992
                        Message Id: cdl-6-29-013
                                  ***