Upcoming Officer Elections

[jos...@gmail.com]

To Esteemed members of OSDI

Upcoming Elections

As some of you are aware, the executive team and governance committee have been working to formalize and improve our officer terms and elections.  The executive committee is a subset of the governance committee, comprised of the officers that have been elected by the full governance committee. We’ve approve an update to our governance rules document to implement 1 year terms that begin and end on January 31st.  Since the current officers will have served more than that amount come January 31st 2019, we are also bootstrapping the process for the current terms by setting this year’s term end date to be August 31st.  

 

Therefore, there will be a new officer election for terms beginning August 31st, and more information will follow.

Continued Evolution

Since the beginning of OSDI, the team and I have worked to scale the organization, create the relevant committee structures to share power, maintain a democratic, level playing field, and rotate who holds those positions.  As you can see in the emeritus section of the leadership web page, we’ve had the benefit of service from a number of people.  Part of that long term thinking has been to figure out the most challenging succession of the chairperson, and find the right person to succeed me and recommend them to the membership.  Last year I found Sonya Reynolds and recruited her, and have worked with the team to prepare her to be our next chairperson, with the expectation that the next term would be Sonya.  Given that preparation, and her recent work as acting chair, I believe she is best prepared to lead us in the next terms.

 

A Separate Struggle for Equal Protection

 

Recently, dealing with sexual misconduct has thankfully become a priority in our community.  Sexual misconduct affects the LGBT community just as much as any other, but unfortunately, we are not yet at a time where our community’s right to equal protection is being respected.  Unequal treatment is a form of discrimination and homophobia, and as a gay rights activist, I’ve taken on this issue to ensure that problem is addressed, and we are protected.  

 

Unfortunately, these efforts to address this discrimination have resulted in a conflict, and third parties have connected that with OSDI.  When that happened, I recused myself to separate myself and that struggle from the reins of power within OSDI, while we navigated the crisis, determined our next steps, and ensured that those next steps were respectful of our democratic process, and consistent with the progressive ideology for which OSDI is merely a means to that end.

 

It turns out that this instance of discrimination is much more difficult than expected, and unfortunately the retaliation for speaking up on this issue is just as real from the LGBT perspective.  It is surprising and disappointing that within the progressive community that equal protection requires such a struggle, and that homophobia and retaliation has also come from women, who are usually intersectional allies in our mutual struggles.

Next Steps

Dealing with this will require continued attention on my part. Therefore, I will not be a candidate in the coming election, and support Sonya for the next term as chair.  I will continue to be part of the team, and work to steer and evolve the organization under the next chairperson.

 

More information will follow on the upcoming election and what to do if you are interested in learning more about being an officer.  If folks have questions for me about being an officer, feel free to contact me or any of OSDI’s other current officers.