Talk:Board/Characteristics

Does Wikimedia UK wish to encourage open LGBT people to join the board of trustees?

I was interested to see that the Chairman of the board has chosen to drop sexual orientation as a desirable element of diversity from a future board, after I made the effort to add it to this document (diff). Does anyone else have a view on whether this is a desirable characteristic of the board that needs to be stated?

If the general view is that it is not, perhaps because we fear negative publicity of some sort, then as an openly gay man and a co-founder of Wikimedia LGBT, I will be happy to find a charity more welcoming than the one envisaged here. I note that this is not the first time this was noticeably absent from our definition of diversity, I recall having to point this out with our last Activity Plan so that it would be mentioned in public. Thanks --Fæ (talk) 22:18, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

Hi Fae, my rationale is as follows. I am of course very keen to ensure that Wikimedia UK is welcoming to LGBT people; this is particularly natural as I am one of the two LGB Board members we currently have (at least those that I am aware of, and to be honest I don't know how most of the Board define their sexuality, and haven't asked). However, if something is detailed explicitly in this document, then we are committing ourselves to proactive action to correct it if it's missing. We don't, as shouldn't, ask prospective Board members about their sexuality, so it is difficult to monitor and take into consideration. Hence I took it out. Obviously I'd welcome more discussion on this point. What does the rest of the community think? The Land (talk) 08:14, 27 February 2013 (UTC)