In the end, the decision was taken out of their hands.
In an announcement on May 2, industry association AIPPI said it had agreed to postpone the World Congress scheduled to take place in Dubai in 2027.
No specific reasons were given, but you would assume the US-Iran war, which has also resulted in some explosions in Dubai, was the deciding factor.
Of course, this is the right decision. The safety of attendees must be paramount.
But let’s not forget that plenty of concerns were raised about the choice of venue long before the conflict erupted.
Those concerns were based on the fact that Dubai can be an unsafe environment for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Homosexuality is illegal in Dubai and the wider UAE, and is punishable by imprisonment.
In the past months, AIPPI members, including national groups in Australia, the Netherlands, and the UK, had all written to AIPPI leadership to express their concerns at the choice of venue.
Putting it bluntly, they were ignored.
As recently as the end of January, AIPPI said it fully intended to proceed with the conference.
The association, in a statement shared with Managing IP, said it had weighed a commitment to geographic rotation and engagement across regions with differing cultural, legal and religious contexts alongside its “core values” of inclusion, respect and equal participation.
In effect, the IP professions' LGBTQIA+ community, which is not insignificant in size, was not considered important enough.
It will come as scant consolation to those members that Dubai as a venue has now been shelved.
It seems that when it comes to delegate safety, there is a hierarchy. A nearby war is worth a postponement, but the ostracisation and very real potential threat to a portion of delegates is not.
You could argue that everyone has a choice whether to attend a conference or not. But why should attendees be forced to make that choice, particularly when they are having to consider their own right to be themselves?
INTA is facing a similar problem, too, of course.
It had originally planned to host its 2026 Annual Meeting in Dubai.
After Dubai was revealed as a host city, the October 7 2023 attacks in Israel took place, followed by Israel’s response in nearby Gaza.
INTA eventually postponed the meeting from 2026 to 2029.
No official reason was provided.
As with AIPPI, there was, according to multiple sources, concern over the choice of venue among INTA members. It was said at one point that a potential boycott was on the cards, such was the level of discontent.
As it stands, INTA still plans to head to Dubai in 2029, though this is by no means certain. AIPPI, it said, will explore the possibility of heading there in 2030 or 2031.
Both organisations will need to carefully consider where they truly stand on diversity and inclusion and fostering a safe environment for all.
The conflict in the region will hopefully pass, and Dubai will once again be considered ‘safe’ for travel. The laws and regulations preventing the LGBTQIA+ community from feeling safe will not.
