Why I'm not going to SIPS 2025

I am a member of the Society for Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS) – have been since 2017. I joined their yearly conferences every other year starting in 2017, but I will not be joining the 2025 conference in Budapest, Hungary. For me, the big selling point of SIPS are the people – the location choice for 2025 (unintentionally) signals that some people are less important.

Hungary is currently under investigation for violations of fundamental rights of queer/LGBTQIA+ folk. The ruling party used referenda to legitimize those violating laws . Queer topics are banned from schools and queer books are not allowed within 200 meters of schools. Books with queer content need to be wrapped in stores to prevent browsing by kids. Sex assigned at birth is the only legal gender – nothing else.

I will not even start enumerating all the other problems Hungary has beyond the fundamental rights for queer folk. Let their prime minister summarize what Hungary is: an"illiberal democracy."

As a queer person, it may not be a surprise: I do not feel welcome in a country like this. I want to find reasons to go, because there are people I know who are going who I want to be able to see again. Have fun with. Share experiences with – not worry about being reduced to an identity. I want to be able to show up as I am, and if that is not permitted because of the identity threat that is projected onto me, than that undermines my attendance. I want others to be able to show up this way too, and be confident in meeting others who might be queer too.

In the end, Budapest is probably quite liberal. Not much risk in bending the binary there. Yet, it may also not be. This is a risk management problem for queer people. Yes – being queer means risk. The relative risk is higher in Hungary, though, resulting in more risk management. That already starts in the travel decision (and I am managing it by saying no).

I have been going to SIPS for what feels a long time. The location directly affects my decision, and affects others to varying degrees depending on how they manage risk. Do we really want to expose our community to these issues? Do we want to risk trans men in our community getting asked about their prosthetics? Or do we want to be able to focus on improving psychological science?

I feel a sense of responsibility to point out that SIPS mission statement affirms inclusivity as a key value:

SIPS strives for inclusivity of individuals and groups with diverse personal backgrounds, especially those who have been historically underrepresented in science.

The choice for Hungary as the host country works against this key value. This is a specific instance where SIPS is failing to practice this value, although I do not consider myself the arbiter of degree here. That is for SIPS as a whole to assess.

I also can understand it: Choosing a conference host is hard. Maybe the Budapest host team was the only application for 2025. Maybe the decision was having a conference in Budapest or none at all. I do not expect the decision to be an easy matter, yet I also do not want to minimize or belittle my own concerns of the outcome. Fact remains it is hard to understand why this decision was made if there is no explanation. Was it a unanimous decision without any consideration of queer folk at SIPS? Or was this recognized as problematic but there is context that is relevant to know about?

I wish SIPS leadership provided some accompanying explanation for this decision. I do not expect it to be agreeable to me, and yet, in this situation, it feels like I can only disagree with the outcome. It will not change my decision to skip SIPS in 2025, because that is my personal decision. Being in the uncomfortable position of having to do this aspect of risk management to decide whether or not to attend SIPS is my reality.

I hope to see my friends in 2027 instead.