2015. március 27., péntek

Is it morally problematic to go teach English in a largely anti-LGBT country on the same grounds that people are using to boycott, for example, Indiana in the wake of its RFRA?

I study the post-Soviet states. After my BA but before grad school (hopefully) I'm interested in going abroad to one of the countries I study, and teaching English for a year or so is a good way to do that. That said, I would be supporting the country's economy and civic institutions, when said economy and civic institutions can be fairly characterized as anti-LGBT; I see this support as, at least in some ways, similar to the type of support people are withholding from Indiana and similar states due to the passage of anti-LGBT legislation.On the other hand, the country I'm most strongly considering (Georgia) is comparatively not awful. It has hate crime and employment non-discrimination legislation in place, and high profile politicians including the (at the time) Prime Minister have both explicitly condemned violence against LGBT people and have offered support for the right of LGBT Georgians to participate in Georgian society. Attitudes remain pretty negative about the community both in private and public discourse/behavior, but it's no Saudi Arabia or what have you.Another thing to account for is that I'd be teaching English as part of a broader Georgian foreign policy of greater orientation toward the West (the EU, NATO, etc.) and away from Russian hegemony. A boycott may put pressure on an institution, but on the flip side, participation in the slow but clear movement toward general alignment with much more pro-LGBT countries seems like it'd be a good thing, even if things aren't great there in the shorter term.Anyway, I guess I'm just trying to puzzle through the moral questions here. Any insight would be appreciated.

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