We have heard the concerns from our community regarding this partnership, specifically the company’s majority ownership by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and the human rights concerns tied to the Saudi government.
We will not accept the funds from this sponsorship or continue to work with this sponsor again.
GDQ is committed to supporting human rights and inclusivity, and we recognize that this partnership conflicted with those values.
We failed to conduct the level of review our community should expect from us and that was an oversight we deeply regret and take full responsibility for.
We especially want to apologize to the runners and our host on this stream, who had nothing to do with this decision and whose runs were disrupted as a result. This isn't a reflection on them and we are grateful for their understanding.
Going forward, we will review and strengthen our process for evaluating future sponsors and partners, including closer examination of companies’ ownership, to make sure they're aligned with our values.
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It’s official! #AGDQ2023 will be taking place online January 8th-15th!
While we would love to return in-person, we’ve determined that to provide a safe and welcoming event to all it was best that we move away from our originally planned location in Florida.
See thread below.
Given the state’s continued disregard for COVID-19’s dangers (including anti-mandate policies) and an increased aggression towards LGBTQ+ individuals, including the law colloquially known as "Don't Say Gay," we do not believe it is a safe place for our community.
Immediately after the success of AGDQ 2020, we secured a contract with a venue in Florida to return in 2021. Since the global pandemic was declared, we postponed in-person events until it was safe to return.