AAA Debuts New Blog

AAA is pleased to announce the debut of our new, unified association blog, available at http://blog.aaanet.org. We have created this blog as a service to our members and the general public. It is a forum to discuss topics of debate in anthropology and a space for public commentary on association policies, publications and advocacy issues. We will post select items that we think are of interest to our members and that readers have voiced an interest in. We invite all anthropologists to use this domain to stimulate intellectual discussion, and would be delighted to host guest bloggers who are active in any of anthropology’s four fields.

The new AAA blog, available through Wordpress, combines our previous Anthropology News, Public Affairs and Human Rights blogs, with all archived content and comments migrated from Blogger to Wordpress. The updated format enables visitors to easily post comments, link to our Flickr photostream, search content, browse posts by category, find other anthropology blogs, and more. This is a living forum, and we welcome your feedback! Use the “Contact Us” bar at the top of the screen to tell us what you think of this new design and to offer content suggestions.

AAA thanks staff members Brian Estes, Lisa Myers and Dinah Winnick, and intern Leo Napper, for their work in developing this online forum. Visit the new blog today!

Note: New posts will no longer be added to the original AAA Human Rights blog.

Same-Sex Marriage Victories

The Iowa Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of gay marriage, making it the third state to allow such unions.

The Swedish Parliament has also approved same-sex marriage by an overwhelming margin.

The AAA has released an official statement in support of such unions.

Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide Resolution has returned to headlines prior to Obama's visit to Turkey. The resolution labels the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire starting in 1915 as "genocide." According to The Hill, past administrations have failed to recognize the World War I-era killings as genocide out of fear of damaging US-Turkey relations. Obama, however, made a campaign pledge to recognize the genocide, saying that the facts documenting the killings are "undeniable" and that "an official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy." Of course, campaign promises to Armenians have been broken in the past, and Obama may decide to tread carefully with Turkey.

US Endorses UN Statement to End Discrimination

In a reversal of Bush-era decisions, the Obama administration endorsed the UN Statement on "Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity." The statement condemns human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity wherever they occur. The US is now the 67th nation of the UN's 192 member states to sign the statement.