The Specialty Coffee Association isn't backing down from a controversial decision to hold several international competitions in Dubai next year, despite the emirate's anti-LGBTQ laws. The group has further angered some members with a new "deferred candidacy policy." Under the policy announced Nov. 9, winners of national championships with "qualifying circumstances" can defer their right to compete for a world championship until the following year.

The circumstances that might limit someone from participating in a world championship include "nationality, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual identity/orientation, health, bereavement or force majeur."

"The resolution we on the SCA Board have adopted is designed to acknowledge and respect a competitor's inability to travel to a country while enabling them to keep their hard-earned opportunity to compete," the SCA said in its announcement. http://bit.ly/2ADP4j8

People were quick to denounce the decision and the new policy on social media, with some vowing to not renew membership in the group. Coffee news and culture website Sprudge resigned from its media partnership with SCA. Sprudge also immediately pulled its coverage team from the World Barista Championship underway in Seoul and said it would suspend coverage of any future events. http://bit.ly/2hpLy7p

The uproar begin in September, when World Coffee Events, an event management company owned by SCA, announced that Amsterdam, Dubai and Belo Horizonte in Brazil would be holding World Coffee Championships in 2018. Sprudge followed up with a report on abuses against migrant laborers and the LGBTQ community in the United Arab Emirates, where Dubai is the largest city.

SCA suspended planning for the four events in Dubai and appointed a panel to review the decision to locate events there, and to make recommendations on the process for selecting future host cities.

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