Commentary

Psychological Association Pays the DEI Tax to Move Conference Out of Florida

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • June 19, 2025

The Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), initially intended to host its annual conference for 2026 in Orlando, Florida.

But in 2023, the organization elected to move its conference out of the Sunshine State and to Minnesota instead. 

Why? 

Because, according to a November 2023 email from AASP leadership to the organization’s members, Florida’s laws restricting DEI and racial discrimination conflicted with AASP values.

“Over the 12 months following the E-Board’s decision to honor our contractual agreement for Orlando, additional legislation in the State of Florida was passed that stood in contrast to our stated organizational values related to ethics, diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice,” the email read.

“These events, along with hearing increasing concerns expressed by members, led the E-Board to decide it was necessary to re-evaluate our 2026 agreement,” the email continued.

Figure 1. A screenshot of the AASP’s email announcing it would move its conference out of Florida.

The email then stated that the AASP paid a cancellation penalty of a whopping $166,804 to do so!

That doesn’t sound like money well spent. Instead of supporting programs and educational initiatives to advance the field of sports psychology, those funds are instead spent signalling the AASP’s commitment to divisive and discriminatory ideology.

Figure 2. A screenshot of the AASP’s email announcing it would move its conference out of Florida.

Additionally, the AASP email stated that the AASP “will not return” to Florida “until the legislative climate is more supportive of inclusion and safety of our members and the state becomes more welcoming to all.”

As for its existing institutional commitments to DEI, the AASP maintains a diversity statement on its website.

Moreover, it operates several diversity-focused programs and groups, including a Diversity Committee and a Diversity & Inclusion Council.

These actions demonstrate the AASP is, very literally, putting DEI ideology over the interests of its members.

A professional association subverting the interests of the members that the organization claims to represent is antithetical to core, foundational ethical principles.