While it has not yet been broadly announced, late last year the ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee approved Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as the SIGGRAPH Asia 2026 location (2024/12/3 meeting minutes).
The prospect of a new location for a SIGGRAPH conference is exciting. Compared to neighboring fields like Computer Vision, Human Computer Interaction, or Machine Learning, SIGGRAPH conferences are held in a relatively small number of global locations. SIGGRAPH North America has only ever been held in the United States and Vancouver. Thankfully, SIGGRAPH Asia has had more variety but still only spanning six countries (Japan, Australia, Thailand, Korea, China, Singapore) over its 18 years.
SIGGRAPH Asia 2026 in Malaysia would certainly serve a population that has not had local access to a flagship SIGGRAPH conference. In particular, SIGGRAPH has never been held in a Muslim-majority country. SIGGRAPH in Kuala Lumpur would simplify travel for many for whom traveling to past locations has been difficult or expensive. For international attendees, SIGGRAPH Asia conferences can also serve as raising awarness to previously unfamiliar computer graphics communities, researchers and industries.
Unfortunately, Malaysia is not a safe place for LGBTQ+ people to travel to. Until it is safe for all attendees, SIGGRAPH Asia 2026 should not be held in Malaysia.
For a more complete summary of the situation for LGBTQ people in Malaysia, perhaps start with the LGBTQ rights in Malaysia Wikipedia page. The Global Trans Rights Index gives Malaysia an “F” rating and scores it second to last out of 203 locations. Similarly the LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Index gives Malaysia an “F” and 8th last overall. These scores are serious. In Malaysia, LGBTQ people face the fear of extrajudicial murder, harassment by the police, and imprisonment for simply existing.
Since as early as February 2025, the ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee has received concern over this location choice (via email and social media). I've been included on a few email threads of faculty concerned about how to react to this location choice. My students and I have discussed this location choice in our group meeting.
So far, the only response from the ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee I’ve seen was sent verbatim to multiple people voicing concern:
Expanding SIGGRAPH Asia: Embracing New Communities in MalaysiaSIGGRAPH Asia has always been a celebration of innovation and creativity in the field of computer graphics and interactive techniques. In 2026, we are taking a thoughtful step forward by expanding to Malaysia - a nation rich in cultural diversity and technological potential.This decision reflects our commitment to broadening our community’s reach while thoughtfully navigating the complexities inherent in global expansion. As we embark on this new chapter, we do so with a deep appreciation and enthusiasm for the opportunities Malaysia presents, along with a mindful awareness that this decision raises concerns from members of the community.
We recognize that the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals are an important and sensitive subject, with varying perspectives across the world. We understand that members of the LGBTQ+ community may have concerns, and we acknowledge that it is important to approach these complexities with care and respect for local norms and laws. Visitors to Malaysia, regardless of background, are encouraged to be mindful of the cultural and legal context, as this will help ensure a safe and welcoming experience for all.
As SIGGRAPH Asia expands to new locations, we remain committed to providing an open, respectful, and diverse environment for every participant—no matter where we are hosted. By bringing SIGGRAPH Asia to Malaysia, we are creating new opportunities for emerging talent, industries, and communities that have never had direct access to this global platform before. This move ensures that more individuals from underrepresented regions can participate, collaborate, and thrive in the SIGGRAPH Asia community.
We are not just hosting an event, we are building bridges, unlocking potential, and shaping the future of digital innovation. We welcome everyone to be part of this journey in Malaysia 2026.
There’s a lot to react to in this statement. I hope that it is not made into a official statement representing SIGGRAPH and that it is formally retracted. It is difficult not to interpret this statment as saying “Don't be gay at SIGGRAPH Asia 2026” or similarly “If you're trans, don't come to SIGGRAPH Asia 2026”.
It is likely that there are already (possibly significant) sunk costs burnt on the Malaysia location choice. It’s possible that pivoting to a new location incurs costs due to rushing the timeline on that location. For organizers, these costs will be daunting numbers with fairly direct, short time-horizon dollar amounts attached. Trying to account for the cost of excluding LGBTQ+ people from the conference will feel abstract and difficult to quantify. It might be tempting for the organization to dismiss these costs due to their uncertainty and long-term nature. This would be a terrible mistake.
There are already grumblings of open boycotts, pirate conferences, and plans to systematically divert technical paper submissions to other conferences. Any of these could be a disaster to not just the specific conference of SIGGRAPH Asia 2026 but also the long-term reputation and future of SIGGRAPH Asia. The SIGGRAPH technical papers program has tried hard recently to avoid losing important research topics to computer vision and machine learning conferences (e.g., via the conference paper track). Nevertheless, a large portion of SIGGRAPH Asia papers are well within the topic areas of conferences with similar late Spring submission deadlines (notably NeurIPS). Even a single year of significant divergence of top SIGGRAPH Asia submissions to NeurIPS could compromise the integrity of the SIGGRAPH Asia program. The ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee should act fast to reverse its decision and reconsider other locations for SIGGRAPH Asia 2026.
One likely floated alternative will be to maintain SIGGRAPH Asia 2026 in Malaysia while allowing for presenters and authors to contribute remotely or at a safe offsite location. While this would avoid some of the worst failure modes, this would be very disappointing. SIGGRAPH Asia’s technical paper program already has a reputation of having too many talks conducted by non-paper-authors or sent in by video, diminishing the value of conference. It will be impossible to avoid the perception that LGBTQ attendees are being shunted into a separate inferior track.
ACM SIGGRAPH (and ACM) is an international society. Nevertheless, the rise of fascism in the United States is relevant to this discussion. The United States Government’s attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion are not just affecting public institutions but also non-profit and private companies as they feel pressure to comply or face arbitrary consequences. The attacks on protestors in the United States has had a chilling effect on advocacy for underrespresented groups, possibly preventing powerful voices in the American SIGGRAPH community from speaking out on behalf of LGBTQ people. The direct funding attacks on academic organizations leave many professors there with an overwhelming number of important crises to worry about. The whole-cloth erasure of trans people from the United States State Department website puts our students, friends, and colleagues at risk whenever they travel out of or into the United States.
On a personal note, I ❤️ SIGGRAPH Asia. I've attended the conferences in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2022. I've published 26 technical papers at SIGGRAPH Asia. I routinely advocate for the equivalence of the publication quality of SIGGRAPH Asia papers to its North American counterpart. Because of my love for SIGGRAPH Asia, I am so deeply disappointed that my LGBTQ students, friends, and colleagues (and future students, friends and colleagues) will not be welcome at SIGGRAPH Asia 2026.