SMOF News, volume 1, issue 50

Politics comes for Gen Con, NASFiC, and Worldcon.

Everything Is Political

The past week has shown that no matter how escapist you like your fandom to be, mundane politics will find it.

Gen Con Impacted By Abortion Ban

The state of Indiana passed a near-total ban on abortion right in the middle of Gen Con, the biggest tabletop gaming convention in the United States, which currently makes its home in Indianapolis. Polygon notes at least one immediate consequence:

At least one publisher canceled its booth at the show, while several others made statements of protest.

“We are heartbroken and furious at this latest decision which will rob those who can become pregnant of their bodily autonomy,” wrote Lone Shark Games in a statement on social media. “Lone Shark Games and its staff are not comfortable supporting the state of Indiana with our presence, so we have made the decision not to attend this year’s Gen Con.”

Gen Con had taken a public stance against the ban. This was not an empty gesture, as pressure from the con had previously produced results:

In 2015, the convention threatened to leave over a controversial “religious freedom bill.” The thinly-veiled attack on LGBTQ+ people was championed by then-governor Mike Pence; the bill would have allowed business owners to refuse service to same-sex couples. When threatened with the loss in revenue that Gen Con would represent, the bill was heavily modified.

While Polygon has figures claiming that Gen Con represents 10% of the entire annual revenue from conventions across the state of Indiana, the con has limited leverage in this case due to a contract locking it into its current facility through 2026.

Orlando NASFiC Bid Ends

On August 5, the day before site selection voting was to have begun, the bid to bring the 2023 North American Science Fiction Convention or NASFiC to Orlando, Florida was withdrawn. A brief statement on Facebook explained:

There were some factors to our decision that were in our control that helped guide us and some sadly not in our control.

The former bid has not clarified what those factors were, but it is widely believed that the factors not in the bid committee’s control included the increasing reluctance of North American fans to visit Florida due to just about everything Florida’s state government has been up to lately.

The URL for the Orlando bid’s website now redirects to the site for the remaining bid, for Winnipeg, Manitoba. The NASFiC site selection ballot still lists the Orlando bid but notes that it has been withdrawn.

Russia Invades Worldcon

The latest draft agenda for the business meeting of the World Science Fiction Society, the unincorporated literary society responsible for the World Science Fiction Convention, includes two proposals asking for assent to statements related to the war in Ukraine:

Resolved, that it is the spirit of the Business Meeting to offer solidarity with
Ukrainian Fans, recognizing that Ukraine has been invaded by fascists. We
encourage all to boycott those who would platform or champion the illegal
invasion. The Business Meeting looks forward to a return of freedom and
fandom to Ukraine.

and

Resolved, that it is the spirit of the Business Meeting to show solidarity with
Ukrainian fans and to condemn Worldcon 2023’s Guest of Honour, Sergey
Lukianenko’s appalling utterances, calling Ukrainians Nazis and encouraging
an illegal invasion of Ukraine. This is utterly unacceptable. Lukianenko should
neither be platformed nor celebrated, and we ask the Chengdu 2023 committee,
fans and members to refuse Sergei Lukianenko as your guest. it is shameful
that he is honoured by Worldcon.

WSFS, composed of the members of the next Worldcon, has the power to select the Worldcon site, but once a committee has won its bid it is free to name or drop guests as it chooses.

The full agenda is available here (PDF, proposals on page 30 of the file even though the page is numbered 28).

The WSFS Business Meeting takes place during Worldcon, which this year is in Chicago, Illinois, September 1-5.

Event Calendar

Weekend of August 12-14

• Geek Out at Staten Island, Staten Island, New York, USA

• CONvergence 2022: Your Reality May Vary, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Argentina FurFiesta (anthropomorphic), Buenos Aires, Argentina

• Wild Prairie Fur Con: Tropical Paw-radise (anthropomorphic), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

• Wild Game Roundup, Austin, Texas, USA

• Long Island Retro Gaming Expo (video games), Garden City, New York, USA

• Grand Tribunal (Atlas Games products), Cheltenham, UK

• Abunai!: The Good, the Bad, and the Cheeky (anime), Veldhoven, Netherlands

• Anime Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

• Ronin-Expo (anime), Los Angeles, California, USA

• Superstar Anime, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

• AniBash (anime), Rochester, New York, USA

• MatsuriCon 2022: Tana's Night Market (anime), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Pretty Heroes (female-centered anime), Toronto, Ontario, USA

• MAPLD Fan Fest (media), Matteson, Illinois, USA

• Sunrise Comic Con, Sunrise, Florida, USA

• Fan Expo Boston (media), Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Fandom Fest 2022 (media), Schenectady, New York, USA

• Monster-Mania 50 (horror media), Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA

• Starfleet International Conference 2022 (Star Trek), online

• TFNation (Transformers), Birmingham, UK

Weekend of August 19-21

• SchlossCon 3/SFCD-Con 2022 (German national sf convention), Schwerin, Germany

• Epic Nerd Camp, Darlington, Maryland, USA

• NecronomiCon Providence (weird sf), Providence, Rhode Island, USA

• Discworld Convention 2022, Birmingham, UK

• DenFur (anthropomorphic), Denver, Colorado, USA

• Game & Party Con, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

• MaricopaCon 9 (gaming), Phoenix, Arizona, USA

• Ragnarok XP (gaming), Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

• QuestCon Orlando (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Coulee Con 2022 (gaming), La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA

• HistoriKC Fest (miniatures gaming), Overland Park, Kansas, USA

• Nashcon 2022 (miniatures gaming), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

• SCG Con Baltimore (collectible card games), Baltimore, Maryland, USA

• MAGWest 2022 (video games), San Jose, California, USA

• Delta H Con (anime), Houston, Texas, USA

• Shikkaricon (anime), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

• Kitacon (anime), Warwick, UK

• Flame Con (diverse comics), New York City, New York, USA

• Nerd-Vana (media), Oxford, Mississippi, USA

• Soda City Comic Con, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

• Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, Washington, USA

• Kelowna ComiCon, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

• Hub City Comic Con, Lubbock, Texas, USA

Weekend of August 26-28

• F-Con (59th Japanese national sf convention), Fukushima, Japan

• Bubonicon 53, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

• Dni Fantastyki, Wrocław, Poland

• Asylum Steampunk Festival, Lincoln, UK

• Eurofurence 26 (anthropomorphic), Berlin, Germany

• Camp Feral! (anthropomorphic), Algonquin Park, Ontario

• Furrydelphia (anthropomorphic), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

• IndyFurCon 2022: Furries on Broadway (anthropomorphic), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

• Dragonflight Gamecon 42, Bellevue, Washington, USA

• FallCon 35: Return to Analog (gaming), Calgary, Alberta, Canada

• Tacticon (gaming), Aurora, Colorado, USA

• Epic.LAN Tabletop Edition (gaming), Coventry, UK

• Tabletop Scotland (gaming), Perth, UK

• Great Escape on the Lake (gaming), Bradford, New York, USA

• Draconicon 2022 (gaming), Tel Aviv, Israel

• 2D Con (video games), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Kokorokon (anime), St. Louis, Missouri, USA

• Kazokukon (anime), Toledo, Ohio, USA

• Kin-Yoobi Con (anime), Union City, California, USA

• PopCult Anime Con, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA

• AniNite 22 (anime), Vösendorf, Austria

• HanamiCon 2022 (anime), Graz, Austria

• Stars of Time (media), Weston-super-Mare, UK

• Fan Expo Canada (media), Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• East European Comic Con, Bucharest, Romania

• Comic Conroe, Conroe, Texas, USA

• Everfree NW (My Little Pony), Bellevue, Washington, USA

• Power Morphicon (Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers), Pasadena, California, USA

Weekend of September 2-4

• Dragon Con, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• CoKoCon 2022, Tempe, Arizona, USA

• San Diego Afro Con (Afrofuturism), San Diego, California, USA

• Oxonmoot 2022 (J. R. R. Tolkien), Oxford, UK

• Big River Steampunk Festival 2022, Hannibal, Missouri, USA

• Tails & Tornadoes Fur Con: Ren Fur (anthropomorphic), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

• Mephit Fur Meet 2022: Trick or Treat (anthropomorphic), Memphis, Tennessee, USA

• Pacificon Game Expo 43, Santa Clara, California, USA

• SaltCON End of Summer (gaming), Layton, Utah, USA

• Alamo City Game Convention, San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Electric City Dice and Cosplay (gaming), Great Falls, Montana, USA

• WGGCon (gaming), Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA

• LincCon (gaming), Merrill, Wisconsin, USA

• PAX West 2022 (gaming), Seattle, Washington, USA

• Gateway 2022 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA

• TCEP 2022 (gaming), Sterling, Virginia, USA

• GrandCon 2022 (gaming), Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

• ConsimWorld Expo 2022 (gaming), Tempe, Arizona, USA

• NOVA Open 2021 (wargaming), Washington, DC, USA

• ReaperCon (miniatures gaming), Denton, Texas, USA

• Pixel Expo (video games), Perth, Australia

• SCG Con (collectible card games), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Nan Desu Kan 25 (anime), Aurora, Colorado, USA

• San Japan 13 (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Tracon (anime), Tampere, Finland

• Anime Escape Fest, Grand Prairie, Texas, USA

• Saboten Con 2022 (anime), Phoenix, Arizona, USA

• Comic Con Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

• Fanboy Expo Orlando (media), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Tucson Comic Con (media)/RinCon (gaming), Tucson, Arizona, USA

• Long Beach Comic Con, Long Beach, California, USA

• Robcon (media), Abingdon, Virginia, USA

• Giganticon (media), Killeen, Texas, USA

• Meta Con Minneapolis (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Whooverville 13 (Doctor Who), Derby, UK

Weekend of September 9-11

• OutsideCon, Burns, Tennessee, USA

• Bouchercon 2022: Land of 10,000 Thrills (World Mystery Convention), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Furry Migration: Galactic Space Race (anthropomorphic), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• FursonaCon 2022: Academy of Magic (anthropomorphic), Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

• Impossible Realities #21: Damage Control (gaming), St. John, New Brunswick, Canada

• ZorCon (gaming), Lake Jackson, Texas, USA

• Ludesco (gaming), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland

• Tabletop Central (gaming), Savoy, Illinois, USA

• Escape Winter Con (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Dice Tower Retreat (gaming), Miami, Florida, USA

• Sugoi Expo (anime), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Anime Oklahoma, Midwest City, Oklahoma, USA

• Arkansas Comic Con, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

• Rose City Comic Con, Portland, Oregon, USA

• Colossalcon East (media), Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania, USA

• Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA

• International Comic Expo, Birmingham, UK

• Popcorn! (media), Rotherham, UK

• Ottawa Comiccon, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

• Elstree-Con (media), Elstree, UK

• Unicon & Game Expo (media), Minsk, Belarus

• D23 Expo 2022 (official Disney fan convention), Anaheim, California, USA

Coda

• Young movie stars watch old sf movies (New York Times)

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