SMOF News, volume 2, issue 28

Anti-drag laws and convention guests, and news in brief.

Anti-Drag Laws May Affect Conventions

Video game art and design legend Jennell Jaquays posted this warning for conventions:

As a heads up, if your state passes a law banning drag performers, don't expect your transgender speakers or GoHs (including me) to make an appearance at your game or media cons. These laws are worded in ways that we (not just drag performers) can be arrested and fined. Write your GOP legislators and tell them to focus on your state's needs, and stop persecuting LGBTQ people.

Republican-run states in the US have lately started introducing bills to limit drag performances, particularly to keep kids away from them, for very broad definitions of both “drag” and “performance”. As Them explains:

In states like Texas, Kansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, and others, recently introduced bills define “drag performance” in sweeping terms, classifying a drag performer as someone who exhibits “a gender identity that is different from the performer’s gender assigned at birth” and who sings, lip-syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience, regardless of whether or not that performance is paid.

Jaquays opines in the comments to her post that the definition of “performance” could extend as far as gamemastering (running an RPG session).

Many legal experts quoted in many stories about the wave of anti-drag bills have said that the bills are likely either redundant (when they have wording about not letting kids see adult performances, already covered by existing laws) or violations of First Amendment rights. However, the trans guest considering attending a convention is not thinking about whether a state bill will be eventually struck down by the courts, but about whether it will be in force at the time of their visit and available as a pretext to harass them (or worse) for existing in public. If it is, then it should be no surprise if they choose to decline a guest invitation.

In Brief

• Sandra Levy, a Chicago-area conrunner involved in multiple conventions, died March 12. Her family asks for donations in her memory to be made to The ALS Association. Worldcon in Memoriam • Obituary at Echovita

• Dragon Con (Atlanta, Georgia, August 31-September 4) has added Chelsea Quinn Yarbro as Literary Guest of Honor and Greg Hildebrandt as Artist Guest of Honor. Cheralyn Lambeth has also been announced as a guest.

• Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, May 5-7) has added Jeremy Shada, Theo Rossi, Holly Marie Combs, Paul Williams, and Rose McGowan as guests.

• Ahoy Comics will be releasing "a five-part tragi-comedy called Con & On, which will center around a fictional convention known as Vista Al Mar Comics Festival” on July 12.

• SMOF News has taken a turn in Cora Buhlert’s ongoing “Fanzine Spotlight” series.

Event Calendar

Weekend of March 17-19

• Cleveland ConCoction, Aurora, Ohio, USA

• WOWCon Beyond (women in media and geekdom), Dallas, Texas, USA

• OutlantaCon: Resume Play (LGBTQ+ geekdom), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• 44th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando, Florida, USA

• Furnal Equinox: Tales From the Tavern (anthropomorphic), Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Texas Furry Fiesta: Attack of the Jackafluffies! (anthropomorphic), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Blue Ridge Furfare 2023: Mainfurame Meltdown (anthropomorphic), online

• Marmalade Dog 26 (gaming), Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

• Token Con (gaming), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

• Zuiderspel (gaming), Veldhoven, Netherlands

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

• Breakout 2023 (gaming), Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Long Island Tabletop Gaming Expo 2023, Garden City, New York, USA

• SIMCON 44 (boardgames), Rochester, New York, USA

• GOBfest (boardgames), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

• Playthrough (video games), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

• COSCON XXXII (RPGs), Lyndora, Pennsylvania, USA

• Concrete Cow (RPGs), Milton Keynes, UK

• Ambercon US (diceless RPGs), Livonia, Michigan, USA

• Anime Impulse San Diego, Del Mar, California, USA

• ScottyCon (anime), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

• Kikori Con 2023 (anime), Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

• Toronto Comicon, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• All-Con (media), Dallas, Texas, USA

• My-Con (media), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Collective Con (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA

• Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA

• CarrierCon 2023 (media), Alameda, California, USA

• Bedford Who Charity Con 8 (Doctor Who), Bedford, UK

Weekend of March 24-26

• FantaSci 2023: Here Be Dragons, Durham, North Carolina, USA

• Fluke 2023 (independent comics and zines), Athens, Georgia, USA

• Motor City Furry Con: Fur Imagination, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

• Thaitails Siam Sawasdee (anthropomorphic), Bangkok, Thailand

• Woods Flock (anthropomorphic), Spencer, Tennessee, USA

• GameStorm 23, Portland, Oregon, USA

• WittCon XVIII: Magic vs. Machines (gaming), Springfield, Ohio, USA

• Gary Con XV (gaming), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA

• Ludinord (gaming), Mons-En-Barœul, France

• LeiriaCon (gaming), Leiria, Portugal

• WillowCon (gaming), Wayne, Nebraska, USA

• Fargo GameFest, Fargo, North Dakota, USA

• FallsCon 2023 (gaming), Wichita Falls, Kansas, USA

• PAX East (video games), Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Hotlead (miniatures gaming), Stratford, Ontario, Canada

• Adepticon 2023 (wargaming), Schaumburg, Illinois, USA

• Not-A-Con 2023 (Pathfinder & Starfinder RPGs), Alcoa, Tennessee, USA

• Nadeshicon (anime), Québec City, Québec, Canada

• EvilleCon (anime), Evansville, Indiana, USA

• SwampCon Pantheon (anime), Gainesville, Florida, USA

• Isekai Anime Con, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

• AnimeJapan 2023, Tokyo, Japan

• Zenkaikon 2023 (anime), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA

• ExpOtaku Almería 2023 (anime), Almería, Spain

• Comic Con Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

• Armageddon Expo Tauranga (media), Tauranga, New Zealand

• GalaxyCon Richmond (media), Richmond, Virginia, USA

• Fan Expo Cleveland (media), Cleveland, Ohio, USA

• Island Entertainment Expo (media), Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

• WonderCon 2023 (media), Anaheim, California, USA

• Revelcon 33: The Wedding Episode (media relaxacon), Houston, Texas, USA

Weekend of March 31-April 2

• Corflu Craic (fanzines), Belfast, UK

• Romics XXX (comics), Rome, Italy

• Consonance 2023 (music), Milpitas, California, USA

• 13 Gears (steampunk), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA

• CosXpo (costuming), Reading, UK

• Midwest Gaming Classic, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

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

• DayCon (gaming), Kettering, Ohio, USA

• ADK Tabletop Day (gaming), Glens Falls, New York, USA

• Midwest Gaming Classic (video games), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

• Havoc XXXVII (miniatures gaming), Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA

• Gary Con XV (Gary Gygax), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA

• KokoroCon 2 (anime), Nottingham, UK

• Kawaii Kon (anime), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

• Triad Anime Convention, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

• Angers Geekfest #4: Utopie & Dystopie (media), Angers, France

• RodCon (media), Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA

• FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium

• ETSU-Con (media), Johnson City, Tennessee, USA

• Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, Chicago, Illinois, USA

• Creation Nola (media), New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

• Megacon Orlando (media), Orlando, Florida, USA

• ETSU-Con (media), Johnson City, Tennessee, USA

• Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show (media), Villepinte, France

• Rose City Comic Convention, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

• CyPhaCon 2023 (media), Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

• CabbageCon (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Columbus, Ohio, USA

Weekend of April 7-9

• Conversation 2023 (UK national sf convention), London, UK

• Minicon 56, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, USA

• Norwescon 45: Between Two Worlds, SeaTac, Washington, USA

• Fastaval '23, Hobro, Denmark

• Golden State Fur Con (anthropomorphic), Los Angeles, California, USA

• Fur Squared 2023 (anthropomorphic), Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA

• Fauntastic 2023: Wild in the Street (anthropomorphic), Lyon, France

• Clockwork Alchemy: Villains & Heroes (steampunk), San Mateo, California, USA

• GothCon XLVI (gaming), Göteborg, Sweden

• DaveCon (gaming), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

• Conquest Games Convention (RPGs), Melbourne, Australia

• Scrum Con (wargaming), Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

• WeebCon Year 3 (anime), Grapevine, Texas, USA

• MTAC Blackjack (anime), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

• Anime Detour, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Anime Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Karoshi-Con (anime), DeKalb, Illinois, USA

• Kanpai!Con (anime), Omaha, Nebraska, USA

• Sakura-Con 2023 (anime), Seattle, Washington, USA

• Puerto Rico Comic Con, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA

• BABSCon 2023 (My Little Pony), Burlingame, California, USA

• Star Wars Celebration 2023, Anaheim, California, USA

Weekend of April 14-16

• Swancon 47, Maylands, Australia

• HAL-CON 2023, Kawasaki, Japan

• Les Intergalactiques 2023, Lyon, France

• 221B Con (Sherlock Holmes), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Las Vegas Fur Con 2023: The Enfurtainment Capital of the World, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

• Jack Williamson Lectureship 2023: Climates of Empire, Portales, New Mexico, USA

• Conpulsion 2023 (gaming), Edinburgh, UK

• MEPACON (gaming), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

• CODCON XXVI (gaming), Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA

• Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada

• VGM Con: Oops, All Zelda (videogames/music), Plymouth, Minnnesota, USA

• Harucon (anime), Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria

• Riverwalk Anime, San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Comic-Con Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

• Bold City Con (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA

• SC Comicon, Greenville, South Carolina, USA

• Quad Cities Comic Con, Davenport, Iowa, USA

• Supanova 2023 – Gold Coast (media), Broadbeach, Australia

• Dairycon 2023: The Moo Generation (Transformers), Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, USA

Coda

• That time nuking the moon seemed like a good idea (History.com)

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