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)
Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.