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Another article in my occasional series of analyses of codes of conduct.
This time, the 2026 Worldcon.
https://garymcgath.com/lacon-code-of-conduct/
One more in my sporadic series of posts on the codes of conduct of
various conventions. This time itrCOs LACon V, the 2026 Worldcon in Los Angeles. Its code isnrCOt so bad that it would have kept me from attending
if IrCOd really wanted to, but it has enough problems that I changed my
mind about getting a rCLvirtual membership.rCY HererCOs a look at some of its good and bad points.
First concern: rCLDiscrimination (based on but not limited to, gender,
race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, neurodiversity, physical appearance, body size, or physical/mental
disability) will not be tolerated.rCY Discrimination on these grounds by businesses, support organizations, and other public-facing groups is a
bad thing, except when itrCOs necessary to their function (for example, Catholic churches can discriminate in favor of Catholics when hiring
priests). Individuals canrCOt be held to the same standard. People often prefer the company of their own kind, and thererCOs nothing wrong with
that as long as they arenrCOt obnoxious. Heterosexuals mostly would rather date heterosexuals, and homosexuals usually prefer other homosexuals.
Affinity groups often meet at cons. This kind of rule can only be
applied sporadically. Hopefully it will be invoked only when people get
nasty about their preferences, but it could be used on anyone.
rCLHarassment of any kind will not be tolerated. If someone tells you no
or asks you to leave them alone, you are expected to cease your
interaction with them immediately. Because people may feel uncomfortable saying no or asking you to leave them alone, the absence of no is not sufficient to assume consent. Only yes means yes.rCY This mixes two
different points. First werCOre told that we should leave people alone if
they say no. ThatrCOs reasonable, but then it immediately says that the absence of rCLnorCY isnrCOt sufficient. Does that mean explicit consent is required for every interaction? It creates pressure to formalize
everything. Do people have to keep to themselves completely to be safe?
Again, there wonrCOt and canrCOt be complete enforcement, but the rule could be used on anyone.
It gets worse with the specific items that are called harassment. rCLDeliberate misgendering / deadnaming of people or continued
misgendering / deadnaming after being corrected.rCY This applies a one-size-fits-all rule to trans people. Some people consider their
previously manifested sex to be rCLdeadrCY and want no reference made to it. Their choice should be respected. Others treat their transition
differently. I know a fannish musician who treats his previous female
identity as another person and has made an album combining her
recordings with his new ones; herCOs rCLdeadnamedrCY himself. Some others wrote songs which they like to have credited under their previous names.
Their choices should be respected.
rCLComments that belittle or demean othersrCY are deemed harassment. This is the same rule Balticon used in a nasty way. It will be quite an
interesting convention if you canrCOt say anything bad about Donald Trump.
rCLAttempts to weaponize this Code of ConductrCY violate the code of
conduct. What counts as rCLweaponizingrCY? Does it mean anything more than using it in a way someone doesnrCOt like?
rCLAdvocating for or encouraging any of the above behaviors.rCY I guess IrCOve engaged in rCLharassmentrCY by writing this.
The rCLanti-racism statementrCY is a mixed bag, but it doesnrCOt have specific prohibitions on members, so itrCOs out of scope for this discussion.
Will the bad parts of this code cause trouble for innocent people at
LACon? No one knows. Sometimes senseless provisions get thrown in as boilerplate and never get fixed. ItrCOs possible that if I registered for online participation and a WSFS membership, someone might point to this article and claim itrCOs rCLdemeaning,rCY rCLharassment,rCY or rCLadvocating for
[prohibited] behaviors.rCY ItrCOs more common, though, for cons to have
badly written codes of conduct than to use them to punish people
arbitrarily. Even so, their presence can be intimidating. A few bigoted organizations have taken action against Israelis and their supporters,
so the risk is there.
Bottom line: If I were going, I wouldnrCOt skip the con because of this
code of conduct, but I consider it enough of a negative that IrCOm
foregoing the virtual membership.
--
Gary McGath
http://www.mcgath.com
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