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SIGH. Here is my obligatory statement about the latest shitstorm coming out of science fiction fandom. I'm going to be brief because I am tired of this foolishness, so I will not mince my words. 1/
In 2020 I was invited to be a "Special Guest" of the 2021 Worldcon, Discon III in Washington DC. I was later invited, along with Malka Older, to co-host the 2021 Hugo Awards ceremony. This was BEFORE the last shitstorm ceremonies. 2/
A diversity statement and all that was shared by Discon III before GRRM mangled pronunciation of the names of the 2020 finalists and all the other trouble that came from the first virtual Hugo Awards ceremony. 3/
I'd read GRRM's post on his website before the awards ceremony & wondered what it'd be like to have to host without having an actual live audience there to vibe with and take cues from that energy. I remember being astonished that he'd be filming from his own theater 4/
I didn't learn about the debacle until I signed onto this bird app. Then suddenly without any advance notice except for the morning of, Malka & I were announced as the co-hosts of the 2021 ceremony. Mind you, we already knew we would host, just not when it would be announced. 5/
So, that Monday was sucked up w/ all of the congratulations & festivities. Fine. Love it. But I also remember thinking, there better not be no BS with the ceremonies. Keep it lively, short & sweet, focused on the the finalists & winners because who needs more drama? 6/
Heh! 7/
I'm pausing to curse offline. Celebrating excellent science fiction and fantasy shouldn't be this bloody hard. 8/
But apparently it is. Because no matter how much intellectual labor & real time Black writers and others have put in to emphasize why & how having diverse leadership from the top down empowers us all, folks are out here still playing brand new. 9/
But the people volunteering to do these cons--the professional cons--aren't brand new, and I suspect they have been hearing about what changes need to be made far longer than I've been paying attention to any of this. After all, this will be my first Worldcon experience. 10/
So imagine my dismay when I learn-like the rest of you-that a major change to the # of Nebula rockets winning teams would receive was made w/out consulting the larger sff community. And apparently w/out thinking through how this would adversely impact marginalized communities 11/
Fast forward to the forum fuckery. I'm not going to speak on the good writers w/ this publisher, but I will say that we all know a bunch of tired, sad ass puppies reside there as well. So for the editor to be a GoH ... not my call. 12/
I'm a "Special Guest," and we don't make policy decisions for Worldcon, but I will say for the editor in question to hide behind the Constitution to protect those who are advocating for the murder of people they politically oppose is the height of hypocrisy and cowardice. 13/
And I don't care how many time zones the con's leadership resides in ... it doesn't take that long to create a statement saying as much. The world just watched armed white terrorists bumrush the Capitol. We don't have time to play nice with violent instigators. 14/
Or with those who would throw rocks and hide their hands. How the publisher handles the future of that forum is their business. But since they are supposed to show up at one of the industry's most honored community spaces, much more is at stake. 15/
Science fiction fandom is not just about rockets & awards. It's about relationships & friendships. It's about community. What are you saying to the community if you aren't willing to stand & *show* not tell everyone that you value our lives, our work, our safety-all of us?
