The only way to make unacceptable words and actions truly, socially unacceptable is not to accept them. Saying it is unacceptable without changing your behavior to the people who do it and allow it is permission. https://twitter.com/worldcon2021/status/1362142178651308037

If you haven't been following-& I don't blame you, I wouldn't want to read up about that if I wasn't associated w/ DisCon-what was said in those forums is unacceptable. We have just seen immediately & terribly why tolerance does not extend to people propagating violently bigotry

If I accidentally walked into a bar where people were talking like that, I would leave, and if the bartender, manager, and owner of that bar were leaning on the counter listening to that talk and doing nothing I wouldn’t want to interact with them either.

This is a concrete, real harm, because if I had to interact with those people to attend a professional/social event, or get an award, I wouldn't. It's not about the optics: it's about safety. It's about making it possible for people to attend, share, celebrate.

When I was asked to be a Special Guest for DC’s WorldCon bid, I assumed that it had a lot to do with proximity to DC and something to do with my writing. Now I am questioning my easy assumptions about why I was chosen, because again &again I see DisCon worrying about optics

instead of what is right or (which I would imagine as the bare minimum) what is safe. I am starting to have the uncomfortable suspicion that maybe I was chosen for appearances too. (You do not need to @ me about this, either for support or in agreement: I know

what my intellect, my imagination, and my work are worth, and if those aren’t why I was chosen, then that reflects on the people who made that choice, not on me).

Forget about optics & do your job: make your principles clear & then focus on finding safe, inclusive, & joyful ways to celebrate the awards finalists. If you can manage more, create interesting programming & opportunities for people to meet & share. But start with the principles