Tangent Online editor Dave Truesdale, who’s been in the science fiction world about as long as I have, was expelled from the World Science Fiction Convention for expressing anti-Social Justice Warrior thoughts on a panel.
To the best of my knowledge, being kicked out of Worldcon entirely (not just kicked off a panel or off programming) for daring to express an opinion is absolutely unprecedented. I can’t think of any Worldcon expulsions happening since the Futurians were barred from the very first Worldcon in 1939. Indeed, I can’t remember anyone getting kicked out of Worldcon at all in my lifetime. (Convicted child molester Walter Breen was exluded from the 1963 Worldcon.)
It seems the people running Worldcon fandom these days have decided that non-liberals are no longer welcome there at all.
I was at the session and he was just being a dick. As moderator, he could have brought up everything he wanted to, but instead he went on the attack with a prepared statement that, to me at least, was intended to be as inflammatory as possible. So instead of doing what a moderator is supposed to do (keep the discussion going in a civil manner) he swept it into the garbage bin from the get go. He might have had valid points but he lost any chance of that immediately.
I know this won’t change your mind about what happened, but I thought I’d give an alternative to your conclusions.
The 1976 MidAmeriCon was the first Worldcon I attended, so I nearly went to this year’s convention out of a sense of nostalgia. However, I realized that, having almost no connection to modern SF and with most of my favorite writers dead, I decided not to. And then some of my cousins announced a reunion in San Antonio which I did not want to miss, so the issue was decided. Now I’m doubly glad I didn’t go. It’s beginning to look like the WSFS and modern SF are deteriorating into irrelevancy. I plan to listen to Dave’s recording of the panel just for completeness.
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Bob K,
I’m not sure yours is really an alternative conclusion unless you can say you’ve never attended a panel where a panel moderator was a dick which seems unlikely unless this was your first con.