Queer science fiction geeks unite!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Yes, the rumors are true - I am Convention Chair for Gaylaxicon, the annual national gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and friends science fiction, fantasy, horror, comics and gaming convention, being held for the first time on the west coast April 8-11, 2004 in San Diego, California. We’re pretty excited - it’s the first full convention since 2000 (in interim years we had a queer fandom suite at the world SF convention, WorldCon.

So not only am I letting all our queer SF geeks know about this, but I’m also just plain excited about our first named Guest of Honor - Joe Phillips, a well-known comics artist who also has a successful product line featuring his artwork for the GLBT community. He’s loud, he’s black, he’s queer, and he lives in San Diego - bless his heart! :smiley: I’ve met him several times, and he’s just so awesome and I’m really looking forward to having him there. We’ll have more named guests soon, mostly SF/F/H authors that are either GLBT or have written on GLBT themes, but Joe’s our first - we’re working on others this week.

I’m also close to signing a contract with an area hotel, but the proposal and negotiating process is a killer! In the end I’m signing on the dotted line myself for a several thousand dollar deal, but I have faith. (Oddly, I’m taking all the risk, but I get not one penny should the convention make money - it all goes back to the national organization, The Gaylactic Network. Eh, it’s for the love of the game…)

So, um, there it is. Come if you can, let your friends know, and ask me any questions if you want. (Another “Ask The…” thread? :smiley: )

Esprix

[sub](NOTE: Before anyone asks, I got permission to post this first, so nyeh.)[/sub]

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Grats, Esprix!

But did you get permission to post this? Just asking…

3

Oh, good - Astroboy just volunteered to be The Official Gaylaxicon Go-Go Boy[sup]TM[/sup]! Thanks so much!

Esprix

4

Like I said per e-mail, Esprix: this is perhaps even weirder than Gay Rodeo.

But hey, more power to you, and I hope you have fun. :slight_smile:

5

Oh, we shall - discussion panels, readings and signings during the day, and parties, a costume Masquerade, a dance and “Gaylactic Jeopardy” at night. And that’s not even mentioning the puppy piles! :smiley:

Esprix

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I had wondered what had happened to Gaylaxicon. A friend of mine had been trying to put together a midwest-area Gaylaxicon a number of years ago, and I was briefly in touch with some of the people involved; if it had happened I probably would have had a table in the dealers room selling books.

Good luck with your plans; I’ve been involved with Chicago-area conventions for more years than I care to think about, and I know some of what you’ll be going through.

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Ah, someone who can sympathize - thanks, Lurk. And of course you’re welcome in our dealers’ room, if you’re interested.

There was a Gaylaxicon in Troy, MI in 1998, but it wasn’t a big success. That was basically the only time the con left the east coast (unless you count Niagara Falls in 1995), so bringing it all the way across the country for the first time is a pretty big deal - we’re excited. :slight_smile: (There was an attempt at one point to bring Gaylaxicon to Texas in the early 90’s, probably 1993, but unfortunately the con chair passed away during planning and the con wasn’t able to be sustained, so it didn’t happen that year. :frowning: )

Esprix

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Now that you mention it, I do remember the Troy, MI Gaylaxicon; I would have been dealing at that one, but that was about the same time my wife started having her vision problems and we weren’t able to make the trip. Unfortunately, I’m in the process of shutting down the book business so I won’t be able to be there, but thanks for the offer.

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This is news? Actually I don’t make such fine distinctions normally but presumably the GW/DW alliance has now joined with the Sci-Fi geeks.

Though from my observation of my brother and his downstairs neighbor there is no crossing the gulf between the gay musical theater community and gay computer geeks.

10

Wow. Not only is it a gay sci fi convention. Not only would it be my first sci fi con. Or my first gay con. Not only is it in a beautiful city only a few hours’ drive from here. But…
It’s on my birthday!!

Now I’ve just got to talk the VisiBoyfriend into going. Heck, I’ve got a year or so to do it.

Sounds like a lot of fun.

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Gay teens and nerds in the same place? Beware, lest UnuMondo come round and beat you all up…

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Woo hoo! A great way to celebrate, MrV! I may even drag the chew toy to it (if he’s still around in a year).

The big discussion right now is the fact that it’s the same weekend as Easter and Passover, and how we can best provide (if possible) for our attendees’ religious needs.

Esprix

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Coldfire: It’s a LOT wierder than the Gay Rodeo.

Experix, more power to you and I hope it works well and fun is had by all.

But speaking as a straight guy who got … talked… into playing driver for a large group of LBTG people dressed up as various anime characers with very little clothing of random sexes it was quite disconcerting.

Never mind the transgender furries I ended up spending 15 min talking to in the parking lot waiting to pick everyone up.

Normal scifi cons are pretty scary places… this was just surreal.

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Faggot-assed Trekkie/otaku checking in!

When come back, bring P/K!

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“Zankoku na tenshi no teze…”

Hamish reporting for the Division of Queer Otakim.

Congratulations about the conference, Esprix. What other events are planned?

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Gosh, what events aren’t planned?

During the day you’ll have the opportunity to sit in on discussion panels with your favorite authors and artists on a wide range of topics, most SF/F/H/C/G or GLBT focused. For example, here’s some random panel titles from the 2000 convention:

[ul][li]Book Discussion - The Left Hand of Darkness[/li][li]Fallout from the Human Genome Project[/li][li]Free Love and Feminism: GLBT Presence in the Genre Through the 60s and 70s[/li][li]GLBT in Comics[/li][li]GLBT Fandom Organizations[/li][li]Literary Starvation or Evolving Standards: Responses to GLBT Science Fiction[/li][li]The New World Order in Publishing[/li][li]Self-Censorship in SF[/li][li]The Shoe on the Other Foot: The Appropriation of Voice[/li][li]Silent No More: GLBT Presence in the Genre Through the 80s and 90s-and BEYOND[/li][li]So What Do We Have To Say, After All?[/li][li]Undercover Maneuvers: Subverting Mainstream SF with Gay Themes[/li][li]Unnatural Acts: Life Beyond the Edges[/li][li]What Makes Art “Gay”?[/li][li]The X-Men as Metaphor[/ul][/li]
Needless to say, this is just a small sampling of what’s being planned for us. Throw in a lot of new ideas, and a great collection of interesting guests, and some of these panels are just awesome. There will also be author readings and author and artist autograph sessions.

In addition, we’ll have a lot of great events and attractions, such as:

[ul][li]Dealers room[/li][li]Art show[/li][li]Gaming[/li][li]AIDS charity auction, hosted by David Gerrold[/li][li]“Gaylactic Jeopardy”[/li][li]Chocolate Symposium[/li][li]Masquerade[/li][li]Dance[/li][li]Meet the Guests reception[/li][li]Sponsored events in San Diego (things like Legoland, the Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, Hillcrest, Balboa Park museums, Sea World, etc.)[/ul][/li]
And more, of course. :smiley:

We have an e-mail list, and will be updating the website soon, if anyone’s interested in keeping abreast of everything.

Esprix

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Can straight people attend?

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From the OP (bolding mine):

So - yes! Of course! :smiley: (Especially you, Dave!)

Actually, the running gag has been that there are more straight people on the convention committee right now than queer, and certainly more than any other past Gaylaxicon (the big reason being is that southern California fandom is very interbred - you work one convention, you end up working them all, and that’s a wonderful thing). Just don’t expect us to tolerate you flaunting your sexuality in public. ( :wink: )

Esprix

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Yeah, I thought it was a thread about odd geeks, and I am odd.

Just not gay.

[Seinfeld] Not that there’s anything wrong with that! [/Seinfeld]

The Left Hand Of Darkness is one of my fave books of all times. It really makes you think, ya know? The self sacrifice vs suicide angle was intense, too. Not just the sex/gender stuff.

Your Humble Trekker Geek™

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FWIW Tucson has one of the biggest gay rodeos in the country. The surreal part is PETA and anti-gay groups running into each other protesting the same event.