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From: Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom,rec.music.filk
Subject: Balticon code of conduct
Date: Tue, 6 May 2025 11:40:58 -0400
Organization: Mad Scientists' Union
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With Balticon coming around again, I took another look at their code of 
conduct. It still has some disturbing features, and I'm not going, 
although it's within a day's driving distance and will likely have a 
good filk program.

https://www.balticon.org/policies

There is a blanket prohibition on "Slurs and derogatory comments about a 
person, group, or category of people." That presumably includes, just to 
come up with some examples, the Chengdu con chair, the Republican Party, 
the Democratic Party, the Russian Army, Elon Musk, Neil Gaiman, and 
whoever becomes the next Pope. It will be one dull convention if no one 
can say anything bad about any of those people!

No one seems to know precisely what Stephanie Burke was accused of, but 
I get the sense that it was making a derogatory remark about someone. 
She was let off because she was talking about her own experiences, but 
there's no exception for that in the code. The rule can be used to 
punish somebody whom somebody doesn't like, and that appears to be what 
happened. With the rule still in place, it can happen again.

Another curious rule: "Further, we ask that people not presume to speak 
for groups of which they are not members." What does "speaking for" 
mean? It's common for distant conventions to recruit local supporters to 
staff their fan tables. Is the rule intended to prohibit that? Why?

Does it mean people can't advocate for groups they don't belong to? That 
would make things even duller. It might mean that people can't claim to 
belong to groups that they don't belong to, which is more reasonable, 
but even that could cause problems. Is the concom going to accuse people 
of not _really_ being black or trans or whatever?

Given Balticon's rules and its past use of them, I'm staying clear.
-- 
Gary McGath    http://www.mcgath.com