The myth of fannish tolerance?

[thirdworld]

I have a question for my fannish friends. Why are we still inviting Orson Scott Card to be guest of honor at our conventions? Why have we ever done so? Given his outspoken views against homosexuality, which it seems to me are in complete contrast to the tolerance of the fannish community at large, why do we have anything to do with him at all?

Comments

[gurudata]

Hiho,

On the other hand, perhaps putting up with somebody who has such intolerant views is, in itself, a sign of tolerance. "We're so tolerant, we even tolerate him."?

Cu,
Andrew

[thirdworld]

I do see that, but making him a Goh? And never talking about his views, so he seems as tolerant as any other at a con?

[gerisullivan]

Because when he's at conventions, he's there to celebrate what we share and treasure. He doesn't use the convention as a forum for promoting his personal, political, or religious beliefs, and he resists others' attempts to turn it into one

[lauriemann]

Despite his weird views, I've gotten along OK with Scott in person.

I look at it this way - I like him at cons because I liked much of his older writing. As a social/political commentator, I think he's crap.

[ktempest]

I don't think Neil gaiman being an "occultist" is quite the same as Harlan's misogyny or Card's homophobia. Mainly because the latter two indicate an intolerance for others and, in polite society, are not acceptable. That comparison is a wee bit on the crazy side.

[thirdworld]

No, what I'm saying is his views, aside from being objectionable, conflict directly with fandom as a community. The views of the others you mentioned don't, well except maybe for the boob grabbing part.

[quaryn_dk]

Beg pardon? I'd say a potentially misogynistic GoH affects a damn sight more fans than a potentially homophobic one. Being misogynistic is, in my opinion, directly in conflict with fandom as a community, unless you belong to some odd subset of fandom where men, straight and gay, are found, but women are nowhere to be seen.

[querldox]

For what it's worth, I'll also be at Vericon, but for reasons which'd apply no matter who they'd picked as GoH. What I have heard is 1) a fair number of folk are boycotting the con in protest of his selection 2) the people who chose him are college students who aren't that connected to the traditional fannish network and chose him because they liked his work...and didn't know about the political positions he's taken. Which, as you mention, you didn't know about until recently.

[thirdworld]

This is why I want us to be talking more about all this, to at least remove the ignorance angle.

[sparkymonster]

Orson Scott Card was announced as GOH and people are an noyed. The con chair responds. The Vericon with OSC also coincides with attempts to have alumni events at Vericon which was a problem since lots of alumni are pissed at OSC. The Vericon con com is also at a moment of not having a lot of institutional memory (it's mostly run by college students thus regular enforced turnover happens), and not thinking they needed to check in with older fen who are involved with the group about OSC.

Harlan Ellison has become a sexist prat who groped Connie Willis at the Hugos (linkWill Shetterly has gone on record as believing racism hasn't affected his life (he feels his life would be unchanged if he was a black man not a white man), and doesn't affect other people's lives that much because it's really all about class prejudice

[thirdworld]

I was part of a real cracker panel like this at L.A.con IV. There were a large number of African Americans and Latinos present, and a diverse panel. The discussion was vibrant and honest. I strongly advise more of these panels. They're the main reason I do believe in fandom's tolerance. And one of the reasons why OSC seems so unfannish to me.

[thirdworld]

I can't believe I used the word "cracker" ... and worse, that nobody noticed;).

[ktempest]

I keep forgetting that LJ is not Wordpress and it does not automatically alert you about responses: http://ktempest.livejournal.com/256799.html

[thirdworld]

Nothing is perfect, fandom included. But we can have ideals.

[avt_tor]

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