WorldCon to Make Jon del Arroz a Cake

The title is one part politics, one part insanity, so let's backtrack.

I assume I don't have to link to the whole "Christian baker / gay wedding" thing, right? Good. (Though, more recently, a California court has ruled that having a Christian baker supply a cake to a homosexual wedding WITH THE WRITING ON IT, is a violation of free speech (MAKING the baker "say" something they don't approve of), but since the baker will happily sell said person a cake, there's no violation of anyone's rights...

Wow, that drifted off topic.)

Anyway, everyone probably remembers that my friend Jon del Arroz was banned from WorldCon San Jose for ... reasons. "Violating terms of service" or some such. When pressed on it, there's some BS about Jon stating he was going to wear a body camera to document any problems he might encounter ... like verbal or physical assault... and that is, thus, an infringement of the rules. Because "people shouldn't be filmed without their consent".... during a public event. Huh.

The unofficial reason -- and the reason most often cited on social media by WorldCon's defenders -- is that "Jon's a schmuck, so he deserves it. He has it coming."

Or what Harvey Weinstein's defense team will say about all of his victims. Because they "had it coming" is such a great rationale, right?

As I'm friends with Jon, and follow some of his platforms (not all of them, that would be a full time job), I know that this has been a thing for weeks.

So, after he's talked about it for a while ... and yikes, it feels like forever ... Jon is finally going to sue these bastards.

About bloody time, too.

Now, I don't know why Jon cares about WorldCon. It's a small convention by any standard. I think it's even smaller than RavenCon, but larger than LibertyCon -- only because LC has a cap in the hundreds range.

But he wants to go, and WorldCon has no good reason for keeping him out. Seriously, among his crimes, he's threatened ... to take people to lunch....

Honestly, WorldCon, I know you have guys who are thin-skinned, but come on.

And even if I were to believe that World Con was honest about the "threat" of Jon's body camera ... then the first step is to tell Jon "please don't do that." That's easy. Jon generally plays well with others when it's reciprocated. But no, they don't want to play nice. They want to be the villain about it.

But they're even stupid about THAT. What they should have done to screw him over is to let him drag himself all the way down, THEN kick him out after he's "caught" with his body camera. It's like they're inept at being evil. They overreacted, and pre-banned him...

Really, banning Jon for the whole con before he shows up, when they wouldn't even do that to pedophiles. Yes, really. More on that below.

Now, not only is Jon suing them, he's got a kickstarter going so he can sue the bastards.

As he states on his page

Worldcon took to their website and social media and falsely labeled Del Arroz a racist bully, defaming him in addition to holding him to unstated, different standards than others for attendance at their convention. Just how unprecedented is this? Del Arroz is the first person pre-banned from WorldCon since 1964, where they banned Walter Breen -- not for the whole convention -- but for only one day. He was a convicted pedophile. Del Arroz has committed no crime, and he finds it more than insulting to be compared with such a lowlife. It's torpedoed Del Arroz’s career as a writer, and sent the industry into a spiral to call him names, defame him, and blacklist him. Worldcon has caused irreparable harm to his career with their defamatory actions.

Del Arroz is a civil rights activist in addition to a popular science fiction writer and journalist, fighting for equality in viewpoint diversity, and for libertarian-conservatives to be able to freely attend conventions without fear for their safety or being harassed. His attendance at Worldcon is very important for discourse, providing opportunity for conservative discussion, and the furthering of science fiction as a progressive genre.

Del Arroz attempted to reasonably resolve this by sending a letter requesting very little: a retraction of their defamatory comments, an apology, allowing his attendance, and having their officers attend sensitivity training over California laws against political discrimination. 

Which has got to be entertaining for someone other than me. Sensitivity training. Snicker.

You're probably seeing my attitude and going "Wow, Declan wants to string them up."

... Eh. No. You'd have to pay me to go to WorldCon. I'm content to let them languish in obscurity. Jon wants to go a few rounds with them, and, yes, he's right. What they're doing is pure BS. And, frankly ... I think Jon isn't going far enough. Were I in his position, I'd pile on punitive damages and all court costs.

I'm additionally happy because I'm kinda tired of Jon kibbitzing WorldCon without visibly DOING anything about it. I think one of my comments was literally "Could you just sue them already and get it over with?"

So, someone takes my advice seriously.

As for WorldCon .... You know, there used to be some honest people on the Left, who would say "I disagree with what you say, but I will fight for the death for your right to say it." Harlan Ellison is one of those. Peter David ... occasionally, depending on the day.

Pity the current generation doesn't have any people like that. We might have civil discussions again.

But no. WorldCon wants to play games. And now they have to bake Jon a cake.