In my polemic against Elizabeth Moon's comments about Islam and the Islamic Community Center in New York, I had also offered a critique of the WisCon board's decision to uphold her status as the Guest of Honor for next year's WisCon. It looks like there may be some movement on that issue. SF3 (Society for the Furtherance and Study of Fantasy and Science Fiction), the 'mother corporation' of WisCon has passed a recommendation motion on the issue. The motion recommends that the the GoH invitation should be rescinded, along with a recognition of the committee's work. My hope is that the committee takes up this advice. I fall into the all-to-American (a very, very problematic idiomatic way of saying that I fall into the trap of a lot of white U.S. citizens.... feel free to list them. I'll probably miss a couple) love of redemption narratives, and would love to see a thoughtful Moon thinking critically through her own discourse in the name of an anti-racist project at a future date, but I think that her actions should have consequences. That should mean losing the ability to claim a privileged space within a feminist project (at least temporarily.) I don't envy the committee's responsibility to make this decision, but I don't think that I am alone in hoping that they will follow the recommendation of SF3.
Update: The invitation has been rescinded, and Moon has accepted this decision. There has been a bit of backlash directed towards the board and SF3. You might want to go over to their sites and express your support. I'm glad that this decision was made and thank the folks who made for taking this important decision.
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