Glasgow Worldcon Bans Its Own Leaders As The Science Fiction Establishment Continues To Decline

Worldcon in Glasgow has been a complete cluster, with some odd bannings happening with Hugo Award Admin Dave McCarty and Vice Chair Ben Yalow

Worldcon has seen its share of controversies in recent years as the social justice mob who now controls this aging and dwindling subsection of science fiction fandom has gotten to the point where they're gatekeeping so many people they're creating their own death spiral. Now, in a bizarre move, the Glasgow Worldcon has banned last year's Vice Chair and Hugo Award Administrator while clout-chasers brag about their being removed.

The controversies with Worldcon started with the Hugo Awards in the mid-2010s, when the woke decided to give awards for identity politics signaling in fiction rather than quality. It came to a peak when a poem titled, If You Were A Dinosaur My Love" won the award for best short story, even though it was some strange erotic fantasy about the author's fetishes rather than any kind of story proper. 

In 2018, Worldcon banned the editor-in-chief of Fandom Pulse, Jon Del Arroz, after Del Arroz expressed safety concerns from death threats he was getting from people surrounding science fiction fandom. The site decided to libel Del Arroz as a "racist bully" and subsequently lost a lawsuit via a settlement where they had to pay Del Arroz for the defamation and issue a public apology. 

In 2022, Worldcon in Washington, D.C., came under fire as the convention had been sponsored by weapons manufacturer Raytheon. Several science fiction fans and authors expressed dismay as the sponsorship came from one of the worst military-government complex offenders out there, which all dystopian sci-fi seems to warn against, but for some reason, the chairs thought it was a good idea to represent them.

 

In 2023, Worldcon came under fire for being in Chengdu, China, despite human rights violations in the country, which caused a lot of people to pause their attendance. It became mired in more controversy as the Chinese government sunk its tendrils into the Hugo Awards, disqualifying different works from the ballot by fiat.

Now, Worldcon has banned Ben Yalow, the former Worldcon co-chair, and Dave McCarty, the Hugo Awards administrator, with no explanation. 

Hate website File 770 reached out to Ben Yalow for clarification and received this answer from him, "I was told by the Glasgow committee that they would not permit me to attend the convention in person. I had all of the monies that I had paid returned to me… It came from the Vice Chair. I did not ask for an explanation, since I accept that it's within the power we grant to Worldcon committees."

Dave McCarty was told, "This was done without explanation or any prior contact on this topic and questions about it were not answered."

Worldcon, seeming to be concerned about libel laws after their horrendous loss in the past, simply said, "The convention's formal response is as follows: Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon for Our Futures, believes in and respects everyone's right to privacy. Various sections of applicable Scottish and international law, including the U.K.'s General Data Protection Regulation, legally limit what we may disclose. To maintain our commitment to individual privacy and confidentiality, we cannot discuss any person's membership status or attendance."

These bans are under dubious circumstances, and shows Worldcon's learned nothing by ostracizing portions of fandom as they've now taken to eating their own and making the circle ever smaller of aging fans who wonder what happened to the glory days of science fiction. 

Serial clout chasers in the sci-fi scene like Paul Weimer, alleged pedophile and former reviewer for Barnes and Noble, are gloating about the bannings, saying, "I have heard from trusted sources that Dave McCarty, he who could not tell Tibet from Nepal (and apparently can't fix Hugo award statues worth crap, either, now) IS lurking, like a Grue, around Worldcon."

Not to be outdone, woke activist T. Kingfisher decided to try to get her own clout, saying, "Although I of course, was elsewhere at the time, I am told a woman wearing a really great hat encountered Dave McCarty in a hotel lobby and called him everything but a child of God. At quite high volume. Possibly with some profanity. I am also told the woman with the hat had quite a turn of phrase."

With nothing known about why these men are banned, it's odd that people would take such glee in their misfortune. As we've learned from what's happening here, no matter your status or how close you are, once the inquisition identifies you as "other," you get unpersoned and can lose your friends and status in the blink of an eye. 

Fandom Pulse reached out to Dave McCarty for comment, and he still seems to be in denial, saying, "It might look to you like circumstances put us on the same team, but this is my community, and even when they're.*all* wrong about something, I'm not going to go after them in any way other than standing up and telling them they're all wrong."

As Worldcon works to diminish its own numbers while the science fiction establishment is dying around them, it's hard to feel sorry for what's happening because of their own doing.

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