Worldcon Has A Dirty Secret History Of Sexual Abuse And Their Silence On The Neil Gaiman Situation Is Troubling

Neil Gaiman isn't the only alleged sex pest to have attended Worldcons without reprecussions. Many science fiction authors and fans are saying it's time to do something about it.

This year’s Worldcon in Glasgow, Scottland, is in a precarious situation with the scandals surrounding speculative fiction legend Neil Gaiman and the ongoing collapse of institutions in science fiction fandom like SFWA.

It’s increasingly becoming obvious that science fiction fandom as a whole serves no purpose as the publishing establishment is failing to produce quality fiction to bring in enthusiastic readers and seems disinterested in protecting those involved from potential sexual assaults.

One can make the case that Worldcon and literary sci-fi conventions like it have always turned a blind eye to predators when it comes to having the right politics. It took Walter Breen a conviction for pedophilia to get him banned from the convention back in the 1960s, even though it had been an open secret that he and feminist icon Marion Zimmer Bradley sexually abused their own child at one of their conventions. 

The convention scene is one ripe for trouble, with “adult-only afterparties” occurring across the convention hotel rooms where authors and fans often get black-out drunk. It’s led to more than one problem in the past with conventions, who are notoriously slow to take action in these situations, which opens up congoers to more abuse. 

Very few can forget the incident with Harlan Ellison and Connie Willis in 2006 at the Hugo Awards in California. As they presented an award, Harlan Ellison groped Connie Willis’s breast live on stage, shocking both the female author and all of the convention attendees. Harlan Ellison, while reprimanded, was never disallowed from conventions for that kind of behavior.

Last year, as the Chengdu China Worldcon was embroiled in another controversy involving the Hugo Awards, it came out that one of the award organizers, Dave McCarty, had been accused of sexual assault by multiple women. Author Jesse Lipp said on BlueSky, “I’ve never made it a secret that he groped me at a Smofcon in 2011, and it has always been largely treated as a non-issue.”

Another secret about these conventions is that there are rooms set up for sexual fetishes, such as furry suit play and BDSM torture chambers. These rooms at the hotels are often invite-only and kept a secret from the public at large, though Fandom Pulse was made aware of staff at the BayCon convention taking part in these types of lewd parties in past years.

With so many sexual abuse problems and possibilities, one wonders why Glasgow Worldcon wouldn’t make a statement about Neil Gaiman, given the recent allegations. Neil Gaiman has been accused of sexual assault by five different women, many of whom were fans of the Sandman creator who simply came to meet him at signings and talks—much the same environment Worldcon offers between its authors and fans. 

The convention is just getting started, but many congoers and science fiction professionals are wondering why there’s been silence, especially since various Worldcons have given Neil Gaiman eight Hugo Awards over the course of his career. 

One fan called out Worldcon on BlueSky asking why they wouldn’t make a statement, which sparked some outrage on the leftist echo chamber social network.

Author Monica Byrne quoted the question with, “F*** Worldcon.”

She followed up with a comment, saying, “If your response is that Worldcon members have more of a responsibility to ensure that there are more Worldcons than to make sure members of its community don’t get raped by one of its most powerful members, congratulations, you are also an enabler.”

She concluded, “My question is, if you don’t think it’s major institutions’ responsibility to say anything when one of its members is revealed to be a predator: Whose responsibility is it? Who should bear the risk? It’s got to be someone. Are you really saying it’s the sole responsibility of individual victims?”

Her points are valid, especially when colored with the history of Worldcon and other literary sci-fi conventions historically being silent on abuse and potential abuse situations. If only one rape or sexual assault is prevented by being proactive, shouldn’t Worldcon do something rather than wait for the worst to occur because predators feel safe at their convention?

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