I’ve registered as an attending member for the 2027 Worldcon in Montreal. Even though it’s in another country, it’s an easy day’s drive from my home. I hope that crossing the border won’t be too dangerous to consider by then, but today I’m here to talk about its code of conduct. There have been better ones and worse ones. I have concerns, but they weren’t enough to scare me out of registering. Let’s take a look, as I have with other conventions.

You can be expelled based on “the sole judgement of a convention chair or designated person.” This puts a lot of power in one person’s hands. Don’t get the con chair mad at you! However, most conventions are unclear on who has this authority, so it’s hard to say this is worse.

“Costumes, cosplays and clothing must provide the same level of body coverage expected at an all-ages public beach.” But in the next paragraph, we’re told that nipples must be covered “regardless of gender presentation.” It doesn’t bother me that shirts are required, but the inconsistency is interesting. Maybe they figured this is the safest way to deal with trans edge cases? Anyway, wear a shirt. Most fans don’t look very good without one anyway.

“Masks shall not include balaclavas, ski masks, and other styles of masks commonly associated with bank robberies.” ICE shouldn’t be in Canada, but this is reassuring. 🙂

Now we come to the speech rules. Montreal’s aren’t as bad as some; they don’t say that anything that anyone takes offense at violates the rules. Still, they could make people wary of what they’re allowed to say, and could in principle lead to unwarranted warnings or expulsions.

“Costumes and clothing may not include racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or otherwise prejudiced or bigoted messages or sentiments, obscene or offensive language, or images including uncensored profanities and pornographic content.” This rule is vague and could easily be abused. The boundary lines of unconventional opinions, prejudiced messages, and humor are often vague. Profanities are often part of ordinary language and can appear on shirts without causing alarm. Don’t wear your “Shit Happens” or “To Hell with [whatever]” shirt to the con. Some people will consider a slogan supporting Israel bigoted; others will think that one supporting Palestine is. The rule’s broadness could scare off legitimate expression or provide an excuse for banning it.

“Speech or actions that show prejudicial discrimination, including those relating to race, colour, culture, national origin, disabilities, gender, gender identity, gender presentation, sexual orientation, religion, age, body size, choice to wear a mask, and appearance, shall be considered harassment.” How does the convention decide if a statement shows “prejudicial discrimination”? Worse, any such statement is automatically escalated to “harassment,” even if it isn’t directed or persistent. This could lead to unwarranted charges. Suppose, for example, someone says, “I can’t take a religion seriously that claims its priests can turn bread into Jesus.” Someone might claim that shows prejudicial discrimination against Christianity, and therefore is harassment. Maybe the comment I made above about shirtless fans is too. Getting kicked out of a convention for “harassment” is a serious black mark on a fan or pro.

The best way to deal with people saying annoying things is to tell them to leave you alone. Some conventions have a rule that if someone tells you not to bother them, you have to stop bothering them. It can defuse a lot of problems. Montreal doesn’t have such a rule, though.

“Montréal 2027 Worldcon members must ask permission before taking photographs of other members. If a person wishes for a photograph in which they appear to be deleted, they may ask the photographer to do so and the photographer must comply.” Taken as stated, that means panelists and speakers can’t be photographed unless they give permission. They can’t just say “It’s OK to take pictures”; each person who wants to take a picture must ask individually. I don’t expect that to be enforced, though, unless a speaker is really averse to photography.

“All policies regarding photography also apply to all audio and visual recording technologies.” This means people have to ask permission of each singer if they want to record a filk circle. The rule could be improved by allowing events and individuals to grant general permission where the people being recorded or photographed are comfortable with it.

“Dogs in training, emotional support animals and therapy animals are not allowed in convention spaces.” (Properly vetted service animals are.) Someday I should look into the rise and fall of “emotional support animals.” It was obvious from the beginning that the idea was an excuse to bring pets in where they otherwise wouldn’t be allowed, and a lot of places are now explicitly rejecting those claims.

There you have it. There are causes for concern in the area of expression, but nothing that will keep me away. It might make me leave some of my shirts at home, just to be safe.