If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you should know I support a climate of free speech in science fiction fandom, and I also support the requests that the China Worldcon drop Sergei Lukianenko from its list of Guests of Honor. No one I know of has accused me of inconsistency in these positions, but I’ve had to think carefully about whether there’s any clash. I’d like to explain, even though no one has asked.

I wouldn’t support banning Lukianenko as a program participant or kicking him off panels. Subjecting advocates of bad ideas to criticism helps to expose why they’re wrong. It also gives people an opportunity to answer their critics rather than being dismissed without a hearing. The WSFS resolution which urged a boycott of anyone who “platforms” the Ukraine invasion might be interpreted as a call to disinvite him from all opportunities to speak. I don’t support that.

A GoH position is a different matter. Such a guest represents the convention’s highest values, or should. I’ve chaired a few small filk conventions and chosen guests for them; my criteria have included audience interest, the guest’s ability to interact with people, and opportunities to create connections among fans. Anyone who publicly and repeatedly said, for instance, that filk should stop at the U.S. border wouldn’t be someone I’d want as a filk GoH, even if that person was a top songwriter and musician. I wouldn’t block anyone from being on the program for that reason, though.

The venue of the 2023 Worldcon makes honoring Lukianenko worse. It’s plausible that he will make a speech denouncing the West for Russia’s humiliating defeat (which I hope will have happened by then) and thanking the Chinese government for standing by Russia. Anyone in the audience would have to think twice before standing up to dispute him. The Chinese government has lots of ways to make life unpleasant for anyone who expresses such views, ranging from mild intimidation to long-term detention.

Another Worldcon guest, Cixin Liu, has publicly supported the Chinese government’s treatment of the Uyghurs. That’s more excusable, since he doubtless gets only filtered information and could suffer severe consequences for challenging his government. Everyone involved, the concom (except the American co-chair, who lacks excuses) and the guests, is stuck under a government that will enforce its expectations.

To be sure, American conventions could do a lot better. The petty tyranny which Balticon and SFWA have engaged in demonstrates raw power-lust, and some conventions have broad speech codes that can be used to punish anyone the concom doesn’t like. Their only power, though, is the power of people’s choices. A group that doesn’t like a convention can start a competing one, and several have. A government that doesn’t allow free speech is a physical danger to anyone with disapproved views.

When setting up a program, a convention should look for a range of viewpoints and allow even unpopular ones. When selecting a GoH, though, it has to be more discriminating. A convention’s choice of guests becomes an important part of what it is, and it has to decide carefully.