Formal statement regarding 2022
Hello, everyone. This is a formal statement from the Conference Committee (ConCom) of Beguiled, in response to some feedback that was recently made about Beguiled 2022.
We as a ConCom are aware that a member of the ConCom said something that implied that “no” was not the best response to a question of consent. While this was not the intent, we understand that that was the meaning that was taken from the statement. As a ConCom, we believe that “no” is and always will be a complete answer.
We understand that some decisions we made in 2022 made some non-cisgender people feel unwelcome, especially how we labelled the bathrooms. In 2023, we will be labelling the bathrooms as “with urinal” and “without urinal,” and we will continue to evaluate other policies as we go forward with planning 2023. We value people of all identities and want everyone to feel safe and comfortable at our con. We are sorry that we fell short of that goal in 2022, and we are hoping to learn and grow to create a more welcoming space.
There were concerns about the masking policy. The mask policy will be added to our official con policies, including that medical exemptions will be accepted. Anyone with a medical exemption will have that noted on their con badge.
We understand that our choice of Steven Universe for theming was concerning to some attendees. We reused material from 2019 out of convenience. To respond to these concerns, and to have a better con identity, we will not be using any copyrighted material for official con business going forward.
We are in the process of creating a feedback form that can be used to share additional feedback with us anonymously. If there are issues that need to be addressed during the con, we will have two paths available:
The Consent Team will be available to handle concerns about consent, including concerns regarding a member of the organizing board. They also can provide support if you need help negotiating a scene, or processing something that made you uncomfortable. Talking to the consent team is confidential, and does not require that a report be filed.
ConCom will always be available to address any concerns with the con itself, as well.
We apologise for our errors and missteps that happened in 2022. We thank you all, as a community, for helping to keep us accountable so that Beguiled can be safe, fun, and welcoming to all attendees.
