The Halkan Council has to all affects folded, T-Negative is dead, Scuttlebutt doesn't take letters. All the joyous memories of meeting old and new friends, or of the delight in the charming Saturday night sketches - everything is being smothered by a flood of resentment. Since I came home from SeKWester*Con, I can't seem to to get myself back to work on Welcommittee letters or on stories. Howlett Regarding His Review of "Alternative: Epilog to Orion" (1976/77) This convention, and this incident, did not happen in a vacuum. The passing of a gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida that year had sparked a nationwide anti-gay backlash led by conservative gadfly Anita Bryant. In many states, including Michigan, sodomy laws prohibiting homosexual acts were still in place, although several gay politicians had been elected to city councils in Ann Arbor and East Lansing. It was illegal to send such works - fanzines included - through the U.S. Literature and film describing homosexual relations, even if not explicit, was considered to be pornographic and indecent by the general public. Homosexuality was considered a pathology, associated with child molestation and bizarre behavior. Modern readers should keep in mind that in 1977, Mary Lou's perspective reflected that of most people in mainstream American culture. Modern labeling conventions also began here. It was this letter, and the debate it set off, that gave rise to the Age Statement, and later, Warnings. Dodge, horrified by what she experienced at the SekWester*Con, wrote an open letter in May 1977 to the convention organizers, Paula Smith and Sharon Ferraro. While the debate about K/S certainly had its start in smaller ways among fans, it was an Open Letter in the form of a con report from Mary Lou Dodge, publisher of Delta Triad (a Star Trek zine featuring stories with heterosexual sexual situations, of a mild "R" variety), that set off much discussion.
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