I can fully agree with Zefiro here.
And btw.: I'm still wondering why so many people think that EF is a convention (or an event in general) to display their fetishes. I mean...are you also wearing that stuff at your workplace or in public? I'm sure you don't. And why? Because it's inappropriate and easily causing problems. So why are you guys doing that at EF then? Because it's your free time/holidays and you're among people of your kind (furries)?
I think that many people forget (or don't realize) that EF is a public place as well and that it's being held at a location which is a 4* superior hotel with a kinda good reputation.
If you're showing off your fetishes by wearing inappropriate clothing and accessoires at a convention that clearly distances itself from that section (
for the simple reason to be allowed to host a event like that at that place) you don't only negatively affect the general repution of our fandom, but also (
more importantly!) our good relations with the hotel. THAT is the most important thing. If the hotel staff and direction feels uncomfortable with it (even if it's no blatantly sexual stuff), there's no need to discuss these things at all, it has to be accepted by every attendee that's going to visit that convention! And the job of the EF-team, the security and the public / press relations department is to make sure that the hotel feels comfortable with us to ensure that they wanna have us coming back next year again (and the years after). And every attendee should have that same purpose as well (if EF is important for you).
I sometimes have the impression that some attendees simply don't care how they're coming across in public or in front of the hotel personnel. But this is not how it works. There have to be rules to follow and if there are rules and you're not agreeing with them, then this might not be the right event for you. With the registration for a con, you automatically subscribe these rules. And still, a lot of people ignore these rules at the con, what causes more strain for the security. Or the sec doesn't see it at all (because they can't have their eyes everywhere), but others do, who then feel annoyed by it. Or the media finds exactly what they're searching for. Do we all want that?
EF is a convention about our furry
culture with the main focus on art, music, entertainment, the community and many other cultural aspects. It's not a fetish convention and will never be. That's why there are no official fetish-panels/events in the schedule as well. Everything that happens at the hotel rooms happens at the privat space of the respective persons and is NOT part of the convention. And therefore it's ok, as long as you do not offend against the hotel rules (like destroying things, etc.). No one cares what you're doing at your room and no one considers it as part of the convention, because it's your private space. But please, as soon as you leave your private room, don't forget that you're back to the actual convention space again where clear rules are valid.
No one forbids you to be who you are and to live how you like to. But isn't it so difficult to just respect the rules of the con/hotel (even if you personally don't fully agree with them) and to be a bit more decent? It's only a matter of decency, nothing more than that. If you still think that these rules are not fair or you're feeling "offended" by them, then you should maybe take into consideration that EF might not be the right con for you and that you should maybe better visit conventions that are having the main focus on sexual things and are being held in special locations where you don't have to hide something you can't hide.
That are just my personal thoughts on this topic. I'm not part of a department that has something to do with it, so you actually don't have to care about what I've written here.
I just kindly recommend to read my thoughts on that and to think about it. Thanks.
Author
Topic: Official Statement Regarding the Policy Debate on Twitter (Read 82963 times)