This entry is cross-posted at the request of the Genderfloomp organizers, and comment streams are available on Dreamwidth and Livejournal.

Hi there. As the organizers of the annual Genderfloomp party at WisCon, we learned of a recent wave of concern that Genderfloomp is uncomfortable/appropriative for gender non-conforming or non-binary people. We’d like to open a discussion about this issue.

To start off, we want to determine if the problems primarily reside in the party’s messaging online, its actual setup/conduct at the con, or simply its existence. We’ve spoken to some GNC/GQ people who really enjoy the party and find it to be an important space, and we would find it helpful to hear what aspects of the party do work as well. Ideally, we can find a way to rework Genderfloomp so that it can serve the entire community, but we also are open to much bigger changes.

We are both queer people who are gender non-conforming in some ways that are important to our identity, but do not pretend that this gives us access to the wide spectrum of GNC, GQ, and trans experiences. Our intentions with Genderfloomp are to embrace the liberatory aspects of “party,” rather than the trivializing connotations, in order to foster a space of gender play and binary destabilization, much in the same way that the Tiptree award celebrates work that “explores and expands” ideas of gender. If our party is hurting GNC/GQ folks, it is failing at its mission, and we apologize for any hurt we have caused.

We know a wide spectrum of Wiscon has insight to share on Genderfloomp, but we ask that this thread be restricted to folks who identify as GNC/GQ/Trans in order to give people room and safety to speak. If commenting here feels uncomfortable or unsafe, we
can also be reached at genderfloomp@gmail.com.

We are here primarily to listen with humility and openness, though we are also happy to answer any questions.

Sincerely,
Meghan McCarron and Liz Gorinsky