The SekWester*Con Porn Debate

SeKWester*Con, Too, was held in Kalamazoo, Michigan in May 1977. Although it was a notable convention for a number of reasons — for example, the presentation of the very first Fan Q Awards — it was also the setting of The Porno Debate, a couple of high-powered panels and numerous informal discussions on slash controversy, which in turn led to the rise of the age statement.
 
One result of this fan discussion were decisions throughout Star Trek fandom to label any fanzine with explicit sexual material as such, and not to knowingly sell such material to minors by requiring an age statement for purchase. A decade later, when the Surak Awards debuted, zines nominated were divided into two categories: "general" (from the MPAA's G rating, which became gen), and "age statement required".
Modern readers should keep in mind that in 1977, the anti-porn, anti-slash view in Star Trek fandom reflected that of most people in mainstream American culture. Homosexuality was viewed as a pathology, associated with child molestation. In psychiatry being gay was a mental illness with a specific diagnostic code. In the wake of the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, heterosexual pornography was becoming tolerated, but literature and film describing homosexual relations, even if not explicit, was considered to be pornographic and indecent by the general public. It was illegal to send such works -- fanzines included -- through the U.S. Mail. 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. 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.(See Daniel Tsang, "Gay Ann Arbor Purges," Midwest Gay Academic Journal 1 (1977): 13-19, cited in the by Henry Ablove (1993)). This convention, and this incident, did not happen in a vacuum.
==The Panels==
The controversial panels were Kirk and Spock: Do They or Don't They? and Pornography and Sex in Star Trek. These were the most heavily attended and enthusiastic panels at the convention. 
The SeKWester*Cons were not like the huge gatherings associated with the words "Star Trek convention". They were more like informal parties or family reunions, with a little over a hundred attendees each. According to organizer Paula Smith, there were no attendees under the age of 16.
The K/S panel was recorded and later transcribed by fan historian K.S. Langley and published in the fanzine Legacy #1.
==Mary Lou Dodge's Open Letter==
While the debate about K/S certainly had its start in smaller ways among fans, it was a single con report, more an Open Letter, from Mary Lou Dodge, publisher of Delta Triad (a Star Trek zine that might receive a mild "R" -- adult themes and heterosexual situations, but no explicit narrative) that set off much discussion. Dodge, horrified by what she experienced at the SekWester*Con, wrote to Menagerie #12 in May 1977.
Mary Lou's letter in Menagerie #12: 
==Fan Comments==
There were, of course, many responses from fans regarding Mary Lou's letter, ranging from agreement to anger and derision. Many of these letters were printed in Menagerie, Spectrum, and Interstat. 
Most fans expressed the opinion that Mary Lou was overreacting and that the entire convention had not really been dedicated to X-rated material but to open, uncensored discussion of all topics.Menagerie #14. Paula Smith pointed out that the committee had been unable to find enough people for the anti-slash side who were willing to sit on the panel on K/S -- they'd had to be "drafted."Menagerie #12. One of those panelists, Theresa H, revealed that she and other anti-slash fans she'd spoken to had felt intimidated by some of the people and attitudes on the pro-slash side.
Leslie Fish comments on the amount of erotic art at the art show: 
 
From Care to Debate That? Broadside: 
Image:men13art2.jpg|from Menagerie #13, a parody of art in Delta Triad, the first supplement, the inscription reads: "Met, how could you? What about the cancer victims? What about the children under 21? What about the horses?, Met? Some of them are only 2 years old! This is disgusting! Dirty! Why, if God meant for us to have sex, we'd have been born naked! I bet Lestwe Fizz is behind this... Mary Sou."
Image:deltasuppart7.jpg|The parodied art from the first supplement of Delta Triad, the artist is John Martin.
==See Also==
* Open Letter by Mary Lou Regarding Explicit Fanworks
* comments in Interstat/Issues 001-010 and Interstat/Issues 011-020
* Slash Controversies
*Age Statement
*K/S
*Convention
* History of LGBT In Michigan
* LGBT History in the U.S.
* Pornography in the U.S.
* U.S. Obscenity Law
==References==
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Category:Star Trek TOS Meta
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