Flame Con

Flame Con is an annual two-day multi-genre entertainment convention, focused on fans and creators of pop culture who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). Launched in 2015, it is the first LGBTQ comic convention in New York City, and bills itself the largest LGBTQ comic convention in the world.
Flame Con is organized by Geeks OUT, a non-profit organization aimed at organizing LGBTQ events at comic conventions. The convention is a multi-genre event, showcasing LGBTQ-inclusive pop culture across comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, movies, and television. Flame Con features panel discussions, workshops, and an exhibitors floor. The convention is launched with an annual kick-off party, which features a dance party and drag performances.
In partnership with the Ali Forney Center, the Sunday of each Flame Con is designated as "Youth Day", in which attendees under the age of 20 are granted free admission.
==History==
Flame Con launched as a Kickstarter campaign in November 2014, with a fundraising goal of $15,000. The campaign would ultimately raise over $19,000, and was inaugurated as a one-day convention in June 2015. The following year, Flame Con moved from Grand Prospect Hall to the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott, and expanded to two days of programming. In 2018, Flame Con relocated from Brooklyn to Manhattan to be held at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel.
After the 2016 shooting at Pulse nightclub, Flame Con instituted a ban on all prop weapons at the convention, including those used in cosplay. In 2020, the con chair Maya Bishop said the ban has been uncontroversial among attendees, additionally stating "The queer community experiences enough real-world threats of violence, especially gun violence. I think it is reassuring to our attendees to know Flame Con is a space they don't have to be reminded of that, even as part of someone else's costume.".
===Event history===
Dates 	Venue 	Location 	Atten.	Special guests 	
June 13, 2015 	Grand Prospect Hall 	Brooklyn, New York	2,200 	Cecil Baldwin, Morgan Boecher, Sarah Donner, Lewd Alfred Douglas, C. Edwards, Aimee Fleck, Tommy Heleringer, Phil Jimenez, Daniel Ketchum, David Levithan, Krytika Mallikarjuna, Dylan Marron, Steve Orlando, Jill Pantozzi, Mark Patton, Tony Ray, Cristy Road, Chad Sell, Kate Tracy, James Tynion IV, Kevin Wada, Max Wittert, Jennie Wood 	
August 20–21, 2016	New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge	Brooklyn, New York	4,000 	Kris Anka, Cecil Baldwin, Tea Berry-Blue, Terry Blas. Brandon The Shapeshifter, Sophie Campbell, Jennifer Camper, Amy Chu, Chris Claremont, Sarah Donner, Lewd Alfred Douglas, Dax ExclamationPoint, Aimee Fleck, Tana Ford, Heather Hogan, Phil Jimenez, Jay Justice, Daniel Ketchum, Jeff Krell, Kate Leth, Laurent Linn, Alex London, Terra Elan McVoy, Steve Orlando, Greg Pak, Jill Pantozzi, Fyodor Pavlov, K. Perkins, Amy Reeder, Cristy Road, James Romberger, Marcy Schwerin, James Tynion IV, Marguerite Van Cook, Mags Visaggio, Chelsea Von Chastity, Kevin Wada, Matthew Waterhouse, Max Wittert, Jennie Wood 	
August 19–20, 2017	New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge	Brooklyn, New York	6,000 	Sana Amanat, Marc Andreyko, Kris Anka, Vita Ayala, Cecil Baldwin, Tea Berry-Blue, Soman Chainani, Amy Chu, Valerie Complex, Jay Edidin, Grace Ellis, Dax ExclamationPoint, Katy Farina, Ulises Fariñas, Aimee Fleck, Tana Ford, Tee Franklin, Nicole J. Georges, Sina Grace, Heather Hogan, Phil Jimenez, Robert Jones, Jr., Jay Justice, Daniel Ketchum, Mackenzi Lee, Kate Leth, David Levithan, Laurent Linn, Alex London, Terra Elan McVoy, Steve Orlando, Dan Parent, Mark Patton, Amy Reeder, Vincent Rodriguez III, Kristin Russo, Marcy Schwerin, Adam Silvera, Nicky Soh, Bishakh Som, Rian Sygh, Robin Lord Taylor, James Tynion IV, Mags Visaggio, Kevin Wada, Max Wittert, Jennie Wood, Jenny Owen Youngs	
August 18–19, 2018	Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel 	New York City 	7,000 	Kaitlyn Alexander, Kris Anka, Iasmin Omar Ata, Vita Ayala, Jen Bartel, Terry Blas, Tee Franklin, Joamette Gil, Sina Grace, Atla Hrafney, Phil Jimenez, Julia Kaye, Irene Koh, MariNaomi, Annie Mok, Erin Nations, Steve Orlando, Molly Ostertag, Dan Parent, Shadi Petosky, Amy Reeder, Hamish Steele, ND Stevenson, Lilah Sturges, Mariko Tamaki, Josh Trujillo, James Tynion IV, Magdalene Visaggio, Kevin Wada, Brittney Williams 	
August 17–18, 2019	Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel 	New York City 	 	Jen Bartel 	
August 15-16, 2020	Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel 	New York City 	 	Chuck Tingle, Tanya DePass 	
==See also==
*List of LGBTQ-Focused Conventions
==References==
Category:Conventions in United States