Have you ever been to a Gay Pride festival and thought to yourself, "This would be great if there were more geeky people like me around."? Or have you found yourself thinking, "I wish there were more gay people here," at the most recent comic or anime convention? Wouldn't it be great if there was a convention for Gay Geeks? Guess what! There's been an annual GLBT sci-fi convention since 1988!
Gaylaxicon, the annual science fiction, fantasy, horror, comics and gaming convention was first held in Provincetown, MA, in 1988 with 90 people in attendance. Over the years, it's traveled up and down the east coast, with occasional forays into Michigan, California and Minnesota, with a convention happening nearly every year since. Officially, Gaylaxicon is the annual convention of the Gaylactic Network, an affiliation of GLBT sci-fi clubs around the US and Canada. Local clubs bid for the convention, and the Network selects the host city for Gaylaxicon a few years hence. A quick disclosure: I've been a member of the organizing commitee for Gaylaxicon 2009 and 2012, both in Minneapolis, and have not attended any of the others.
The North Country Gaylaxians hosted Gaylaxicon in 2009, bringing the con to the Twin Cities for the first time in its existence. We had guests and attendees come from all over the US and Canada, and one of our Guests of Honour came in from Spain. We were a truly international convention. Each Gaylaxicon is a little different, of course, based around the guests coming, but there are things they all having in common: great discussion panels with a queer flavour, LOTS of gaming of all types, and frequently a Chocolate Symposium, where attendees bring and share chocolate from all over the globe. 2009 attendees also enjoyed a banquet, a cabaret, and a film night, all of which we'll be bringing back to the convention for 2012.
What makes every Gaylaxicon truly great, though, are the attendees. As I said at the beginning of this article, it would be great to have a place to be a proud Gay Geek. Gaylaxicon is that place, wherever it takes place. We hope to see you at Gaylaxicon 2012 in Minneapolis!
