Introduction

In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we pledge to make participation in our project and our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, level of experience, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

Age Rating

The general rating of the convention is PG-13, with the exception of panels specifically targeted at adults (18+). Panels inappropriate for minors will have restricted access, which is controlled by Othercon staff.

We hope that our attendees will enjoy the fun and educational aspects of our event. We ask that you consider how your actions will reflect on the convention, our community, and how they will impact or affect others. If you are about to do or say anything that makes you think twice before doing it, then maybe you shouldn't do it. At the very least, ask a staff member for guidance.

The Standards

Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment include:

• Using welcoming and inclusive language
• Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
• Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
• Referring to people by their preferred pronouns and using gender-neutral pronouns when uncertain

Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include:

• Trolling, insulting/derogatory comments, public or private harassment
• Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or electronic address, without explicit permission
• Not being respectful to reasonable communication boundaries, such as "leave me alone," "go away," or "I’m not discussing this with you."
• The usage of sexualized language or imagery and unwelcome sexual attention or advances
• Demonstrating the graphics or any other content you know may be considered disturbing
• Starting and/or participating in arguments related to politics
• Assuming or promoting any kind of inequality including but not limited to: age, body size, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, nationality and race, personal appearance, religion, or sexual identity and orientation
• Attacking personal tastes
• Other conduct which you know could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting.

Media

With the panelist's consent, panels may be recorded or archived for public viewing after the convention has ended. Panels that will be recorded explicitly noted as such. Attendees that attend these recorded panels must understand that what they post, say, or do, will end up in said recording.

If you wish to be excluded from a recording or archived discussion, please send an email to admin@othercon.org

Enforcement

Violations of the Code of Conduct may be reported by sending an email to admin@othercon.org. All reports will be reviewed and investigated and will result in a response that is deemed necessary and appropriate to the circumstances. Further details of specific enforcement policies may be posted separately.

Othercon prioritizes marginalized people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort. We reserve the right for the Othercon Staff to abstain from action on complaints regarding:

• "Reverse" -isms, including "reverse racism", "reverse sexism", and "cisphobia"
• Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as "leave me alone," "go away," or "I’m not discussing this with you."

We hold the right and responsibility to remove comments or other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, or to ban temporarily or permanently any members for other behaviors that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful. If any participants at the convention (attendees, panelists, artist, staff, etc.) are discovered to be a part of an offensive or harmful group (pedophiles/MAPs, zoophiles, supremacists, nazis, etc.), we reserve the right to deny them entry to the convention.

Miscellaneous

Please be reminded that these rules involve "worst-case" scenarios, and are put into place to ensure the safety and comfort of our attendees. They are also not all-inclusive; in all cases, the superseding rule always applies.