Jon Del Arroz is the most dangerous voice in science fiction. The organizers of the WorldCon sci-fi convention made it so by banning him from attending their event this year, claiming Del Arroz is a threat to the sci-fan fan community. Worldcon then called Del Arroz a “racist bully” publicly without providing any evidence.
Worldcon’s behavior mirrors that of many left-leaning ideologues who seek to silence and ban any thoughts that deviate from their own. See: Dennis Prager suing YouTube for viewpoint censorship, Twitter banning conservative artist Sabo, Brooklyn activists forcing elderly NRA members into hiding, and Diamond and Silk being deemed “unsafe for the community” on Facebook, among a myriad of growing incidents.
Del Arroz isn’t taking it lying down. In a warning letter, his attorney laid out his claims.
The statement or insinuation that Mr. Del Arroz is a racist bully is both untrue and highly injurious to Mr. Del Arroz’s reputation, both as a writer and as a member of the science fiction community and his local community. The accusation of “racism” is a factual claim that in the present social climate is extremely derogatory and stigmatizing. The effect of such stigmatization necessarily injures the person so stigmatized in the pursuit of his chosen profession, thereby causing substantial foreseeable financial damage. It is also deeply offensive, particularly to Mr. Del Arroz, who is very proud of his Hispanic heritage.
In the demand letter, Del Arroz called for Worldcon to avoid a lawsuit by publicly apologizing, lifting the ban, and taking sensitivity training to learn how not to discriminate against conservatives. Worldcon refused and so Del Arroz began a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to file a lawsuit and “Make Worldcon Great Again.” Filing fees were raised quickly and the lawsuit is now underway. A lesser-known law in California may prove interesting in this case and to any conservative who finds himself in the same situation as Del Arroz.
Equally significant is the violation of California’s Unruh Act (California Civil Code §51 et seq.) Under the Unruh Act, a place of public accommodation may not discriminate against any person based on a personal characteristic representing a trait, condition, decision, or choice fundamental to a person’s identity, beliefs and self-definition as that factor has been applied in previous cases…The protection of the Unruh Act extends to political affiliation. (Marina Point, at p. 726 [“Whether the exclusionary policy rests on the alleged undesirable propensities of those of a particular race, nationality, occupation, political affiliation, or age, … the Unruh Act protects individuals from … arbitrary discrimination.”].)
Most discrimination laws in America don’t include political beliefs, though many have recently begun to think they should for situations exactly like this. It will be a fascinating case to watch. If you’re tired of the constant effort by the left to suppress, silence, and intimidate conservatives to keep them from public events and platforms, then join the effort to teach Worldcon what true “inclusiveness” and “diversity” are. Donate to Del Arroz’s lawsuit fund here.
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