Over 5 years in the making

by G McGrew
Published Feb 2021

Back in 2016, a group of queer student leaders at Western Washington University dreamed of being able to attend a fan convention truly made for them: A place that would support and celebrate queer and minority characters and their creators in comics, science fiction, and media. At this point, FlameCon, New York’s queer comic con, had launched on the other end of the country. But the Pacific Northwest also needed a convention that would place the queer community and intersectional identities front and center.

Student leaders from Queer clubs throughout Western were joined by the WWU Queer Resource Center and WWU games and comics student clubs to organize WWU Queer Con 2017, a one-day event created to celebrate and highlight the achievements of queer creators and fostering queer representation and the LGBTQ+ community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The first event in 2017 included panels on queer topics from student clubs and professionals alike, a costume contest, star wars troop photo ops, and over thirty student and professional artists, authors, and exhibitors whose work has made a positive contribution to queer representation in comics, science fiction, and media. An entire floor of the convention center, Academic West building at Western Washington University, functioned as a student-centered resource and connection space, with outreach tables staffed by both local area nonprofits and a large number of student clubs.

Five years later, WWU Queer Con is still celebrating queer creators and queer representation and intersectional identities in comics, arts, and media. It has also broadened its focus to include spaces for critical discussions of queer topics, such as queering research in the humanities and sciences, and ways to support highschool and post-secondary LGBTQIA2S+ and intersectional community members, particularly BIPOC and Disabled folks. It has become an international convention, bringing in attendees from across the globe: in our 2020 virtual convention, attendees joined us remotely from North and South America, Asia, and Europe!

This year for April 2021, despite the pandemic keeping the convention as a virtual event, we expect to have panels and talks discussing queer comics, music, science, society, and representation, as well as a queer planetarium show! We will still be a gathering place for local businesses and independent artists mingling and sharing their wares. Local non-profits and WWU student clubs will still be a major presence, and Queer Con attendees will be able to share ways to stay connected and gain support.

Looking forward beyond this year, we hope to stay strong and keep connected so that we can safely transition back to an in-person convention for our sixth annual event in April 2022. We at QueerCon hope that you will be able to join us!