20 Years Ago Today

I did warn you that there were a lot of anniversaries coming up. Here’s today’s.

Saturday August 26th, 1995. By this time I was living and working in Melbourne, but I had gone back to the UK to do some project work there and pick up some more of my belongings. The project work took me to Edinburgh. My friend Anabelle suggested that I attend the World Science Fiction Convention, which was taking place in Glasgow around the same time. I would know several people there, including Martin Hoare and Dave Langford, and Teddy whom I expected to be in the masquerade, so I figured I might as well give it a go.

One of the things I wanted to do there was see if I could find some Australian fans. At this time I was living as a woman at all times except for work, but the only people I knew in Melbourne were my work colleagues. I wanted some people I could hang out with socially as me. To my surprise and delight I discovered that Melbourne was fandom central in Australia, and that Melbourne fans were bidding to hold Worldcon there in 1999. I offered to help. They explained to me how Worldcon site selection works, and sent me off to vote on that year’s race to see the system in action. (Martin was supporting one of the two rival Boston bids, so he was keen for me to vote as well.)

Instant runoff voting wasn’t new to me — I’d seen it used a lot in student politics — but my diary tells me that I had a few questions and a very helpful American guy behind the desk answered them all for me. I thought nothing more of this, and enjoyed my day at the con, including watching Teddy and his colleagues take the masquerade by storm. Afterwards I had agreed to help my new Aussie friends run a bid party. Who should turn up, but the American guy from the site selection desk. And apparently he was there to see me.

I should note that at this time in history the standard advice to trans women was never to get involved with a man prior to surgery, because he will only be interested in you as a “shemale” and will drop you like a stone once you no longer qualify as such. I was mindful of that, but probably a bit giddy too. I had, after all, never been chatted up by a bloke before, let alone kissed one. I rather liked this Kevin fellow.

The following day he asked me for a date (dinner, the Hugo ceremony, and the firework display). I said yes. It is the best decision I have ever made in my life.

11 thoughts on “20 Years Ago Today

  1. A lovely story! It was my first worldcon too. I mostly remember it as a complete blur but I did meet Pete Weston.

  2. This makes you and Kevin the second couple I know to meet at that con. Must have been something in the air, which managed to pass me by.

  3. Fantastic story, fantastic memories. For me (and others I’m sure) great to read about other people’s memories from events we were at too. Makes me feel old though – my first Worldcon was Brighton in 1987.

    1. My first science fiction convention was an Eastercon in Brighton in 1984. My first convention of any type was a role-playing convention in Scotland over the New Year holiday of 1976/77.

      1. I was also at that Eastercon in 1984, my first major con. I’d been to a smaller convention the previous November. There’s no other community of people like the one we get at conventions, very special. Those of us who keep coming back to conventions – we love our SF but it’s the good friends we’ve made over the years (and decades!) that I think really keep us coming back.

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