Florida

If you know of a convention that needs to be added to the list or have updated your own convention's policy, you can fill out the form here. If you find any broken links or have any questions about this page, please contact Fractali at admin@cosplayer-ssn.org. This is a perpetual work in progress!

Important note for cosplayers, especially transgender cosplayers: there is a state ban in Florida for transgender people using facilities consistent with their gender identity in government-owned buildings and spaces, including schools through the college level. Although many conventions are private events often excluded from these laws, we urge that you plan ahead for your travel to ensure you are safe wherever you need to make a stop. Regardless of your gender identity, should you need a restroom or changing room, someone may perceive what you are cosplaying as being consistent with "breaking the law." Please stay alert and plan ahead.

A guide to some of Florida's laws can be found here.

A means they meet the criterion.
A means they have partially met the criterion.
A means they fail the criterion.

Additional notes for clarification can be found below the table.

Note: conventions with ^* have either not updated for several years, have a malfunctioning website, or may be defunct.

Note: Ancient City Con's policy describes some consequences, but in the context that they are to be determined by Ancient City Con staff. If any policy leaves room for differences between staff members deciding how a situation is to be handled, it can't count for the full point.

Note: Anime Festival Orlando's website was listed as "coming soon" at the time of evaluation. Their previously available policy was "report incidents of harassment."

Note: Collect-A-Con's policy can be found by scrolling to the very bottom of the home page.

Note: Escape Winter Con specifies that the policy applies to "con crew," but it is unclear if that is specifically staff or volunteers. It is additionally our opinion that Escape Winter Con could remove, "This goes for anyone regardless of gender identity" from the consequences section of the policy. You can leave it at, "this policy applies to everyone." Separating and specifying "gender identity" implies and enforces a threat toward OR a threat from those who may be trans, nonbinary, or gender non-conforming, which is a population that already faces significant discrimination in the state of Florida at the time of evaluation.

Note: The contact for Florida Supercon is dependent upon their app being installed on your phone.

Note: HizashiCon's policy lists a Harassment Liaison for reporting remotely but at time of evaluation the Liaison's name, phone, and email information is currently not filled in. One option is to implement a simple evergreen email address (e.g., liaison@animepensacola.com or similar) and forward it to an individual's inbox once they are appointed Liaison. If that email is listed year-round, even if a phone number is not present, it would still count for the full point in the evaluation.

Note: At the end of Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay's Harassment Policies section, they indicate, "the event includes a law enforcement officer to create an atmosphere of safety and security." We would urge the convention to understand that although an officer may be present, such a presence does not usually inspire safety for many members of marginalized communities and implying the convention is safer for having police presence can discourage someone from reporting.

Note: JoCo Cruise's harassment policy is excellent, however, it is extremely hard to find on such a long page, can't be searched by using the word "harass" without opening the appropriate plus sign list, and is labeled under the plus sign for "The JoCo Cruise Code of Conduct," which is not even posed as a question. We would strongly urge JoCo Cruise to either post the code of conduct prominently at the top of the FAQ page, add the word "harass" to the collapsing plus sign title, or designate a solo page for the policy.

Note: MEGACON's "contact" is an incident report form rather than an immediate contact, but it is linked prominently. It is for multiple conventions and suggests that you go to staff onsite first.

Note: To find Metro Con's stance on staff, you must expand the section for "Appeal Process." The language is dubious as to whether you will truly be heard if you complain about a staff member being the problem and explicitly mentions "hearing out both sides." We find it hard to believe that anyone who needs or wants to report harassment will feel respected if "both sides" arguments are prominently displayed before the harassment policy even appears on the webpage.

Note: Pensacon's policy lists what could be a definition for harassment, but it is not explicitly tied.

Note: Really Rad Weekend mentions harassment following the statement "cosplay is not consent" at the bottom of the Cosplay Contest Rules page, which can only be found by scrolling to the bottom of the Cosplay page and clicking through to Cosplay Contest Rules, which folks likely would not do unless they were interested in competing.

Note: Spooky Empire only mentions harassment in the context of "don't harass the (celebrity) guests." That is not enough and can't count as a policy that applies to attendees.

Note: Supernatural Official Convention Orlando's policy implies that a "complete" policy is stated on each schedule of events handed out and that a contact is listed on the rules page. Because it is not online, we cannot qualify it. We would encourage this convention to include a contact on the website in the event that a paper printout would be lost, destroyed, or otherwise unavailable to someone in distress who would like to report harassment.

Note: SwampCon allegedly bans attendees, artists, or vendors that circulate materials that involve several "tropes" that they list on their Rules page. We have never seen such a disclaimer for any convention and would like to point out that it is extremely vague and subjective in what it considers to be breaking the "rules." Although this is a private event and can operate however it wishes, we URGE the leadership of SwampCon to consider how such obvious censorship can become a willing funnel to fascism. Overly policing artistic content based on subjective values can lead to antagonism toward artists that create content that is "banned" at this convention, and can encourage its own form of harassment. We additionally encourage this convention to consider the implications of relying upon the police department to resolve cases of harassment at a convention that will undoubtedly attract marginalized groups that cannot otherwise leave the state of Florida. Finally, while some consequences are listed for violating other various aspects of this Rules page, no specific consequences are given for those who are harassing others.

Note: SW-FloridaCon's policy is listed under the "Cosplay Rules" section of the FAQ page.

Note: Tampa Bay Comic Convention's policy can be found by clicking the currently unlabeled yellow question mark (formerly labeled "help desk"), then clicking on Policies, then Zero Harassment Policy. It is a shame we can't rate this policy 6/6 due to the difficulty of finding the policy as well as the lack of accounting for what happens if the offender is staff or some other non-attendee person at the event. We really like the educational elements on this Zero Harassment Policy page.