Texas

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!

A guide to some of Texas'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: Alamo City Furry Invasion's "policy," while describing harassment in general terms, is not specific enough in actual policy. "No means no" is not a policy, it's a catchphrase.

Note: All-Con has an excellent portion at the bottom of its policy that specifies, "See something strange? Ignore it. All-Con hosts groups with many different interests. Some are more odd than others. All-Con is your community. Respect it." Thank you, All-Con!

Note: Ama-con's "policy" is a "will not be tolerated," but it is accompanied by a clear consequence.

Note: Anime Fest's policy states that "...violations will be taken very seriously and often involve the police if we, or the victim, feel assault or other crime has occurred." This implies that although the target of the harassment may not feel a crime has occurred, if the writers of the policy do feel a crime has occurred, they may involve the police regardless.

Note: Animania Wichita Falls's policy says the policy "pplies to everyone present at the convention," but its point of reporting is "tell a staff member." That does not allow for fair reporting of a staff member who is the harasser.

Note: Anime Lubbock's website is not very accessible with regard to font and text visibility, and it also contains continuously moving background images.

Note: Anime Mundo's harassment policy at time of evaluation was listed under "Prop and Weapon Policy." It is still on the code of conduct page.

Note: For Anime Matsuri, the "policy" is largely covered under a section titled "Community Protection Initiative." It is ironic that Anime Matsuri, a convention with an alleged reputation for supporting and encouraging sexual predators and harassers to thrive, has a policy that states background checks are done for employees, volunteers, panelists, vendors, exhibitors, artists, guests, and third parties and alleges that anyone with a felony or lesser criminal conviction related to sex offenses etc. will not be eligible to participate in the convention. There is a movement called Boycott Anime Matsuri that alleges many serious problems with the convention. This is a great reminder that it does not matter how good your policy "looks" on your website. If it is not enforced, and if people in positions of power are not held accountable to the same standards, it is useless.

Note: At time of most recent evaluation (10-15-2024), Anime San Angelo's main page has the section "Policy Links" toward the bottom, but all links are currently nonfunctional. We cannot evaluate a policy if it is not accessible.

Note: Anime Sekai has a unique paragraph in its policy about "defamation of character": "Vendor/Volunteer agrees to never slander or defame Anime Sekai or its parent company through media, web chat, through the web in any form spoken or written at any time before, during, and after every event." We wonder how they would specifically and legally define "slander" or "defaming," let alone how such a policy would benefit the community at large. We also wonder why the convention feels it needs to include this policy on its public website as opposed to in a formal written contract with vendors or volunteers.

Note: Anime Texas's policy does not state that the policy applies to attendees, guests, vendors, staff, and volunteers; rather, it states, "All Fandom Events attendees, guests, vendors, staff, and volunteers are expected to interact in a respectable and positive manner," as well as, "Fandom Events does not tolerate physical or verbal harassment of the attendees, guests, vendors, staff, or volunteers." Unfortunately, this is not specific enough for us to feel comfortable giving it a full pass on whether the harassment policy will hold staff accountable.

Note: Anime Ultra's harassment policy at time of evaluation was listed under "Prop and Weapon Policy." It is still on the code of conduct page.

Note: To find Anime Wonder Festival's full harassment policy, you must click through Info > FAQs and Help Center > Code of Conduct > 2. Harassment-Free Environment bullet 2: For more information on our Event Safety and Harassment Policy, visit HERE. This is quite a few clicks only to get to a page that does not include a way to report online, and explicitly states that the policy only applies to attendees.

Note: Ark-La-Tex's website suggests that it invited or would invite (had it been active) a well-known voice actor who had been accused of inappropriate conduct as a headlining guest.

Note: ArlingCon does not have a policy, per se; it refers you to the University of Texas Handbook, which has a harassment policy, but it's written for students. It's not clear what con attendees should do. To find it, you need to click on About > Library Policies and Guidelines > Expectations for Behavior.

Note: ATG Expo's policy mentions harassment only in the context that it is "prohibited." We also must mention that this policy includes encouraging reporting of "observed, experienced, or otherwise apparent incident[s] of harassment," which strongly implies that someone could wrongfully or mistakenly report something without consulting the target to see how they would like to handle it. Assumed targets must be consulted before any actions are taken because outsiders could not possibly guess the context of an incident or whether the target wants to make a report at all. It is a veiled "see something, say something."

Note: Bell County Comic Con's policy is on the FAQ page under the section Autographs & Photo Ops.

Note: Classic Game Fest's singular mention of harassing behavior is buried under Info > "Is there a code of conduct?" > "here."

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

Note: Con-Munnity Festival, in February of 2019, posted a notice on their main page in support of a voice actor who had been accused of inappropriate conduct.

Note: Corpus Christi Comic Con has an FAQ that mentions harassment, but it is not a sufficient policy.

Note: Dallas Fan Festival has an incident report system for multiple conventions, but Dallas Fan Festival is not available to select at time of evaluation.

Note: Delta H Con's policy still lists [Person Specifically Designated as a Harassment Contact] and [Contact Email/Phone] instead of actual contacts. We will be happy to update once this information is amended.

Note: Ecchi Expo's policy is a linked PDF.

Note: El Paso Comic Con's policy is located under "Cosplay is not Consent."

Note: Furry Siesta's mention of harassment is along the lines of "no means no," which is not a sufficient policy. This is a catchphrase that perpetuates the myth that consent is a "common sense" concept.

Note: Galveston Island Esports Summit's policy is catered directly toward cosplayers and specifically mentions online harassment as being grounds for dismissal. While that's great to see, it's not a complete policy.

Note: IKKiCON lists "Ken Wallen" as a contact, but no contact information is given.

Note: Kawacon mentions harassment only on their page for the Kawadansu After-Party Rave Policy.

Note: Kimochii's definition of harassment is not satisfactory. "Offensive conduct" is not defined, and "characteristics identified" does not make sense.

Note: KimoKawaii's mention of harassment is in a linked PDF.

Note: Okashicon mentions harassment on its Rules page, but it is not a sufficient policy.

Note: Retropalooza Houston's policy lists a contact, but the context is specifically for "presenting [a prior restraining order] to security in advance of the event." We also recommend splitting up the text so it is not presented as a single long paragraph.

Note: Shoudakucon had an excellent policy that includes a section on enthusiastic consent! While they seemed to indicate they have some tiers of consequences, it was not clear what they were.

Note: StratosFur's harassment policy is prominently displayed next to "consent applies" and "no means no," which perpetuate the myth that they are "common sense" concepts. We would recommend simply calling the policy a harassment policy and either pad up the education surrounding consent or leave out the catchphrases. Furthermore, while a contact is listed at the top of the page for any "questions" regarding the code of conduct, it is not clear if it can be used to report harassment.

Note: Texas Furry Fiesta's mention of harassment is "no harassment," which is not a sufficient policy.

Note: WeebCon's policy states "We have a Zero Tolerance policy and will remove anyone proven to have committed any of the actions we deem harassment under this policy." That does not define what harassment is, nor who is doing the "deeming," and it would be best if the policy were more transparent about the process.

Note: YumiCon's mention of harassment is a mention of "zero-tolerance policy," which is not a sufficient policy.