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MomoCon Attendee Reports Harassment, Gets Harassed By Staff

When you find yourself being sexually harassed at a convention, you usually assume that reporting it to the con’s staff is the best thing to do — that you’ll find a sympathetic ear that (at the very least) wants to make you feel better and tries to help you out.

Well that’s not exactly what happened for cosplayer Luna Lanie at MomoCon this weekend in Atlanta, GA.

You see, after being physically groped by a harasser, not only did MomoCon staff give her an initially lukewarm response, but then the con’s security staff began to repeatedly harass her and tell her that it was her own fault for wearing revealing cosplay.

She goes into detail in the video embedded below, and has made additional statements on Facebook since:

image

Now this is clearly unacceptable behavior for a convention staff, and it’s just mind boggling to try to figure out why exactly any of this was considered a good idea by MomoCon’s operators.

Mostly it’s just disappointing to see a con in this community treat one of their attendees like that.

Update: Another cosplayer has come forward to report that con security staffers slapped her butt without consent (around the 8 min mark).

Update 2: MomoCon has issued an official response.

Trae Dorn

Trae Dorn has been staffing conventions for over twenty-five years. They also wrote and drew the now completed webcomic UnCONventional, and produce the podcasts BS-Free Witchcraft, On This Day With Trae, Stormwood & Associates, The Meatgrinder, and The Nerd & Tie Podcast. This leads many to ask how the heck they have the time to get it all done. Trae says they have the time because they “do it all quite poorly.”

37 thoughts on “MomoCon Attendee Reports Harassment, Gets Harassed By Staff

  • fuck that con then report the con staff to the police in that area make sure the mayor’s office is aware of the issues and have the convention removed from that city

    Reply
  • Christine Crabb

    My thanks to both of these brave women for speaking out!

    Reply
  • Pope The Rev XXVIII

    PR Stunt

    Reply
    • I don’t see how multiple women getting harassed is a PR stunt for anyone.

      Reply
      • Pope The Rev XXVIII

        To bring awareness to Con Harassment. You underestimate human stupidity.

        Reply
          • Pope The Rev XXVIII

            it makes perfect sense when you realize how these people think.

            Reply
            • Okay… so who are “these people?”

              Are you saying Luna Lanie is talking out about this as a PR stunt? Because she really isn’t — and isn’t the only person coming forward. Hell, just watch the second video on this post.

              This is a massive problem in the community that a lot of people have swept under the carpet for a long time. There’s no faked up “PR stunt” happening here.

              Reply
              • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                You can cover your ears and go LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA and pretend this attention grab isn’t a PR Stunt but in due time. It’ll be proven I’m right. Like I always am.

                Reply
                • Preeetty sure you’re a moron. A naive, naive moron. If you think this is the worst thing I’ve seen a con staff do, you’re nowhere close.

                  Even MomoCon’s official statements corroborate her story.

                  “PR Stunt?” Take that weak sauce elsewhere.

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  Tell me I’m a Moron to my face. DO IT I’ll even tell you where and when.
                  I’m smater than you, I make more money than, I better at life than you.

                  sure defend the attention whores.

                • Oh my god, you’re adorable.

                  Did you just ask to fight me? Like I’m going to meet you in the IHOP parking lot off Pleasant Valley Parkway?

                  And then claim to be “smater” than me? I just want to pinch your chubby little cheeks and muss up your hair! 😛

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  SO you’re a coward, You talk to the but somebody legit challenges you to fight and you play the It’s cute card. Becuase you’re nothing more than a Keyboard Warrior who thinks he’s better than me.

                  not that I blame you. I wouldn’t wnat to fight me either. I like being able to walk.

                • …no, because I’m an adult. And getting into fistfights is what twelve year olds do.

                  And I DO think that after twenty years of experience with conventions as an attendee, volunteer, staffer, vendor and occasionally guest of honor, I *do* know more than you on this particular topic. I have witnessed and seen much worse than what’s being talked about here.

                  But that’s not what makes me better than you.

                  What makes me better than you is that you literally have nothing else to do right now than sit on my website challenging me to a fight.

                  I mean, honestly, how sad is that?

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  Then stop talking shit to people if you’re a so called adult. Becuase it’ll get your ass kicked

                • You just keep proving me right.

                  You’re just that sad, huh.

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  No you’re proving me right pussy ass bitch.

                • You realize that the only reason I keep letting you post is because it amuses me, right?

                  You are the literal definition of an “internet tough guy.” It’s hilarious.

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  We’ll see how amusing it is when I legit kick your ass

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  No so adorable now is it.

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  You’ve made a powerful enemy jackass.

                • Dude, I know you’re trying really hard, but I’m not going to sleep with you.

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  I have standards

                • Really? Because all evidence points to the contrary.

                  You can’t stop thinking about me. You can’t stop talking about me. I am all that you desire now.

                  And the tragedy is that you will never have me.

                  The world weeps for you.

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  For you the day you picked a fight with me was the greatest day of your life.

                  For me, it was Tuesday

                • …but it was Wednesday. You… you know today’s Thursday, right? Like you have a job to go to or something?

                  And I didn’t pick a fight with anyone. You came to my website specifically to shit on victims of harassment. The only person starting anything is you.

                  But it’s all for naught, since I will never have sex with you. I’m sorry to disappoint.

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  You have an odd obsession about me having sex with you………. I mean we live in a far more open society than we once did, come out of the closet already. SO that’s why you don’t want to fight……….and keep calling me a adoreable. It all makes perfect sense now.

                  I’m going to call a truce, Because I know everything I needed to know and this war isn’t even worth fighting anymore.

                • You desperately wanted physical contact with my body after I said no and spent over a day talking about nothing else.

                  Your wanting to have sex with me is the only logical conclusion.

                  And you can dramatically call things “wars” or “truces,” but you’ve never been more than a pesky annoyance and amusement to me. You came into my house, threw a tantrum, and all I’ve ever done is ask you to leave.

                  Repeatedly.

                  And then mocked the weird shit you said in response.

                  So do go away. I never was “at war” with you (although I would never use such ridiculous rhetoric in regards to something this trivial). I have no intention of following you anywhere.

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  You’ll be hearing form my attorney

                • Pope The Rev XXVIII

                  ALl you’ll ever be is the world biggest asshole, that’s why the best you can do at your small little con is get an initial d arcade machine, that’s why nobody follows you on twitter, that’s why nobody’s heard of this website and that’;s why you think I’m gay for you. This doesn’t amuse you, this keeps you alive because talking to me is the only human contact you’ve had all week. Now I know this is going to garner some smart sounding in your mind zinger response but another reply will just prove what I just said, You’re the one who wants my attention not the other way around. You clearly have Psychological problems.

                • Everything you’ve ever said has been undercut by the fact that YOU keep showing up on MY website.

                  You can go away now.

                  (And I don’t actually run a convention anymore. I stepped out of it a couple of years ago — and you’re not going to hurt my feelings by calling probably one of the most culturally and historically important cons in the region names though… you just can’t)

                • ProfessorPher

                  This is the funniest goddamn thing I’ve seen all week.

                • Nicholas S Schneider

                  What are you, 12?

  • I am the mother of 12 and 14 year old daughters who attended Momo Con
    and I was present to supervise. As a mother, I would NOT agree this
    cosplayer wore a full coverage bikini top.

    I
    thought the con was appropriate and family friendly, but we left every
    day by 8:00 pm. No adult took a picture of my girls without asking my
    permission first. My girls and their friends were not harassed in any
    way and one of the friends was dressed as Artemis from Young Justice
    with a bare belly, but really good coverage everywhere else. I would
    much rather my daughters attend Momo con than Dragon con!

    Having
    said that, Cosplay is NOT consent and I agree that no matter what she
    was wearing, no one should put their hands on her without consent. More
    education at all cons about that would be a VERY good idea. And it never hurts to educate security more either about how to interact with attendees.

    We will attend this con again.

    Reply
  • A comment on reddit by the con chair. I’m sure he’d never act that way. (This is the reddit account he uses for managing momocon’s subreddit, and answering/advertising on behalf of it btw, so it’s not like he tried to hide it or use a separate account).

    http://imgur.com/a/IT2Y8

    Reply
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