Banned from Tulsa

Related terms:
See also:	Banned from Anaheim (1985 con incident), Slash Controversies
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Banned From Tulsa is a reference to an early anti-slash incident that took place at a fan-run convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the early 1980s.

The editors of Out of Bounds, a K/S fanzine, were attending the convention and selling their zines via their dealer's table. A Disney publicity agent wandered past their table and began loudly berating the publishers for selling zines that focused on slash. After some bantering back and forth, a crowd formed. When the publicist demanded a copy of the zine flyer, he was refused. He was later spotted going through the dealer's room trying to pick up other K/S fanzine flyers from other publishers.

The following morning, the zine publishers were approached by a member of the convention committee. Someone had called the Tulsa Sheriff Department the night before claiming the convention was selling pornography. Luckily, the sheriff’s department had called ahead to give the convention a heads up. To protect the K/S dealers and the convention, the concom asked them to remove the K/S zines from the dealer's room. The concom was very apologetic, and they refunded the dealer’s room fees.

As the zine editors were loading up their zines, the publicist again appeared and began heckling them. Another crowd formed, this time to confront the publicist while other fans helped cart away the K/S zines.

It was incidents like these (and the growing discord over displaying and selling K/S material at Shore Leave) that led K/S fans to put on their first K/S convention, IDICon.

Some Related Fanworks

Because slash fandom is nothing if not inventive, the publicist at the con who had complained (Roger Elwood, at the time the publicity agent for Disney's "Something Wicked This Way Comes") and a well-known science fiction author (David Gerrold who had recently spoken out against slash,) appeared as characters in the first IDICon parody skit, a portrayal that had them fall in love and became a slash pair.

Later, fans wrote a filk song commemorating the experience called “Banned From Tulsa.” It was an homage to another famous filk song (1977), “Banned From Argo," by Leslie Fish.

Snippets:

The van pulled into Tulsa town to sell zines rated X,

About dear Spock and Jimmy engaged in acts of sex.

We had high expectations of con hospitality,

But found the town was far too pure for perversions such as these.

CHROUS: Now we're banned from Tulsa everyone.

Banned from Tulsa just for selling a little porn.

We spent a jolly con there, just a week one day,

But Tulsa doesn't believe in being gay!....

Our covers are real tasteful, thanks to Gayle's exquisite art,

But Jonathan must love David at least three feet apart.

There is no good in loving without that wedding ring,

And when you're talking man-to-man, well that's a taboo thing!