Like many of the other Pagans I know, I’ve been spending the last few days frantically trying to get all my things together for PantheaCon 2016 (I’ve also been sick, but thankfully I got that out of the way before con). It feels like my packing lists have packing lists at this point!
While I am not on the official schedule of events (I work behind the scenes of the con itself, making the magic happen as part of the Convention Operations (ConOps) team), CAYA is putting on a number of rituals and workshops that are shaping up to be really something. If you are interested in knowing what sorts of magical mischief we’ll be getting up to, my CAYA sister Wishbringer Molly Blue Dawn has put together this terrific schedule of events that CAYA is putting on, sponsoring, or being a part of. I hope to see some of you there, when I’m not busy performing my volunteer duties!
Of particular interest to me this year is that there will be ribbons available at the Info Desk that allow you to declare your pronouns, if you so desire! Since this is a first run at it, the options are limited to “She/Her”, “He/Him”, “They/Them”, “Ask Me”, and a blank ribbon where you can write in your own, and the staff asks that you only take one ribbon per person as the numbers are limited. We’ve had these available at another convention I work for the last two years, and they’ve gone over very well. Kudos to my fellow PCon staffers for working to make this available this year!
I want to encourage my cisgender readers to wear the ribbon with your pronouns on them, in solidarity with your fellow Pagans who are trans and/or non-binary. I dream of a world where it’s normal to introduce yourself with your name and your pronouns, and making that dream a reality starts with you.
This year’s theme of the convention is “Change Makers”. I am incredibly excited to see how this theme weaves itself into the magic and the laughter and the late-night conversations that fill this weekend every year. It looks like it’s shaping up to be something really special.
In Joyful (but hectic) Service,
Kitsune
Tales of the Fox 
I was just going to bring my gender necklace. Would you (particularly with your ConOps experience/want to see everyone use them) like to see people use the ribbons in addition to other gender markers they’re bringing with them?
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I think that’s really up to your personal preference. I don’t know how many ribbons were ordered this year, or how popular they’ll be, so it’s difficult to say if you should take one or not if you have a necklace or badge you already wear to cons and such.
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Thanks! đŸ™‚ I’ll leave them for others.
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This was a wonderful and welcome development in the PCon experience. As I did last year, I brought blank rainbow ribbons upon which to write one’s pronouns, however when I saw the “official” ribbons at Info, I decided to support this action by using that ribbon instead, and encouraging others to do the same. It felt good to see our cisgender allies sporting their own pronouns, promoting the fact that pronouns cannot be presumed— no matter what the gender expression may be. We all have pronouns, let’s use them respectfully. Huzzah!
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