This story has been updated below with an account of sexual harassment that occurred at Katsucon.

Katsucon returned to National Harbor over the weekend, offering cosplayers from the D.C. area and all over the country a dynamic—and, according to convention-goers, unusually safe—social space in which to showcase their passion for anime, comic books, science fiction, fantasy, and all aspects of so-called “geek culture.”

As cosplayers assembled by the thousands to create a vibrant visual spectacle at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, the annual three-day event once again showed why Katsucon is one of the most well-regarded of its kind.

Blending disciplines such as costume design, make-up art, modeling, and performance, cosplay enables enthusiasts to take their fanhood to the next level by embodying the characters they love. It also allows practitioners to bond with like-minded people who share similar interests and can appreciate the effort and skill they put into their hobby.

Shadow Wing, a cosplayer from Virginia Beach, spent over six months hand-crafting a costume through which to incarnate the character Tiamat from Dungeons and Dragons. “When it comes to the ultimate dragon character, Tiamat came to mind as an artistic challenge to see if I could do it,” she said. “It’s awesome being her, to embody the dragon.”

The 26-year-old highlighted the social aspect of cosplay as a big part of its appeal and importance. “For me, it was an escape, it was a vacation, it was an art form,” she said. “I always had trouble fitting in when I was growing up, and when I started conventioning, that’s when I found my group of people, and I am grateful to cosplay for that.”

Within the Gaylord’s teeming halls and atriums, the cosplay world indeed appeared to be a remarkably diverse and supportive community. Cosplayers complimented each others’ work, helped each other with their costumes, posed for countless photoshoots and selfies, reconnected with old acquaintances, made new ones, and mingled with cosplay “celebrities” such as Jessica Nigri.

While the vibe was overwhelmingly positive, cosplayers did warn of problems that sometimes lurk beneath the surface at such events. Most notably, sexual harassment is rampant enough within the scene that “Cosplay Is Not Consent” is a slogan that has gained currency over the past few years.

“I’ve seen it, and believe it or not, it’s happened to me,” said Rockville cosplayer MelPool, who was adorned in self-made armor representing a mash-up of Captain America and Mass Effect‘s Commander Shepard. He recalled that “down in Atlanta, I was in a Spidey suit and somebody kept touching me in an elevator. I was trying to bump them away, and then thankfully the elevator door opened and I ran the hell out.”

Kelli Kardell, a 22-year-old cosplayer visiting from NYC, was at Katsucon making a video to educate people about the issues behind “Cosplay Is Not Consent” and to empower women, in particular.

Kardell said that, in her three years of attending conventions, she has had numerous experiences where she’s received inappropriate comments and unwanted touching. At Katsucon, she was dressed as the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who, but says that it’s her Harley Quinn cosplay that has led to the most unwelcome interactions.

“As Harley, there’s been a number of times where a Joker has approached me and been like ‘oh, you’re Harley Quinn, I can totally interact with you and touch your boobs and touch your butt,’ and I’m like, I’m a person, I’m not the character.”

“Women face a very hard standard as cosplayers,” Kardell added. “We just do it because we love the characters just as much as any guy cosplayer, but for some reason when it’s a little bit too sexy or something we get the people who want to touch us and stuff.”

Perhaps in reaction to such incidents, Katsucon and the Gaylord published a new dress code that includes explicit limitations on how revealing costumes were allowed to be. “All attendees must have their private areas covered at all times,” Katsucon’s 2016 program book states. “Material must extend at least one (1) inch above the nipple and below/to the sides of the breast, and at least one (1) inch above the pubic area and below the crotch/buttocks.”

About the dress code, Kardell remarked: “On one side, yes, as women we can dress less provocatively, at the same time, we can teach men how to properly treat women. We should be able to cosplay the people we want, just like men can cosplay the people they want.”

Kardell said that neither she nor anyone she knows has ever experienced harassment at Katsucon, which she sees as a refreshingly safe space for cosplay. “Katsucon is pretty on top of it,” she said. “I feel like it’s more open and inclusive of everyone. You don’t face the bullying and harassment that you do at other conventions.”

She compared experiences with her favorite cosplay: “I cosplayed Harley Quinn here last year and didn’t have any issues. I’ve cosplayed Harley Quinn at New York Comic Con three years now and every single time I’ve had one or two attendees come up and try to grab me.” She noted that the New York convention has “Cosplay Is Not Consent” signage posted prominently, whereas Katsucon has no such signs, “and yet it’s not a problem.”

Although they couldn’t explain precisely why Katsucon fares so well on this front, a number of other cosplayers (including Shadow Wing and MelPool) agreed with Kardall’s assessment.

“I love Katsucon,” said Vienna cosplayer Cesar as he took a break from dancing through the venue in a hilariously on-point homage to Drake’s “Hotline Bling” video. He’s been to other conventions and witnessed harassment, but asserted that “everybody here is just so much friendlier.”

“It’s honestly really nice,” he said. “When you come here, you can literally just be at peace and just talk to people because you have a commonality, and everybody here’s friendly, and it basically feels like Halloween for three days.”

Update:

Hours after Kelli Kardell told DCist that Katsucon is a safe space, she reported being groped. She still stands by her original assessment of the fan convention, though.

A total of four incidents of sexual harassment were reported this year at Katsucon—a three-day cosplay convention that drew over 17,000 people to the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center—according to organizers.

“Women face a very hard standard as cosplayers,” Kardell said before the incident. She was in the midst of making a video to educate people about the issues behind “Cosplay Is Not Consent” and to empower women, in particular. “We just do it because we love the characters just as much as any guy cosplayer, but for some reason when it’s a little bit too sexy or something we get the people who want to touch us and stuff.”

Here’s what happened, according to her account, at a late-night rave that occurred later that night as part of the convention.

“I was dancing in one of the circles that had formed when I felt a body behind me pushing his front into my back and then felt hands reached around to try and grope me,” she recounted. “I immediately turned around and slapped him out of retaliation/instinct. He said something that I don’t fully remember, as I had someone approach me and tell me I couldn’t slap people.”

The man in question wandered off as Kardell told the security guard her side of the story. “The guy responded by saying ‘it’s a rave; what did you expect to happen wearing that?’ I scoffed and turned to walk away and he then told me I needed to leave.”

When she asked to see a manager, the man—it wasn’t clear if he was Katsucon or venue security—wouldn’t let her. Trying to avoid an even bigger scene, Kardell left.

When we asked Katsucon about the incident, chairman Christian Savage replied several weeks later: “I would say she was removed from the dance for the slap to the person. Now I understand this was in retaliation for the grope, however, it was visibly seen than she slapped him, not the grope. Most laws define that as assault to put hands on another person. As for the comment made by that person, our security teams should know that is unacceptable behavior and there is a possibility that this person may have been an at-con volunteer who probably didn’t understand our policies that were given to them. That is something we will retrain and redefine to our staffers and volunteers before and during con.”

As stated in its Code of Conduct, Katsucon officially maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward all forms of harassment. In accordance with the guidelines, Kardell filed an official complaint shortly after the encounter occurred. “The con staff was very helpful with the situation and took it very seriously,” she said. “They took me into their office and had me write down the incident and explain it to the con chair and the con chair’s boss. They took my contact information down and immediately dispatched extra security to the rave to keep an eye out.”

They also offered a quiet place and a medical professional. “They were awesome and stuck with me throughout the night and made sure I was okay. I really have to say thank you to the con security for taking the matter seriously and working to get to the bottom of it,” Kardell says.

As to what measures might be taken to further address the issue of harassment in the future, Savage declared that “Katsucon fully supports the ‘Cosplay Is Not Consent’ message. We are working to produce the most effective signage and convention staff/volunteer training to push this message about how all forms of harassment are unacceptable at Katsucon.”

Kardell seems inclined to view the incident as a relatively isolated occurrence. “Katsucon still remains one of the safest cons in my opinion primarily because it’s all localized to a hotel and the staff is on top of things. I don’t fault Katsucon for a single incident that happened because someone couldn’t be respectful.”