An event for fans of comic books and graphic novels in Montgomery County, Maryland, is charging vendors different prices based on race and gender, with the highest prices reserved for businesses run by White men.
MoComCon is the county’s take on the popular Comic-Con gatherings. The event Saturday at Germantown Library features gender- and race-based pricing for vendors that critics say is discriminatory and potentially illegal.
Montgomery County officials insist that the disparate pricing for vendors promotes inclusiveness in a venue often dominated by White people.
An application for vendors posted on the MoComCon website lists the various rates. A table for a woman- or minority-owned business is $225, or $250 with electricity access. The rate for a business that does not identify as woman- or minority-owned is $275, or $325 with electricity.
Earlier listings for the vendor application show the $225 price for those who identify as Black, Indigenous or people of color, or $250 for those who need electricity.
The $275 price was listed for “regular” people who want to be vendors. Although MoComCon will be at Germantown Library, the vendors will be at the nearby BlackRock Center for the Arts.
“Regular with Electricity Access: $325,” the application read.
All vendors’ prices include a 6-foot table, a table cloth and two chairs.
The application was updated to remove “regular” but retained the gender- and race-based rates.
“It is a great experience that actively engages the community in diverse activities while fostering connections among residents of all ages and backgrounds,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, a Democrat.
Still, the gender- and race-based pricing drew sharp criticism.
Reardon Sullivan, a former chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party, said the pricing policy is “clearly discrimination.”
“This is crazy,” said Mr. Sullivan, who ran unsuccessfully for county executive in 2021. “Being Black and growing up in Montgomery County … it’s really, truly insulting to say that a seller who’s Black or BIPOC is disadvantaged. All we ever want is a level playing field.”
Mr. Sullivan said he has seen other types of discrimination and “woke behavior” in Montgomery County but the MoComCon pricing is the most blatant example.
“They’re so omnipotent about it that they feel they can put this out and no one will say anything,” he said.
Hans Bader, a lawyer specializing in civil rights, said the difference in pricing based on race violates federal law.
“Inclusivity is not a reason for discrimination,” Mr. Bader said. “Remedying the present effects of an institution’s past discrimination can be, but there is no sign of that here, so this violates 42 U.S.C. 1981,” the section of the U.S. Code that prohibits race discrimination in making and enforcing contracts.
The county government defended the preferential vendor rates.
Spokeswoman Mary Anderson said this year’s MoComCon was set up to be “as inclusive as possible” because similar events across the country are typically geared toward White people.
She said the vendor pricing is “a specific push to especially attract that type of vendor so that attendees who were also focused on trying to reach minority, Black and brown communities, that they have vendors as well.”
“Many minority vendors and younger startups and that sort of thing. They generally are in a financial position that it may benefit them if there is a reduction in price,” Ms. Anderson said.
MoComCon’s chief sponsor, Friends of the Library, Montgomery County, said the disparate vendor rates align with its mission to support the libraries.
“The vendor pricing reflects our joint commitment to promote inclusivity in library programming and expand opportunities for groups who have been underrepresented in this industry,” Ari Z. Brooks, executive director of Friends of the Library, said in a statement to The Washington Times.
Friends of the Library is a private nonprofit that serves as the fundraising branch of the county’s public libraries.
Montgomery County Public Libraries, which includes Germantown Library, said it is not involved with vendors and referred questions to Friends of the Library.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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