GASP: Safety Policy

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GASP takes the safety of our attendees very seriously. While we cannot guarantee unsafe things will not happen, we do our very best to minimize that possibility.

To that end, we will be running every attendee’s name against the US Department of Justice’s National Sex Offender Public Website. It is your responsibility to make sure you aren’t on that website; if you are, please contact us before you register for the party, so that we can review your attendance on a case-by-case basis. If you are on the website and register for the party, you will be removed from the attendance list and your ticket will be refunded less a 25% handling fee. (We cannot control refunds for the hotel, so you’ll have to talk to them directly if this happens to you.) And yes, we will be checking your name against the list even if you purchase a ticket at the door.

Additionally, GASP and AASS are members of Safe Space Allies, and we follow their Guest Screening Policy. Yes, we will be reviewing your Fetlife profile when you purchase a ticket, so here are some things to avoid:

Make sure you have a photo and a coherent “about me” section. You don’t have to write a novel, and you don’t have to show a picture of your face, but at least give us something.
Your avatar is of your below-the-waist genitalia. Just… just don’t. No, we don’t care how proud you are of it. (Butts are acceptable, and if genitalia shows as a result, that’s different.)
Your profile or online activity expresses views incompatible with or hostile to the philosophy of safety, inclusion, equity, and personal responsibility. AASS believes that you should be allowed to spank or be spanked no matter your sex, gender, race, religion, or anything else. If you don’t like that, keep it to yourself or just don’t come.
Your public stance and/or reputation are incompatible with those of AASS. We have multiple ways of screening individuals, and if the community in general agrees that you have engaged in poor public behavior, unsafe practices, violent practices (except where consensual), or any type of consent violation (including, but not limited to, repeatedly asking someone to play when they have already said no), you will not be allowed to attend.

If you have a turbulent past with other party attendees and/or organizers, that’s on you to deal with before you buy a ticket. The comfort and safety of our attendees is very important to us. That said, we aren’t the kink or relationship police, and we will not become involved in discussions or relitigation of any claims regarding incidents that didn’t occur at GASP or an AASS event. We’d rather just say “no, don’t come”, instead of getting involved in all of that hullabaloo.

Remember, GASP is a private event, and there is no implied right for anyone to attend. AASS reserves the right to deny entrance to anyone for any reason, and to remove anyone from the event for any reason. If the latter happens, ticket fees will not be refunded. If you think you might be on a watch list or a “bad actors” list, please contact us before you purchase a ticket.

Now, with all of that said: we want to give people a chance if we feel they deserve one. So if you’re not on an official list, but you know you’ve done things in the past that other people would not approve of (you know who you are, and you know what they are), and we approve you to attend the party, don’t be a dick. If we take a chance on you and you screw it up, we will make that information available to the organizers of all the other major US-based parties.

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us directly.