An open letter to the outgoing SFWA board of directors re: Theodore Beale

Dear board members—

I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about Mr. Beale so I’ll be brief: I don’t know if we still (or yet) have a code of conduct but I can’t imagine that if we did have one his use of the @SFWAAuthors Twitter feed to spread his attack on Nora Jemisin would be allowable under it. (The attack itself, even without dragging in @SFWAAuthors, seems to me to clearly violate sections 3, 4, and probably 7 of the one we used to have. Of course, section 10 of that code kind of pulls most of its teeth.)

I’m writing to ask you to take the strongest steps you think are allowable under our current bylaws to discipline Mr. Beale, whether that’s censure, expulsion, or some other punishment to be named later. At this point I’m not sure anything could be better for SFWA’s public image than to have someone like Mr. Beale outside it shouting loudly about how unwelcome he is in it.

And I’d also like to ask you to please pass on to the incoming board my hope that issues of harrassment, professional misconduct, and putting SFWA into disrepute will be high on their priority list for next year.

With sincere thanks for all your hard work, and sincere regret that the bad behavior of a few individuals has overshadowed it recently in the public eye—

—David Moles

One thought on “An open letter to the outgoing SFWA board of directors re: Theodore Beale

  1. Hear! Hear! Freedom of speech can and MUST coexist with civility. Beale has gone way, way beyond civility.

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