Heart and Scroll chapter members,
Given the current events happening with RWA national, the board of directors of the Heart and Scroll chapter of RWA would like to take this opportunity to communicate our thoughts on our local chapter. First, because Suzan Tisdale was a member of our chapter when she filed her complaint, we want to assure you that no one in Heart and Scroll leadership was consulted about her complaint, we had no knowledge as to the fact she was filing a complaint, nor did we or do we support or endorse it.
1) Our chapter is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We aim to provide a safe and supportive space for romance writers regardless of race, color, religion or creed, gender or gender expression, age, disability, or sexual orientation. We believe it is vital that all members feel safe speaking out against racism and/or discrimination of any kind without fear of retaliation, even and especially when there is disagreement among members. Our goal is to create a space where open dialogue can help writers improve their craft and attain professional advancement in the romance writing field.
2) Our chapter supports changes at the highest level of the organization in order to ensure that marginalized voices are heard and have representation in leadership and that their input is embraced by all areas of the organization.
3) Our mission is to advocate and advance the goals of our members as they relate to authoring romance in all its forms and reaching readers. This mission must take place in a trusted environment. We intend to continue with this mission. As such, publishing companies that profit from publishing multiple authors’ works, agents, and acquiring editors will be seen as having a conflict of interest with the goals of this group in the future, and will be requested to withdraw as members from the chapter.
Please feel free to contact us directly should you have questions about this statement.
Genevieve Jack, President
Skye Malone, Treasurer
Kate Bateman, Secretary
Addendum:
(Added 12/31/19 at 3:52PM CST)
It has come to the Board’s attention that there is confusion regarding how and why Suzan Tisdale left our chapter.
The Board would like to clarify that Suzan Tisdale left our chapter voluntarily after a long discussion revolving around the points in our letter above, and submitted her resignation in writing to the president.
In this letter, she indicated she also planned to leave the RWA national organization, which we assume happened concurrently with leaving our chapter or shortly thereafter.