This statement was approved by a majority of the CWSO Conference Committee and the CWSO Executive Board. Updated April 6, 2017

The Creative Writing Studies Organization joins the city of Asheville in publicly opposing and denouncing the transphobic and discriminatory House Bill 2: “Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act” (HB2). We want our conference attendees to know that the Asheville City Council has unanimously passed a resolution condemning HB2 and that the 2017 conference venue, the Blue Ridge Assembly Center, does not condone discrimination, nor does it monitor its bathrooms. In addition, conference attendees are encouraged to stay at the Blue Ridge Assembly at the special conference rate, and thus all guests will have private bathrooms accessible to them during the conference.

We believe that visiting the greater Asheville area offers an opportunity to stand against this hateful legislation. Asheville has long been considered an LGBTQIA-friendly community.

If you are participating in a total boycott of the state, we do understand and respect that. If you would like to participate in the conference from afar, please do contact us to discuss options.

As we continue to plan our conference and consider how this event might best respond to this discriminatory legislation, we welcome feedback from our members, especially our members who belong to groups most affected by this law: those in the LGBTQIA community, those who are disabled, and veterans. If you’d like your voice heard by our Board, please email conference@creativewritingstudies.org