The conference site of San Antonio, Texas, where the 2018 annual joint meeting of the American Musicological Society and the Society for Music Theory is scheduled to be held, is located in a state that has passed a bill allowing discrimination against the LGBTQ community members in adoption cases (Texas House Bill 3859, “The Protection of Rights of Conscience for Child Welfare Services Providers”). In response to this circumstance and to the misgivings of various members of both societies, the boards of SMT and AMS have recently held separate but coordinated special meetings of their respective boards via web conference to discuss our options.

In view of several factors, each society’s board decided unanimously against moving the meeting. In addition to the extraordinary expense of doing so (up to a quarter of a million dollars) and the challenge of finding an alternative at this late date, both boards felt that more impact could be made by expressing solidarity with the LGBTQ community of San Antonio through donations, community action, and special programming. An ad hoc committee will be formed to explore such actions. For those opting not to attend the conference, we hope to have more live streaming, online handouts, and videoed sessions, within financial and legal limits.

Please note that while the state of California prohibits funding of travel by state employees to Texas and other states that have passed discriminatory laws against LGBTQ persons, at least one AMS member has had such travel authorized, based on an exception granted to cases where contracts have been signed before January 1, 2017 (as is the case with the AMS/SMT hotel contract). See https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887  under "Exceptions."

More information will be included in our respective society newsletters this February.

Martha Feldman
President, American Musicological Society

Robert Hatten
President, Society for Music Theory

Recent events in Charlottesville have served as a reminder that institutions of higher education can become the very stage upon which forces of hatred and violence play out. The Executive Board of the Society for Music Theory reaffirms the Society’s values of open and respectful dialogue and our commitment to ideals of justice, dignity, and equality for all peoples. The hatred that we witnessed directed against those who acted in defense of these values contradicts and threatens our core principles. We stand together for inclusivity, diversity, and the free exchange of ideas.

—SMT Executive Board

The Society for Music Theory is committed to the ideals of justice, dignity, and equality for all peoples, and to open dialogue in a climate of inclusivity. For more on these values, see the Policy on SMT Response.